good to here your recover is going well NortheastAl I'm sure your diligence with your PT and exercises helped speed up the recovery. I'm already developing Dupuytren's Contracture at 44 years old. It doesn't cause any problems yet, I'm just keeping track of it before it gets to bad. My dad had it bad and had the shots a couple years ago, he was fully recovered in a couple months. Not sure if there is anything I can do now to delay it, my Dr. didn't have any suggestions. I know a lot of it is genetics, not sure if manual labor makes it worse or not. Also wondering how bad do you let it get before getting shots?
That’s not me doing the PT, that’s thewoodlands . As far as when to get the shots, I think it depends on how much it becomes a problem with pain and interfering with what you do with your hands. Mine got painful whenever I moved it and I could feel the tendon getting thicker through the skin on my palm. I think you’ll know when it’s time to take. Are of it.
If I had to wipe w I should've had it taken care of 4 or 5 years ago but I never had any pain so it wasn't a big worry at the time, when my skin started to tear at the base of my pinky finger it was time, that was going on for two years before I did we did anything. After I had my appointment on January 28, 2020, the chit hit the fan and everything was put on hold until August. I thought there would be more pain but the shots of Xiaflex will make you wince some. I think it's up to the doctor on judging how bad of a case you have so insurance will pay but you'll need to ask your doctor. I'm not sure if I mentioned this but my doctor and P.T. has my little finger and ring finger in a splint at night until February. That makes a big difference on keeping that layer of tissue under your skin that was affected stretched out. The swelling in your hand can last for over three months if not longer after the Xiaflex shots, the ice packs help out with that. I would ice for five minutes after every time I did exercises which was four times per day. In the morning is when you feel the swelling the most (no pain) but after flexing the affected hand about 20 times, it feels fine. Good Luck
After working with the chainsaw for a few days straight and unloading brush at the wood dump, I could feel a different feeling in the area that received the shots. I took today off but decided to change the composite molding on the front steps with some pine that needed painting before it goes on, weather permitting that should be done by the end of the day Wednesday. The area that received the shots looks bruised but doesn't feel it.
I think it might be a good idea to take a break. Those injections may have softened up the tendon and it may be tearing a little because you are seeing some bruising. It may not be hurting because tendons don't have nerves. Taking it easy for a few days couldn’t hurt. You may also want to check with the hand doctor. Get better soon.
I do have a scheduled appointment with the hand doctor this week, they scheduled it weeks ago. The hands color in the area that had shots is back to it's normal color. I think my appointment is with the P.A. and not the doctor but I'll ask about the bruising. I did get another coat of paint on the molding going up on the porch steps and I changed both door gaskets, on the wood stove and the pellet stove.
Kill two birds with one stone being you have that appointment set up. You just reminded me about the door gasket on the wood stove. Gotta check to see if it’s still good. Good luck at the docs.
I still have good strength in that finger so I don't think it has a tear, I'll be doing some stacking tomorrow so we'll see how it is after I'm done.
I split some kindling from some dead pine today along with one load of junk wood and another load of splits from more dead pine. The affected area doesn't seem to be bruised or discolored but we'll see what it looks like tomorrow morning.
I had my appointment this morning, with all the blood vessels in the hand the bruising or discoloration after working with the chainsaw for three days was expected at this time. I told the P.A. that the color was pretty much back to normal later the next day, she said that was good. She said from all the releases that she has seen from using Xiaflex, mine had the best results. She did say that she never saw my before pics but the results looked great. It's not a cure but hopefully I won't have to deal with this for a long time.
Glad to hear everything is good and no damage was done. This gives me more confidence to get the Xiaflex done. Keep on healing and doing well.
What I heard today in certain words from the P.A. was it doesn't work for everyone with some people needing a second round of shots or surgery. I hope it works for you. Good Luck Zap
We do our best on staying healthy, we're hoping the same for everyone. Even though I had to wait for the shots for my hand because of what's going on, the timing turned out pretty good. We'll put some wood in before the next rains, the wife is wanting a fire so we'll start burning on Sunday night.....or when the boss (me?) says so!
This morning my ring finger was very stiff so I put the ice pack on it for seven minutes and things were fine. This was the worst it has been since the Xiaflex shots, I've put the ice pack on twice so far today with it going on again just before I call it a night. I don't have any pain it was just stiff.
After the fingers were real stiff Monday morning, I put an ice pack on them three times yesterday, the last one went on for ten minutes before I hit the sack, it made a huge difference this morning. I didn't have any problem bending my fingers, I did put an ice pack on them this morning and will do it twice more tonight after I fill the gut.
I think all of these types of problems are different from day to day. Today my psoriatic arthritis kicked my butt. Pain all over and felt like I had the flu. My type attacks the tendons and softy tissue more. My hands were both stiff and the finger with the DC was very painful. I’m waiting for the new arthritis Med they put me on to kick in. That could be 3-6 months from when I started to take it in August. Until then, I take it day by day. Getting older was never what I thought it would be. Take care.
Just an update on my affected finger (small finger) it's still not 100 percent but still it's strong enough for the work I'm doing. I'm still dealing with the swelling in the morning but they said that would be the norm until possibly February.
