topic Re: CMC Arthoplasty in Wellness

CMC Arthoplasty

Travone — Tue, 29 Mar 2022 12:25:33 GMT

Has anyone had this surgery? If so, can you tell me about your recovery period. How long ago was your surgery and was it worth it? Did you use your own tendon or a tendon from a cadaver.

I am weighing the pros and cons of having the surgery and would love your input if you have had it.. Thanks to all who respond.

Re: CMC Arthoplasty

millieshops — Tue, 29 Mar 2022 13:06:32 GMT

@Travone I am so glad you asked this question. I have been putting off investigating the imminent collapse of my right thumb. Fortunately most days for me it's just an annoyance and I already have a surgery on schedule for next week that is totally unrelated. I can cope with only one at a time.

I did have a finger surgery involving reattaching a tendon, but I would think this one is more involved and my surgery was probably 25 years ago - everything medical is so different today, my experience can't tell us much.

Re: CMC Arthoplasty

Travone — Tue, 29 Mar 2022 13:40:01 GMT

@millieshops. good luck to you next week.

Re: CMC Arthoplasty

eadu4 — Tue, 29 Mar 2022 14:05:24 GMT

@Travone Not sure if I had what you are having done but years ago I had surgery to my right thumb. They took a piece from my arm to replace the "cushion" between the bone joint on my thumb. I was in a cast for a while, I didn't really have any pain. It's been fine ever since. My left thumb occasionally has the same pain and I use a brace on it for a while and it must be resting the joint enough because the pain goes away. I might eventually have to have the same surgery on the left one but for now the brace works when I have that pain.

Re: CMC Arthoplasty

Travone — Tue, 29 Mar 2022 14:46:21 GMT

@eadu4. it sounds like it is the same surgery. I don't have the tendon they use so he wants to use a cadaver tendon. Thank you for sharing your experience and the results a few years in

Re: CMC Arthoplasty

eadu4 — Tue, 29 Mar 2022 15:14:38 GMT

@Travone Not going to lie, that cast was a ROYAL pain since I'm right handed. It was from my thumb up past my elbow (because they took the piece out of the right arm. They kept shrinking the cast but to me it took forever to get that thing off lol. But the trade off of having my thumb working again with no pain was great. Good luck with your surgery!! prayers for a quick recovery.

Re: CMC Arthoplasty

pupwhipped — Tue, 29 Mar 2022 16:22:54 GMT

I'm sorry I have no info and maybe should not reply as I didn't even know what this was...I Googled. Ha! Just curious, @Travone, is this a degenerative condition that comes from age or arthritis? Or is it from injury? Just wondering. I did at one time have trigger thumb and had an injection and wore a splint for awhile. Thankfully it did help my situation. Best to all of you here facing surgery!

Re: CMC A rthoplasty

Travone — Tue, 29 Mar 2022 17:06:50 GMT

@eadu4 I'm hoping my recovery is quicker because I won't have the tendon that needs to heal....fingers crossed

Re: CMC Arthoplasty

Travone — Tue, 29 Mar 2022 17:07:59 GMT

@pupwhipped. it is arthritis...no injury.

Re: CMC Arthoplasty

eadu4 — Tue, 29 Mar 2022 18:18:16 GMT

@Travone Correct. My loss of cushion was from arthritis as well BUT they had to stabilze the thumb so the new cushion could properly heal, which was why I had a cast. They couldn't just let me walk out with a bandage. The thumb is splinted so it doesn't move. I didn't know I would be in a cast. For some odd reason it never came up lol. But yes I had a cast and it made sense since you can't (at least I could not) walk out of there and use my thumb. It took weeks of healing.for the new cushion to heal and the thumb had to be stablized in order for that to happen.

Re: CMC Arthoplasty

Still Raining — Tue, 29 Mar 2022 23:00:04 GMT

When I was taking the shots for the pain, it was recommended to me. My joint was toast due to the hyper flexible nature of the joint above, which they were going to fuse also.

In the end I choose not to since fusing a joint puts more stress on the others.

Ask a lot of questions and make sure splints won't solve it.