wrist fusion surgery????......really bummed

[jeremy714]

two years ago i hurt my wrist snowboarding......i didnt see a doctor until a couple months had gone by........a few doctors, mri's xrays and arthrograms later i found the wrist doctor for the lakers. he came to the conclusion that i tore a small ligament in my wrist causing the instability and pain at the base of my thumb and wrist.  my grip isnt too bad but it hurts to do anything, especially exerting pressure with my hand.  the doctor said the only realistic option would be to fuse the wrist, however he thinks id be better off living with the pain. id like to do that but its getting worse. seems the fusion is inevitable.
im an active 32 year old who lives to surf and snowboard. will i be able to do these things anymore let alone work?...................super worried and depressed.............

[osmossis]

I am in the same boat as most people here crushed my right hand/wrist 8 years ago went to several doctors over that span said something not right always checked xrays etc always said it was nothing finally last year got referred to ortho turns out have stage 4 Kleinbocks. Have had orthoscopy last set of xrays ct scan shows too far gone for anything but full fusion. So here I sit 28 years old, a mechanic with the choice of not using wrist due to pain or fuse which will limit what I do and a career change is not an option

[Tamara_tw94]

I have a similar question- what is life like after surgery. Obviously this is not quick fix but is meant to be the main option to relieve pain.

I'm 19 years old, I've had 4 years of wrist pain since breaking the capitate (middle bone) in my hand/wrist. The bottom half of the bone has dissolved from the fracture line. I've had a nerve removed in my arm to relieve the pain in June 2012 but this was unsuccessful. Movement is good but pain is getting unbearable, especially as I'm a student (lots of typing) and a swimming teacher (hands-on in the water) and swim as a part of keeping a healthy lifestyle.

A list of things is starting to build up of things that I am almost not able to do at all including: swimming, lifting, twisting lids of things etc, typing, driving and general everyday things you need two fully functioning hands to do.

I can wait, however other than the pain, the rest of the bone may dissolve too resulting in the collapse of the wrist which needs surgery where a rod goes through the entire hand to stabilise it

The fusion operation would hopefully relieve pain- the main issue, however restricting motion that I still currently have is worrying me. Any advice on things you can't do after this surgery? Will I be able to drive, swim, teach etc...

[samtini10]

I had a scapholunate reconstruction surgery 14 months ago and it has completely failed, I am in so much more pain then I was before the surgery not only that, it has affected my neck because I have herniated discs and they didn't take precautions during surgery to protect my neck. The expert opinion I recently got was that a total wrist fusion surgery should have been done instead so that is what I am facing now. I am devastated because that was such a painful experience. I am glad I'm reading all of the comments for others that have had this done, it gives me hope. I should have gotten more than 2 opinions before I proceeded with the first wrist surgery, surgeons don't seem to think about their patients as individuals so we have to be our own advocates and make sure all of our questions are answered even if we feel like we're being whiners.

[RacerRick]

How is your wrist fusion doing years later?? Rick

[akasabi]

I'm a 30 yr old woman and had a 4-corner fusion on my left hand 8 months ago (4th surgery after rupturing scapho-lunate ligament snowboarding 13 years ago) and I'm finding it more painful in the wrist now than before the surgery. My wrist clicks and 'clunks' when I move it up and down and rotate it palm up and palm down, has anyone else with a partial fusion experienced this? I'm considering a full fusion, not sure if I'm being too hasty, I was hoping for a much bigger improvement in pain levels (not having to take pain relief every day). Has anyone had a partial fusion that hasn't worked as expected? Thanks

[PETERICA]

I am a 62 yr. old woman who has lived a hard life of farming, ranching, horse breaking etc. Running 3 properties for my family, single handed( sorry about the odd reff:) I hurt both my wrists really badly in my early 30's. The pain progressively got worst over the next 20 yrs...to a point where I could not even roll windows in car down, turn sausages on a grill, brush my hair. Xrays showed extreme arthritis with very little undamaged cartilage on all the small bones in my hand. Swallowing pain killers was a daily issue I hated. My PARTICIAL wrist fusion has been a life and sanity saver. I had my L (dominant hand) done first and was so relieved from the dreadful pain that I had the RIGHT wrist done last year. It has been brilliant. Yes, I still get a painful reminder in my thumb/wrist joint but generally it has changed my life . I have strength, good grip and mostly no pain. Remember, I have only had partial fusions so have only lost a degree of wrist flection which is just fine by me. I can again resume my heavy workload and don't require pain relief any more. Thumbs up for Partial Fusions!!