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Thumb joint may require surgery - need to understand what options to pursue before going that route

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Osteoarthritis
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Posted 4/6/2014 11:50 PM (GMT 0)
Hi,

The base of my thumb did not respond to rest so I saw a Dr about it and he injected me with cortisol and of course it was much better. However I switched to a job closer to home and I am now responsible for 150 financial databases at a hosting company and I am so busy my hands are on the keyboard frantically working every day.

The Dr. mentioned a crazy surgical procedure involving tendon graft when he confirmed my suspicion the cartilage was worn away by x-ray images. No MRI necessary he said. He said the shot would fail and ultimately I would need surgery.

I need to know what natural efforts to employ first before surrendering to a surgical procedure.

1. Glucosimine ?
2. Boswellia ?
3. HGH
4. Avoid using thumb at all costs ( #1 really )

HGH repaired worn cartilage in my neck facet joints years ago when the Doctors said I was out of luck, old age yada yada yada. Been fine ever since. open minded Doctor helped me with that remedy. It might work here as I felt all my joints improving. Expensive. I had carpal tunnel syndrome but avoided surgery. I have broken L-5 and live with it but having Ulcerative Colitis means I have chronic inflammation and poor absorption of nutrition. I can lift weights with the thumb gripping but opening a zip log package or zippering a jacket is asking for pain, slamming the thumb against the space bar or Alt+Tab is clearly the culprit and to be avoided.

Still looking for the name of the procedure the Dr mentioned, long but I did write it down somewhere.

Thanks
Posted 4/7/2014 12:03 AM (GMT 0)
Both of my CMC joints are bone on bone. They hurt for about 4 years. I did steroid injections. My orto hand surgeon had OT make special splints to hold the base of thumb in place. I was able to type, garden, do everything with the splints. Then after wearing those faithfully for a couple years they broke. Amazingly my thumbs no longer hurt. My ortho said that if one can out wait the pain, it will end.

The surgery your doctor is suggesting is very common. Please be aware that it will get rid of the pain but it does not improve function at all. There is a significant recovery period and therapy needs to be done to regain mobility.
Posted 4/7/2014 12:14 AM (GMT 0)
"Please be aware that it will get rid of the pain but it does not improve function at all"

Then surgery is not an option. Thanks.
Posted 4/7/2014 1:24 PM (GMT 0)
Regenexx is nearby my home and does stem cell therapy, I made an inquiry about the thumb. Looks like $6500 out of pocket. They harvest stem cells from your hip.
Posted 4/19/2014 2:15 PM (GMT 0)
I succumbed to surgery after unrelenting thumb pain. Arthritis. Steroid Injections hurt the tendon attachment points long term, so they have to be stopped eventually. Went to Mayo,surgery was easy compared to the long recovery. Cyst deleloped where the thumb joint was removed, had a second surgery. Good news is,pain is gone and I have full strength and function. Most don't have complications, most do have a long recovery time. No other stuff worked for me...but I'd try it all first!
Posted 4/19/2014 3:40 PM (GMT 0)
I've had a lot of musculoskeletal problems and a lot of orthopedic surgeries. Now my thumbs are sometimes acutely painful, always sore at the base, and unreliable when I life something with any weight at all.

My ortho recommended that surgery should be a last resort simply because of the recovery time, which most people say is measured in months rather than weeks. Truly, steroid injections can do more harm that good because steroids do weaken tendons and can even cause tendon ruptures.

I've learned to do a lot of things without using the thumbs, to use two hands instead of one when something is heavy and I will probably have surgery only when I normally do - when the pain becomes intractable or I have extreme loss of function for which I can't compensate.

Good luck to you with your decision. If you decide on surgery, you may want to seek out a surgeon who specializes in hand surgery.
Posted 4/27/2014 3:53 PM (GMT 0)
It sounds like surgery in most cases does not restore function.

So I am going all out on supplements and breaking the repetitive stress re-injury cycle. It is getting better rapidly but all I need to do is start slapping the space bar and its going to become impossible to use again.

The new job back in January required up to 80 hours per week and that fried it. Hired 3 guys to build out the team so trying to have most weeks be normal and stay off computer on weekends.

This will take a long time but if I can avoid surgery or expensive growth hormone shots it is worth it, better things to do with the money, if everything fails I will go the stem cell Regennex route as the surgery sounds like it mostly relieves pain and does not restore function.
Posted 5/9/2014 5:19 PM (GMT 0)
Thankfully this is rapidly healing for the first time in two years.
Posted 5/17/2014 11:42 PM (GMT 0)
I would definitely look into regenerative therapies. Regenexx is super expensive though -- $6500 for a single thumb joint?? There are probably a number of other physicians who would treat the thumb with prolo/prp or stem cells just as effectively for half the cost.
Posted 5/18/2014 4:47 PM (GMT 0)
L-Threonine ( not l-theonine ) every night before bed put me back in the game. I of course modified my behavior and only carefully take it to a new personal thumb-best each day. It will also take a few months more to be 100% again. Miracle for me as it was unusable and doc said cartilage was gone and bone out of place due to stretched/damaged ligaments/tendons.
Posted 10/28/2014 4:24 AM (GMT 0)
Really -- L-Threonine supplements worked? Thats amazing! Can you tell me which brand you're using? Thanks!
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