Whining about my finger
Feb. 22nd, 2014 05:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lydySo, I saw the Occupational Therapist on Thursday. I liked her. She seemed cheerful, intelligent, and interested in objective measurements and useful outcomes. She tut-tutted about the swelling in my finger. She measured the finger, its range of motion, and all that. Then she felt the scar. And became rather more concerned. I guess the one thing my body does really, really well is make scar tissue. She says that it is very large and hard and she is concerned about it. She also said several times that she wished I had come in earlier.
Initially, she wanted me to come in twice a week. She wants to ultrasound the scar tissue to help break it down. I explained that time and money were a serious consideration, here, and we agreed to try once a week for a bit and see if that was enough. I have a scar massage thing that I'm supposed to do three times a day, and a splint made of putty to wear when I sleep which is supposed to help soften the scar tissue. How it does this, I do not know, and I failed to ask. I'll have to ask the next time I see her.
She asked about sensations and pain. I told her that I sometimes have pain in my pinkie finger, which I suspect to be referred pain. She agreed, and discussed the distribution of the ulnar nerve, and how it covers the pinkie finger and a portion of the ring finger (my damaged finger) and that was cool. She is very concerned about the tendons. She showed me cool pictures of tendons, and explained that on the underside of the fingers, there are these two tendons, and for reasons which possibly even evolution cannot explain, they are threaded through each other. Since they are very likely inflamed, they do not glide past each other as designed. Also, the tendons on the back of my finger are probably very, very tight, which would explain some of the pain and weakness in my wrist. All very interesting.
Ah, but then there are the exercises. They hurt. And there are more of them. One of them I don't do as often as I should. The others, well, I do them more often... Did I mention that they hurt? Also, she has me wrapping my finger in Coban to help reduce the swelling, which makes the exercises harder to do. I mentioned that to her, she responded with a very cheerful "Yes, it does." I gather this is a feature, and not a bug. Sigh. She also wants me to hold my finger in a bent position for fifteen minutes, applying as much pressure as I can manage. Then let go. She cautioned me to let go gradually, as this will hurt. Um, yeah, hurt with ow sauce. The first time I did it, I cried when I let it go because it hurt so much. The second time, it hurt not quite so badly, but still was really pretty bad.
In a year or two, when this is all over, I'll probably be glad I did the exercises. But at the moment, I'm still contemplating amputation. I'm pretty sure we have an axe around here someplace.
Initially, she wanted me to come in twice a week. She wants to ultrasound the scar tissue to help break it down. I explained that time and money were a serious consideration, here, and we agreed to try once a week for a bit and see if that was enough. I have a scar massage thing that I'm supposed to do three times a day, and a splint made of putty to wear when I sleep which is supposed to help soften the scar tissue. How it does this, I do not know, and I failed to ask. I'll have to ask the next time I see her.
She asked about sensations and pain. I told her that I sometimes have pain in my pinkie finger, which I suspect to be referred pain. She agreed, and discussed the distribution of the ulnar nerve, and how it covers the pinkie finger and a portion of the ring finger (my damaged finger) and that was cool. She is very concerned about the tendons. She showed me cool pictures of tendons, and explained that on the underside of the fingers, there are these two tendons, and for reasons which possibly even evolution cannot explain, they are threaded through each other. Since they are very likely inflamed, they do not glide past each other as designed. Also, the tendons on the back of my finger are probably very, very tight, which would explain some of the pain and weakness in my wrist. All very interesting.
Ah, but then there are the exercises. They hurt. And there are more of them. One of them I don't do as often as I should. The others, well, I do them more often... Did I mention that they hurt? Also, she has me wrapping my finger in Coban to help reduce the swelling, which makes the exercises harder to do. I mentioned that to her, she responded with a very cheerful "Yes, it does." I gather this is a feature, and not a bug. Sigh. She also wants me to hold my finger in a bent position for fifteen minutes, applying as much pressure as I can manage. Then let go. She cautioned me to let go gradually, as this will hurt. Um, yeah, hurt with ow sauce. The first time I did it, I cried when I let it go because it hurt so much. The second time, it hurt not quite so badly, but still was really pretty bad.
In a year or two, when this is all over, I'll probably be glad I did the exercises. But at the moment, I'm still contemplating amputation. I'm pretty sure we have an axe around here someplace.
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no subject
Date: 2014-02-22 11:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-02-22 11:27 pm (UTC)(You made me laugh loud enough to disturb the cat.)
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Date: 2014-02-22 11:31 pm (UTC)And since I have been through PT: yes, I know. But getting out on bail in the meantime would be a hassle.
no subject
Date: 2014-02-23 01:37 am (UTC)*when I broke my arm as a child, they set it wrong; physical therapy at that point meant that they took me back into the operating room a couple of days later and rebroke the arm to set it "right", and that was that. Which is probably why I can't touch my hand to my shoulder on that side of my body.
no subject
Date: 2014-02-23 07:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-03-02 03:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-02-23 07:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-02-23 05:04 pm (UTC)