Remember the thumb and the bug incident from 10 days ago? My thumb was doing pretty good until Saturday when somehow, while putting on socks, I kinda jammed the thumb again. Yesterday, it was hurting all day. No amount of Ibuprofen or ice seemed to help. I had a hard time sleeping last night and there’s hardly ever anything that keeps me from sleeping. Today it was more swollen and doesn’t want to bend or move much so I had to go to the doctor. The doctor is a big, kinda grumpy looking guy but he’s so gentle. I was so afraid he was going to hurt the thumb but he didn’t at all.
The thumb is dislocated and the doctor didn’t want to mess with it til the inflammation and pain are down so he gave me a pain cream, told me to up the Ibuprofen, ice and wear a split. I guess I’ll be sitting in my chair staring at the walls for a week or so. Darned bug!
If it isn’t “greatly” improved, I have to go back in a week for a steroid shot and at some point, the doctor will try to get it back in place and if not . . surgery. I really doubt I’d have surgery. That seems as little much. As long as it stops hurting, I can live with a crooked thumb. We’ll see . .
Liz says
It’s your right thumb, correct??? You didn’t give us a picture of the thumb, but a messed up thumb could impact your sewing abilities as well as getting worse with age (arthritis??). Just think of everything that you do with your thumb and a finger…
Could the dislocation get worse if you don’t have it fixed? It may be “minor” now, but additional falls, jams, etc could make it worse and harder to fix. And, as we age, the probability of falls increases. So, consider the surgery if the doctor says it is necessary. Please, get a second opinion with a hand specialist.
BTW, my thumb was broken in college (field hockey game). I didn’t need surgery, but with age, it still aches when I bend it. Between my thumb and knees, I know when there is weather coming!
And… when I was much younger, I was a ski patroller and I did the statistics one year for the area. The number one injury was a thumb injury, followed close by a shoulder injury. When you fall, you tend to put your hand/arm out to stop the fall. But that will jam up your thumb or your shoulder. My mom learned to tuck your arms in and roll onto your back when falling and that probably helped her when she got older.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I talked to him about what happens if I don’t have the surgery and he said . . it will always be crooked but if I can live with it, it shouldn’t be a problem if it isn’t bothering me. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it but hopefully the doctor can get it back where it needs to be once the pain and swelling are down.
No picture because it’s hard to show the swelling without putting the two thumbs side by side and then I don’t have a hand to take a picture. 🙂 There’s no bruising left and to see that it’s crooked, you have to be facing my palm to see it.
I don’t think I would have injured my thumb if I hadn’t had that big chunky bone in my hand to smash that bug. Of course, if the bug hadn’t been there, none of this would have happened.
coursey nelle says
Thank goodness it is only dislocated! I just found out I have bone spurs on my knee!! Talk about painful when they pop!!
judy.blog@gmail.com says
Ouch! I’ve heard of bone spurs but all I can think about are grass burs and in my mind, bone spurs are a million times worse. What’s next? How do you get rid of them and what causes them?
Cindy F says
You know it’s bad when it keeps you from sleeping! Hopefully resting and wearing a splint will improve it enough for the pain to go away. I had minor surgery on my right thumb some years ago for a large cyst that came about because I was using my computer mouse too much from playing Facebook games of all things! Back then I wasn’t cross stitching and it was winter so I didn’t feel like I missed out on too much.
Teri says
OUCH! Hope you are feeling a bit better Judy and the swelling is going down.