I had surgery for Dupuytren's disease on my right hand. My ring finger and little finger were affected.
The doctor said I should regain full function after the surgery, but so far it's not looking good.
I had the surgery on May 12 and still can't get the ring and little finger to touch my palm when making a fist. I have been going to physical therapy twice a week and on my last visit the therapist said there was nothing more she could do for me.
The fingers are still slightly swollen around he knuckles and have a band of dark discoloration around the knuckles. When I try to bend the fingers they feel like the knuckles are wrapped tightly with an Ace bandage. The fingers also have limited feeling in them. I was told will take several months before I regain full feeling in them.
My little finger on my left hand is already at stage 2 and the thought of surgery on my left hand (I'm left handed) does not appeal to me after seeing the limited success with my right hand.
Anyone have problems with their recovery like this?
You might need to give your hand more time. Did the swelling reduce over the last four weeks? My hand took 2 month before I could make a fist again (and then only with considerable effort) and six months until the swelling was completely gone. Some people recover faster, some take longer. Unfortunately it's difficult to predict who is who.
Hello, I had surgery on May 22 on my right hand, which is my dominate hand. I had to have stitches from my palm and into my little finger. My hand therapist told me that full recovery will take 6 mo. You sound like you're expecting recovery too soon. My little finger is still swollen (and it's now been 2 mo). I am getting some serious shooting pains. I put a bag of frozen vegetables on my hand when that happens. Try some frozen veggies, or ice, on your hand a couple of times a day. Leave it on for 10 min each time. Did they give you a splint? I was told to wear my splint 2 hours on and 2 hours off. But, honestly, it hurts too much when it's out of the splint too long. I just finished 4 weeks of hand therapy and was told to continue them on my own for at least 6 mo. My doctor told me that the surgery is only 1/2 of the procedure and the hand therapy is the other 1/2. So don't stop your hand therapy. Since you had surgery on 2 fingers, I think you should expect recovery a little longer than mine. My doctor also told me that my finger wants to curl back since it's was curled for 2 years. He removed the Dups, now we are fighting the scar tissue wanting to curl the finger inward.
I cannot make a fist either. But I can make a better fist after I've done my hand therapy for a couple of minutes.
So try icing your hand and wearing your splint. Don't stop your hand therapy and wear your splint for as long as necessary. Also, the doctor prescribed Vicodin for pain, but honestly, aspirin works for me just as good. So a painkiller might help you. Hope this info helps you.
I was under the impression that the recovery would be further along by now (9 weeks since surgery). When I started physical therapy there was a time when I could make a fist at the end of my therapy session, but no longer.
My body scars badly, with thick scarring where there was a injury. The person I am working with at therapy says she thinks I am getting a lot of internal scarring and that's why I'm not recovering very well.
I wear individual finger splints all day for several hours at a time and wear the little elastic finger socks all day long to help reduce the swelling. At night I wear a splint for my hand because the individual finger splints could cut off circulation to the fingers if something got screwed up with them while I was sleeping.
I also get the sharp stabbing pains at times during the day and just put up with them as they don't last too long.
Right now if feels like there is a ball of putty or something sitting at the base of my ring and little finger blocking them from closing into a fist. The person I'm working with at therapy says it's probably scar tissue. When I questioned her about my lack of progress, she said she didn't think there was anything more she could do for me. She sent her report to the doctor and said she's will to continue if the doctor thinks it will help.
I'll see the doctor Wednesday and find out what he thinks. When I saw him last a few weeks ago, he was still saying I should recover fully.
No offense to your hand therapist, but she may not be aware of this mini vibrator. A hand therapist recommended this vibrator for massaging the scar tissue. I bought mine for $20 at a local pharmacy. I can see the finger flattening as I use it (10 min each time before the exercises). The doctor poo-pooed it (or as he put it "Maybe we should just sprinkle fairy dust on it, too." A comment I chose to ignore.) but since I am seeing results, I'm using it. Check it out:
Another thing the hand therapist recommended was silicone scar sheets. I found a box at CVS. It cost $25. I put them on my finger and palm in the evening and them wrap my splint on top of it and leave it that way all night. It is also supposed to help soften scar tissue. It's a 12 week deal. The CVS box has enough scar sheets to last 12 weeks.
My hand therapist did tell me that some people scar up pretty bad. Since I'm a woman, and not a lover of scars, I'm all over reducing the size and look of them Also, Vitamin E cream/oil should help soften the scar.
Start this regimen immediately. I was told the longer you wait, the worse it gets because the scar tissue has had a chance to settle.
Good luck. I'll check back to see if my suggestions helped you.
P.S. I checked your photos and your hand looks pretty good considering the trauma it just went thru. I think you'll see results soon with my above suggestions.
I'll check out the local CVS for the scar sheets and start using them tonight with my splint.
I was using the mini vibrator during my therapy sessions, but will try getting my own to use at home. I really would like to get some more function out of my right hand before I consider getting my left hand worked on. While I could tolerate limited function with my right hand since I'm left handed, it would really cause problems if both hands had limited function. Thanks again.
It has been 7 1/2 years since my surgery (little finger). Thinking back I think one of the most important things I did at your stage was using the self adhesive elastic ACE (or similar) wrap. I would cut about a 10 inch piece of the 1 1/2 inch wrap and wrap my fist as tight as I could for about 10 minutes at a time several times a day. I would leave it connected like a rubber band and use it for a couple of days. I was able to progressively tighten the wrap as weeks went by. Each time after taking the wrap off, I would stretch/flex the hand to the open position. All of this was done with hand lotion on the hand. Also, it was very important to never, ever let the wound dry out.
dafuser, The pictures of your hand look great. How much were your fingers contracted before surgery? I was flexing my hand continually during the day at your stage. I kept lotion (Aveeno) on my hand 24/7 for the first three months.
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