So here is the question for me. I went with my husband a few months ago when he had to have hand surgery. It was a success by the way. It was interesting though when I was waiting in recovery for him and his doctor came in to talk to me, he reached out to shake my hand when he grabbed it he was suddenly more interested in my hands than my husbands. I have severly deformed fingers and he wants to do joint replacement on my fingers. What do you guys think about it? Is this something I should look at? To be honest I had sort of put it out of my mind but we saw him last week at dinner and he asked me when I was comimg in. Things I have read are not promising, but if there is a chance I would be willing. Thanks in advance for your suggestions!
What an interesting question! I'm sure you picked this doctor for your husband due to his expertise, but joint replacement is not frequently done on fingers. I would start off by looking for more information, and how many times he has done this. My impression of this surgery has been that the surgery may not be promising, as you said. The goal is to improve pain level, stability, and function. The alternatives seem to be do nothing, or fusion.
My mom has severe osteoarthritis in her hands. They are severely deformed, and most of her finger joints have fused. There is no longer much pain, because there is no longer much movement. I'm not saying it's ideal, but she can use her hands within reason, and there is little pain.
If I were in your position, I would consider pain level and stability first probably. I'm trying desperately to get in to the hand surgeon now to schedule work. One hand needs 2 trigger fingers repaired, and the other needs the thumb joint done, and a trigger finger or two. I have to call in on Monday and give my sob story again. The problem is that the longer it all goes on, the more damage I do to the other fingers and wrist. I wish you luck.
Ditto what Stoney said. Joint replacement is generally not done on fingers, except sometimes knuckles. If you have severe pain, low stability, etc,then hand surgery may help.
That said, I have had fusion of the DIP joints (furthest from the hand) on my pinkies. They were at 90 degree angles and it was getting so that it was starting to affect the position of my 2nd joint, and I wanted to avoid swan neck fingers on otherwise stable joints. The surgery was extremely painful, and the recovery was hard, but I have never been so thrilled with the result of a surgery. I can type without pain in those joints (because there is no joint! :), my joint further up never developed a swan neck, and I can put gloves on comfortably.
That's my experience with just one set of tiny peripheral joints.
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