Luba, I am having more trouble with swelling than anything. The end of my finger is very tingly which suposedly will get better when the swelling goes down. I had my NA on 7/20 so we are both at the same stage I guess. My swelling is also in my PIP and it is very stiff to flex the finger. I am hoping this physical therapist can reduce the swelling so that I can then hope for some straightening.
The tip of my finger is still bent forward a bit. I also have arthritis in that finger which does not help the situation.

Diane,
Thanks for your quick reply. Its only been 3 weeks since my NA and I must be patient with the swelling. It helps to know I'm not the only one with this problem...actually my swelling comes and goes throughout the day, so maybe the therapy/exercises/night splint etc. is finally kicking in.
This forum is really helpful. Thanks to all.

NancyE,

As Diane said swelling takes a while to go away. Since we both had our PIP joint NA done around the same time, I wanted to share with you the information I received from dr. Denkler. Being that four weeks had passed since my NA and I still had swelling, I emailed him asking him if it was normal and how long I should expect the swelling to last. (In my case in addition to NA he also did extensive work on PIP by releasing the joint and contracted tendon)...

he replied my email and said "The joint can be swollen one or two months, sometimes 3 months...compressive bandages and physical therapy wraps can help a lot..keep working out the stiffness".

when I go to the therapist tomorrow, I'll find out exactly what he meant by compressive bandages and physical therapy wraps.

Just wanted to share the information with you.

Nancy,
I'm glad your swelling is gone...I think I'm finally seeing the swelling begin to go down and expect good results about that shortly.

As far as exercises, yes...I do many throughout the day. I think that what works best for me for straightening the finger is holding the PIP joint down with one finger, while pushing up on the Distal joint (the one closest to the tip of the finger) with the thumb, as hard as you can and hold that stretch for 30 seconds...repeat ten times...now that the PIP joint is not so swollen I can do this.

I also got a finger stretcher from my therapist, that you slip on the finger, and it has a spring that stretches the finger straight and pushes up on the Distal joint.

Let me know if you need more information.

Mark D.
What did your therapist mean exactly by:.... "aggesive stretching is a net negative in the long-run" ?.... where does one draw the line between aggresive and gentle stretching? I would be interested to know exactly what you do for exercise.

The exercise I described to Nancy on this thread on 8/26 was suggested by my therapist, as well as by Dr. Denkler after the NA procedure. My only problem is doing it well and getting a full stretch of the finger, because of the still painful swollen PIP joint. (My successful NA was on 7/24 with Dr. Denkler).