De Quervain's surgery and recovery

[polar28]

I  had surgery on my left wrist for De Quervain's on Dec 20.  My stitches and cast were removed last Thursday and they had some make a splint for me.  The splint is extremely uncomfortable as I am left handed, so I have not been wearing anything.  After a while my wrist will get so sore that I feel nauseated.  I am just wondering if I am doing damage by not wearing the splint.

[Missy3530]

I just had surgery (about 3 weeks ago) after living in excruciating pain for 2 years.  They started me off with a brace where I couldn't move my thumb.  When that didn't work, I received a cortisone shot.  It felt fine, then it was back with a vengeance in about a year.  I got another cortisone shot then.  In about 3 months, it can back with such pain that it was unbearable.  With the surgery, my pain has gone down from a constant 7 (on the pain scale 1-10 with 10 being highest) which would sometimes shoot up to a 9, to a 0 to 3.  I do some activities with my brace on, like typing, but all other times, I wear my brace from when I first got tendinitis.  Since it's such a short surgery, it's usually easy to get an appointment.  When I decided to have the surgery done, I decided on a Wednesday.  The next Monday I was in the operating room (and I got put to sleep due to a fear of needles).  But, many doctors will only do surgery as a last resort.  I'm a college student currently, and a student teacher, so I know how hard it is to not be able to use your right hand.

[Katy_May]

Hi, how is your hand now?  I have been diagnosed with de quervains in both hands but my right hand is worse.  Had splints and a steroid injection when the splints didn't work, but only worked briefly and I go back tomorrow to see the consultant who said it would be surgery if the injection didn't work.  I'm a bit nervous, I work in a busy office environment and do a lot of typing, if I have the op, how will this be affected in recovering as in being able to use my hand?

[Flare_up]

I started with pain right hand in 2004. After a few doctorss, de quervains diagnosis, cortisone shot, therapy, accupuncture and everything else, I had surgery in Dec. 2007. Horrible but it seemed successful. For the next 2 yrs my hand hurt on and off but less than b4 the surgery. The typing isn't the problem, it's the mouse & texting when I feel the most pain. It's starting to hurt more (even though I don't type or do repetitive tasks as often as I use to). So 2 years later my hand is hurting again (the reason I'm reading & looking for info). The pain is in the same area but different than before, I am wondering if this is common and normal?! I hope it's just a flare-up. Any comments regarding this? Thanks.

[achilles2]

If the splint hurts, see if you can go back and have it refitted. I had a splint made for my De Quervain's and the first one did not fit well. So I just called and went back to he hand therapist who made my splint. She remolded it and now it fits well and I do have any rubbing or pain from the splint.

[steph701]

When I was 8 months pregnant I developed a very bad pain in both of my wrists/thumbs. I went and saw a hand Dr. and he numbed the area to diagnose me with De Qiervain's. He said to do the surgery right away. I was skeptical because of what I read on the internet about all the things I should try first. He said cortosone shots will just prolong the problem and nothing will make it go away but surgery. So since I have 5 little kids and work on the computer I needed to do something fast because I could not function it hurt so bad. I had surgery dec 11th 2009 on both of my wrists. I am pain free! This has been the best thing ever! There is still a slight tightening feeling when I try to bend my wrist towards my pinkie..other than that I can use my thumbs just fine now.
  I was put asleep for the procedure and woke up to my hands wrapped in ace bandages. I bruised really bad on my left wrist due to the tendon being "torn up badly". I kept the bandages on for about 5 days then removed them and just kept cotton with a piece of medical tape over the incision sight till I saw my Dr. 14 days later. He said they look great and I could go back to doing whatever I want. I started lifting weights again and doing my girls hair and of course typing. everyday gets better of course. It takes time for anything to heel but this surgery worked great for me and I hope it does for you too! Best of Luck

[happybunny67]

I had read all kinds of posts about De Quervains, most negative but occassionaly a positive one here and there. I suffered for over six months until I decided to have surgery. The pain had come on seemingly overnight, we thought it was just a sprained thumb. But, by the time I had surgery, I couldn't write, couldn't open doors, use scissors, etc. It was a lot of pain and I do not have a job of repetitive use nor am I a new mother. It just happened.
So I am now six weeks post op from the surgery. There were moments during these last six weeks that I questioned why I had the surgery, I had a lot of nerve pain, skin tenderness etc. But I am happy to say that by following ALL the doctor's instructions, doing physical therapy and very important Scar massage, I am doing really well. The nerve pain is fading and I feel like my hand is back as good as new. I DON'T overdue it though.  You really need to baby your hand and not go over board. It is easy to do when it feels so much better but in the long run you will be happy for it.
Thanks.