Feeding Pancho, Weight Training, and Kinesio Tape

Meet Pancho Gonzales. He's a hungry tennis ball, and what he craves most are pennies. At my last hand therapy appointment I was asked to feed him. This required squeezing Pancho so that he opened wide for each bite, one penny at a time. Gradually, his belly filled with pennies and my hand became more and more exhausted.

Pancho lives at the clinic. At home I continue to use the green putty to strengthen my pinch, as well as myriad commonplace activities that serve to strengthen the pinch and grip. I continue to use hand weights to strengthen my wrist: bicep curls and some rotational motions with elbows kept at 90 degrees and close to my sides.

According to Diane, my OT, I do not need any more therapy. My excellent progress will continue as I put my hand through the paces of daily life, plus the exercises. That's good news since I'll be off to the Oregon coast next week. She encouraged me to call the clinic when I return if I feel like I need another visit, so I haven't been completely cut loose.

By the way, check out that scar above in the "Meet Pancho" picture. It looks amazing. There is one place along the scar that is a bit darker and seems to have adhesions beneath, but it's still improving. Kinesio Tape does an amazing job of stimulating healing of the scar area.

Pinch Strentgh at Almost 9 Weeks Post-surgery

It's the little things... Shuffling a deck of cards. Peeling carrots. Pulling my pants up. Fastening the small clasp of a necklace. The simple things in life are coming back.

So many common activities of life depend on pinch strength!

Of all the measures of my recovery, pinch strength is by far the worst.

Even so, each appointment with the hand therapist provides data to back up my commonplace observations. My pinch strength still may not allow me to comfortably fasten a button, but I can grasp a carrot. I can wear and take off a necklace. And my husband no longer has to do all the shuffling when we play our morning game of cribbage. Progress may be slow, but it's happening!

Green Putty and Other Strengthening Exercises

Seven weeks post-surgery, and I finally met with my wonderful hand therapist, Diane Newman-Branch. She measured my wrist and thumb's range of motion in multiple ways, grip strength (pretty good, considering), and pinch strength (minimal!). Then it was time for some exercises!

1. Putty Squeeze - Squeeze, hold, release, relax. Do it again, 10-20 repetitions, several times per day. Looks easy, but it's not!

2. Putty Pinch - Eek! Worse than the last one! This required holding the putty blob with both hands, pinching the putty between thumbs and first two fingers and then drawing the hands away from each other. This one caused me pain in the small, distal joints of my thumb that were still swollen.

3. Thumb to Finger Touches - At the beginning it was difficult to even bring the thumb and first finger to touch each other. Pinky? Give it up! Impossible! But over time, I was able to touch the thumb to all four fingers, first with pain, and eventually with none. In fact, as I write this now at over 9 weeks post-surgery, the only joint that experiences pain with this movement is the thumb joint closest to my fingernail. That portion of my thumb, far from the surgery site, is still a bit swollen, which limits range of motion and causes some discomfort. This, I am told, recedes with time.

4. Range of Motion Exercises - designed to extend the repaired joint in two different planes. I progressed quicker than I expected.

5. Massage - I massaged the scar and also the fleshy area between thumb and first finger. After being so immobilized for weeks, there was some loosening up to do.

6. Bicep curl - Think small! Using only a three pound dumb bell and keeping the wrist straight, I carefully performed bicep curls each day.

Post-Surgical Visit and That Annoying Splint

It's about time!!--- I thought. As I write this, one month has passed since this short and sweet visit. At 34 days post-surgery, Dr. Wicks reported that my progress was as or better than expected. He did not advise physical therapy yet. I was instructed to continue with the simple range of motion exercises. In a couple of weeks, the hand therapist would teach me beginning strengthening exercises, which seemed like a very long time to wait.

As predicted, I was getting very sick of wearing the splint all of the time. So I didn't. I took it off at every opportunity, all the while trying to protect the joint from unexpected trauma. I took it off while reading on the couch. Oooohhhh... I took it off after getting in the hot tub. Aaahhh... (And then, I dried off and put the splint back on before getting out.) I took it off while eating a meal. Mmmmm.... When I confessed these indiscretions to Dr. Wicks, he shared his guess that most of his patients put the splint back on before entering his office. So there. We all hate it! And evidently, a good recovery does not really require wearing it all of the time. Even so, I really value how it protects the joint when I need it most.

Ballroom Dancing Again: 31 Days Post Surgery

Ah, how wonderful to resume my favorite past time, ballroom dancing. My team practices 3-5 hours each week, and with the splint on I am fully capable of doing just about everything. There are a couple of "tricks" in our waltz routine that require variations on a dip. For the time being, I'm being cautious and avoiding moves that require forearm strength or any pressure on the left hand.

Burning Sensation & the Scar - 21 Days after Surgery

Like a First Degree Burn!
As the OT predicted, the splint is driving me crazy! When will this frizzly, stinging sensation that runs from the incision up to the nail bed end? I feel it the most when the splint is on and the plastic is in contact with my thumb--- and the splint is supposed to be most of the time. The first-degree burn sensation is so annoying that I take the splint off whenever possible, taking care to not place the hand in any danger. Sitting on the couch reading. Typing (like now!). Even driving. I always put it back on before I move around, logic being that the worst thing that could happen is for me to fall and overextend the joint, damaging the repair.

Still, I know I'm supposed to have the splint on all the time, except for showering and doing the exercises. The skin covered by the sock feels oh so much better! I think I'll try attaching some moleskin to the inside of the splint and see if it helps at all. I'll have to report back about that.

The Scar - Well, see for yourself. The scar is the least of my worries. I think it looks pretty good!

Days 11-12: Ballroom Dancing & Hot Tubs

The Simple Pleasures of Life that I've been Missing...

Social Dancing
On Saturday night, day 11 following surgery, I attended a holiday social dance with friends from my ballroom dance team. I wondered how I'd do, my cold plastic arm resting on my partner's shoulder, using the fingers of my left hand, thumb protected by the splint. It felt fantastic! I needed some pure dancing joy: rumba, waltz, tango, foxtrot, east and west coast swing, cha-cha, samba, night club two-step. I danced each at least once and never felt that my surgical repair was in any danger. Bliss! I'm planning to return to my dance team in January, at the one month mark after surgery. Of course, I'll be wearing the splint, and I'll have to modify the holds for the fancy dips for awhile.

Soaking in the Hot Tub
Ah, another form of bliss on day 12... I've been worried about the hazard involved in getting in and out of the tub; the danger of slipping and destroying my repair looms large in my overactive imagination. I hit upon a solution. It's simple, actually. Settle into the tub before taking off the splint and sock, and then soak away. When ready to exit, dry off the hand and whole arm, and reapply the sock and splint before getting out of the tub. Voila!  Problem solved! How lovely that my postoperative instructions advise a daily soak or two in warm water prior to gently performing the exercises!