Hello, I'm a new member here. I had treatment with Xiaflex this week - the manipulation was Wednesday. My right ring finger was/is the one with the cord (small cord under the middle finger too, got a bit injected in that one too, but most was the ring finger cord). My hand is substantially bruised all over the place, and also a bit of bruising on the underside of my wrist a bit up the forearm. It's very painful to try to bend the finger. I suppose the good news is that I can put my palm flat on the table, but it's quite painful. I'm just wanting to know that this is all within the bounds of normal for 3 days post-procedure. My surgeon's office, I am realizing, did not prepare me well for what to expect.

I did get a night splint made, but it's already loose and the edges are very uncomfortable at the wrist and around my thumb.

Also - the MCP joint at that finger is really sore (this seems to have happened very recently) - and it was also very sore at the time of the manipulation - surgeon had to give me extra lidocaine on that side of the hand - twice! My pinky now hurts too, and never has before.

Any words of wisdom and experience would be appreciated.

Edited 07/07/19 02:10

Yes, the splint was made by a CHT.

My surgeon felt I was a candidate for Xiaflex, that it would be the most effective given the condition of my finger/the cord. Onset of the disease is 6 months ago, approximately.

I am approx. 1 year following (2) Xiaflex injections/manipulations, within 2 months of each other. My little finger was over 85% contracted and the adjoining finger about 1/2 that (my little finger was so mangled with cords that the doc decided to do that separately, which was the latter of the two sessions). The first session resulted in some bruising of the palm after the manipulation, and some armpit pain with some discoloration. The 2nd injection however was extremely more impactive in terms of discoloration and armpit pain, with the end result being a basketball-sized "bruise" around the entire armpit area and arm. That lasted about a week before subsiding.

Honestly, if I knew the amount of pain and inconvenience plus side effects that the Xiaflex process produced, I probably would have thought twice about submitting to it. Plus Medicare only covered 80% of the "street value" for each vial, which apparently is/was around $4000 USD per, so $1600 and 1 year later--despite considerable improvement in the contracture--I am not sure I would do it again. I spent two years investigating every possible treatment option and saw no less than 5 ortho and hand surgeons. With the experience my father went through with two surgeries on his hands--neither of which eliminating the problem and really only creating a number of scars and scar tissue--I knew I didn't want to even try going down that route. A local NA expert examined my little finger issue and said he wouldn't touch it due to the extreme cording and the increased possibility of damaging a nerve or tendon in the process. Xiaflex seemed the best option, as the end result is as good as I could expect, I guess.

It's no wonder the actual (process) and cost is not often advertised!

Update: something definitely wrong. MRI has been ordered. I am convinced that the injection and/or manipulation caused some tendon/ligament/nerve damage.