My Hands | Arthritis Information

 

It is scary to see how much they have changed in the past 14 months, since I was dx.  I can't even believe it has been that long, and 16 since all this started (at least in this form).

have you ever been to a hand therapistNo...I kind of wonder whether my town has any...I should ask my RD next time though (although he is 2 hours away).  I had one really bad PT experience locally.  Bad in that they wanted me there twice a week at 7:15 am, and at that point my wrist was still so swollen, the didn't even want to do anything, just wanted to focus on my shoulder.  But it was a practice focused on post-surgery rehab.It's just these tiny changes that add up.  They are so much less swollen now, but just seeing that gradual drift to the side is scary.Yeah, I have the same drift. I would just really hate to know what is all wrong with my hands. The hand pt will not help the damage.  I went for a couple of sessions and the therapist said it would not get better--my fingers and hands could gain strength--but that was about all.  Frankly--now this is my experience--you can do exercises for your fngers on your own--they had take big plastic tweezer-like tongs and a box of marbles.  I had to pick up the marbles with the tongs from the box and place them in a chinese checker-type container and then pick them up again and pt them back in the box.  Weeee!   Co-pay   Insurance company charged 0.  I squeezed a spring loaded apparatus with my thumb and each individual finger--now I type all day long and work with my hands-so if you don't do stuff like that--maybe it will do you some good and gain some flexibility.  They would be the people you could splints from to wear at night.  The splints might be very helpful to you.  You might google hand excerices and see if any are listed--I think I found about 5 or so and I think it was on Mayo Clinic.  Good luck--I know how frustrating it is to have the damage to your hands.  I agree that hand therapy can not repair existing damage but it can help prevent future damage.  Getting properly fitting splints, learning joint protection,  learning how to recoginize a problem are all things you can learn from a hand therapist.  Far too many people wait until it is too late to help them when something like ulnar drifting can be prevented or minimized with proper therapyI am glad you are on biologics. Finger splints or hand splints are helpful at night. If you can not find a hand specialist an ortho should be able to get you set up with some splints.

Physical thearapy and hand splint helped me a lot.  If you have swelling then I used 5 minute hot and 5 minute cold thearapy.  It helped too.  Exercises are very important too.  Hope you will feel better soon.

I just feel schizophrenic about this disease.  I was at a play area with my sons today, and was able to climb up the structure with my 2 year old and slide down, about 3 times over.  But then later today, I am trying to type something on my blackberry, and it hurts so much!  You think you are "better" but then it's like, what is better?  It's all relative from now on.  So I guess it's finding that balance of what you can allow yourself to do, when you can, and just accepting the rest.  And knowing that I seem just 100% to others sometimes, but I'm not, and that somedays I will feel great and shouldn't feel guilty.  It's a good lesson in not worrying what others think...I strongly agree with buckeye.  My work with my occupational therapist has helped significantly, along with night splints and daily hand and wrist exercises.  Most of my hand problems are from OA, not RA, according to the MRIs.  And it is weird to watch your hands change.  For a few years before DX I joked I was developing "mouse hand", as I thought it was from to much computering :) 
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