Finger as a bonsai project
Mar. 27th, 2014 09:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lydySo, my finger has gotten better. I have a much greater range of motion than I did a month ago, although I still need to warm up a bit. It's stiff, and that range of motion takes real work to achieve. It's nowhere near what it used to be, but it's pretty damn serviceable. It doesn't hurt, except when I do my exercises. It no longer hurts when it is slightly bumped or jarred. My grip strength is about the same as my left hand, which means it's probably less than it was before the accident, but again, pretty damn serviceable. Yay for all of that.
It doesn't straighten so good. It's at about a 30 degree angle, unless the OT pulls on it a bunch, at which point she can get it down to about 20 degrees. Sigh. So, I have this lovely little splint that I'm supposed to wear to bed, and at other times during the day. It puts pressure on the knuckle, and kinda pulls the damn thing straighterer. Not actually straight, just straighterer. Sometimes, it hurts and I take it off. Sometimes it doesn't, and I leave it on. I evidently took it off in my sleep yesterday during the day, because I went to bed with it on, and woke up with it off. The general idea appears to be that it's like a little bonsai tree, and I'm training it up in the way it should go. (Sorry about the Biblical reference, there, got lost.) There's also a finger-as-origami thing that I'm supposed to do, to increase flexion, which involves taping the finger at an odd, bent angle for long periods of time. I don't do that one because it renders the hand essentially useless. I probably should, though. Come to think of it, that one looks even more like bonsai, since it's unnaturally bent and all.
I totally forgot to make appointments with the OT for this week, so I guess I'm taking a week off from getting my finger pulled about and generally manhandled by a very cheerful, knowledgeable young lady who thinks that this is all vast fun and that my hand is the greatest toy ever. I like her quite a bit, actually, and I find her habit of arguing with herself about the best way to approach the problem quite charming. She tends to toss two or three contradictory theories about, I ask her how to combine these contradictory therapies, she argues with herself briefly, and comes up with some weird compromise. It's cute. I think she's relatively new to her position, she said something about not yet being certified. It's possible that someone more experienced would be better, but I don't really think so. Of course, I have no good gauge by which to judge. But, you know, finger getting better, so she must be at least adequate.
It doesn't straighten so good. It's at about a 30 degree angle, unless the OT pulls on it a bunch, at which point she can get it down to about 20 degrees. Sigh. So, I have this lovely little splint that I'm supposed to wear to bed, and at other times during the day. It puts pressure on the knuckle, and kinda pulls the damn thing straighterer. Not actually straight, just straighterer. Sometimes, it hurts and I take it off. Sometimes it doesn't, and I leave it on. I evidently took it off in my sleep yesterday during the day, because I went to bed with it on, and woke up with it off. The general idea appears to be that it's like a little bonsai tree, and I'm training it up in the way it should go. (Sorry about the Biblical reference, there, got lost.) There's also a finger-as-origami thing that I'm supposed to do, to increase flexion, which involves taping the finger at an odd, bent angle for long periods of time. I don't do that one because it renders the hand essentially useless. I probably should, though. Come to think of it, that one looks even more like bonsai, since it's unnaturally bent and all.
I totally forgot to make appointments with the OT for this week, so I guess I'm taking a week off from getting my finger pulled about and generally manhandled by a very cheerful, knowledgeable young lady who thinks that this is all vast fun and that my hand is the greatest toy ever. I like her quite a bit, actually, and I find her habit of arguing with herself about the best way to approach the problem quite charming. She tends to toss two or three contradictory theories about, I ask her how to combine these contradictory therapies, she argues with herself briefly, and comes up with some weird compromise. It's cute. I think she's relatively new to her position, she said something about not yet being certified. It's possible that someone more experienced would be better, but I don't really think so. Of course, I have no good gauge by which to judge. But, you know, finger getting better, so she must be at least adequate.
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no subject
Date: 2014-03-28 11:50 pm (UTC)(Stretching connective tissue is slow and it hurts.)
Also, not doing your exercises cannot possibly help you.
no subject
Date: 2014-03-29 11:56 am (UTC)In the mean time, I do stuff, and some of it helps but the progress is frighteningly slow. Which is discouraging, and so many things here are a disincentive.
One really good thing is that the sensation on the side of the finger is more normal. It's not normal, yet, possibly never will be, but there is significant improvement, which suggests that the nerves are either healing or re-routing. Probably both.