Trapeziectemy and return to work

Nala

I work with a keyboard and mouse full time. I'm scheduled to have a trapeziectomy dominant right thumb in near future. My dr says I will be able return to work in 1 to two weeks. Is that true? He said I'll be casted 10 days and then have a removable hard splint.

stickywicket

Hello Nala and welcome to the forum. I've had a fair bit of surgery but not a trapeziectomy though I probably should have had each thumb done years ago.

I know there are some on the forum who have had this done and I hope they'll be around soon. Meanwhile I have to say I think your doc's estimate is extremely optimistic and possibly even likely to undo all his good surgical work given your occupation. There are lots of things one can do one-handed, as I've discovered over the years, but, unless you can work one-handed for a few weeks, I wouldn't have thought a return to work would be possible until the splint's off and the physio routine well-established.

barbara12

Hello and welcome to the forum Nala
Like SW says there are people on here that have had this done, I was down for it but the injections have warded it off for the timer being...I do wish you well with it

villier

Hi Nala welcome to the forum. I had a Trapeziectomy done last November, I should have been in a cast for at least a week but got it taken off due to the side of my thumb being numb(it is fine now), they put a therma splint on and bandaged over it, it was like that for a few weeks if my memory serves me well, after that they put Velcro straps on the splint so I could remove it for washing and to start doing hand exercises, I had the splint on for about 10 weeks and couldn't drive within that time. If you click on the blue search button at the top it will bring up the old threads as my memory is not so great these days. Good luck with the op I hope it all goes well.....................Marie x

Nala

Thanks everyone for your replies. I still don't understand how soon I'll be able to use a keyboard and mouse realistically. I've heard about the driving issue but I can work from home. Mainly concerned about the pain following surgery . Cutting or excising bone has to hurt! I know my fingers and thumb will be exposed in a cast/splint but I need to be be able to type quickly in order to be efficient and effective in my job.

dreamdaisy

Hello, for what it's worth I think your doctor ( do you mean the surgeon?) is inaccurate, he will fix the problem and lo! you are mended but there will be healing to be done and that takes time. It may be time to start using your non-dominant hand if getting back to work is urgent. I had a double carpal-tunnel op in November 2012 and my hands were out of action for at least three weeks. DD

stickywicket

Speaking as one who's had new knees and hips, yes your thumb will hurt at first. You'll be given pain relief for it. My advice would be to take what you need but don't go aiming for painfree as it's not going to happen :roll:

It might be a good idea to have a chat with your GP about getting back to work. I wonder if the surgeon was unaware of the nature of your work. Maybe he was talking about getting back to using it after a week rather than typing. Have you had your pre-op yet? That would be an opportunity to ask questions.

Nala

I appreciate all of your input on this. It's very helpful. I started practicing doing things with my non dominant hand today as a matter of fact!

stickywicket

Good luck with it all and do let us know how you get on