Thumb tendinitis

[KeithM38]

Anyone ever have really bad tendinitis in their thumb? If so did you have surgery or how long did it take to heal? If you had surgery how long did that take to heal and how was golf there after. I'm right handed and my left thumb is killing me between my wrist and first knuckle of the thumb.

[buckeyefl]

What have you done to help it so far? Ice and rest is your friend. I have it but it is not golf related although golf doesnt help it any.

[lazyjc4]

I'm just beginning to feel the effects of thumb tendinitis in my left thumb. It really hasn't effected golf much, but continually bothers me during every day activities. I have a Dr.'s appt. next week to see what can be done.

[vernon]

Left thumb, right handed player here. I had an injection a little over a year ago that wore off towards the end of summer. Hurts like hell again now but was totally pain free until that time.

 

It doesn't stop me from being able to play but it sure doesn't help, especially when it's 45 - 55 degrees outside. The pain is actually worse throughout the day doing other stuff.

 

I've tried PT, chiropractic, acupressure and a variety of exercises with no luck.

 

Lots of arthritis in there now too which may or may not be the main culprit.

 

I know the injections are not exactly beneficial longterm but it's pretty much either that or just live with the discomfort.

 

Will probably wait until February to get another injection just prior to my Palm Springs trip.

[RSinSG]

Not my thumb, but my elbow. Like Vernon I tried lots of remedies but what worked for me was cortisone injections. I guess I’m lucky as the injections last for years. I’ve had 3 injections iover 15 years so they were very successful.

[KeithM38]

Yeah I've just been icing and resting. Haven't played golf in a few weeks. It's crazy just like the rest of you guys, it hurts a lot throughout the day doing normal stuff. I've had a few injections over a few years and don't want anymore. I'm trying to decide if I should just go see the hand DR and see if we can fix it by surgery. But I'd want to do it asap, or hope that putting it in a brace for a few months will help/heal it until I reaggravate it.

[Reb58]

Yes and to stop it I got my thumbs off the top of the club

[hackerboy]

Common problem. Depending on arthritis vs tendinitis or other issue (I have combo platter of arthritis, tendinitis, and partial UCL tear), there is some hope. I would suggest a grip change (baseball), as well as a grip (midsize) change. Baseball grip changes the thumb pressure points. A larger grip size also changes things. Often these alone or in combination will help. Unless you have a specific isolated diagnosis, I can't imagine there is a great surgical option.

[juliette91]

Common problem. Depending on arthritis vs tendinitis or other issue (I have combo platter of arthritis, tendinitis, and partial UCL tear), there is some hope. I would suggest a grip change (baseball), as well as a grip (midsize) change. Baseball grip changes the thumb pressure points. A larger grip size also changes things. Often these alone or in combination will help. Unless you have a specific isolated diagnosis, I can't imagine there is a great surgical option.

 

At the risk of being slammed by those who attack "alternative" health analyses, let me give you my anecdotal experience with this exact issue: tendinitis/severe arthritis of the basal thumb joint. I play LH and this problem is primarily in my RH. It got so bad I would re-route the club at the top to avoid the pain--and make awful horrible swings. Play to about a 3 handicap so (and I'm sure for any handicap level) it was very disheartening. Saw 3 MDs with 2 different diagnosis and surgery recommended after PT (which was useless for me). Read extensively about others' results with this surgery and was not at all optimistic.

 

Close friends with a number of alternative practitioners, one in particular a functional medicine chiropractor who suggested an extreme diet change to root out inflammation contributors in hopes of gaining some modicum of relief. I was already a non gluten person. (Please please don't let this discussion dissolve into ad hominum attacks on me because I'm following a different drummer here, but I do understand...)

 

Long story short, I started an anti inflammatatory ketogenic diet with the big idea of getting rid of all foods that have been shown to irritate more than others: grains, dairy and deadly nightshade plants (potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, tobacco and red peppers). So yeah, this diet sucks really sucks, I'm here to tell you. But, that said, in about 3 weeks I experienced enough less pain to play golf (after stopping for 6 months). Still could not really make a sand shot swing where you have to maintain the club face angle throughout or at least the finish--or any pitch or chip where the club face angle had to be maintained. After 6 weeks, I got even better and could make a reasonable slash at a sand shot. Always experience thumb pain throughout the swing but it was less and I could hold on to the club.

 

Now been on this diet for 3.5 months and (lost 20 legitimate pounds too) and the pain is at a level allowing me to play a lot of golf. Started slowly adding back some foods that I love and that might be less inflammatory than others, using my thumb joint as the canary in the coal mine and started really understanding what made my body hurt. For example, throughout this diet I experienced much less joint pain than was normal for me---significantly less.

 

Now I've kind of determined that what really sets this thumb joint off is sugar more than anything else. Grains don't help but sugar for me is the culprit affecting my thumb.

 

For what this is worth, functional medicine views arthritis as not the cause in and of itself but as just another result of inflammation, that all disease is the result of inflammation. Arthritis is just another disease condition resulting from inflammation.

[juliette91]

Common problem. Depending on arthritis vs tendinitis or other issue (I have combo platter of arthritis, tendinitis, and partial UCL tear), there is some hope. I would suggest a grip change (baseball), as well as a grip (midsize) change. Baseball grip changes the thumb pressure points. A larger grip size also changes things. Often these alone or in combination will help. Unless you have a specific isolated diagnosis, I can't imagine there is a great surgical option.

 

At the risk of being slammed by those who attack "alternative" health analyses, let me give you my anecdotal experience with this exact issue: tendinitis/severe arthritis of the basal thumb joint. I play LH and this problem is primarily in my RH. It got so bad I would re-route the club at the top to avoid the pain--and make awful horrible swings. Play to about a 3 handicap so (and I'm sure for any handicap level) it was very disheartening. Saw 3 MDs with 2 different diagnosis and surgery recommended after PT (which was useless for me). Read extensively about others' results with this surgery and was not at all optimistic.

 

Close friends with a number of alternative practitioners, one in particular a functional medicine chiropractor who suggested an extreme diet change to root out inflammation contributors in hopes of gaining some modicum of relief. I was already a non gluten person. (Please please don't let this discussion dissolve into ad hominum attacks on me because I'm following a different drummer here, but I do understand...)

 

Long story short, I started an anti inflammatatory ketogenic diet with the big idea of getting rid of all foods that have been shown to irritate more than others: grains, dairy and deadly nightshade plants (potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, tobacco and red peppers). So yeah, this diet sucks really sucks, I'm here to tell you. But, that said, in about 3 weeks I experienced enough less pain to play golf (after stopping for 6 months). Still could not really make a sand shot swing where you have to maintain the club face angle throughout or at least the finish--or any pitch or chip where the club face angle had to be maintained. After 6 weeks, I got even better and could make a reasonable slash at a sand shot. Always experience thumb pain throughout the swing but it was less and I could hold on to the club.

 

Now been on this diet for 3.5 months and (lost 20 legitimate pounds too) and the pain is at a level allowing me to play a lot of golf. Started slowly adding back some foods that I love and that might be less inflammatory than others, using my thumb joint as the canary in the coal mine and started really understanding what made my body hurt. For example, throughout this diet I experienced much less joint pain than was normal for me---significantly less.

 

Now I've kind of determined that what really sets this thumb joint off is sugar more than anything else. Grains don't help but sugar for me is the culprit affecting my thumb.

 

For what this is worth, functional medicine views arthritis as not the cause in and of itself but as just another result of inflammation, that all disease is the result of inflammation. Arthritis is just another disease condition resulting from inflammation.

 

"Inflammation" is not at all limited to food sensitivities, my occupation puts a lot of pressure on that thumb joint and for sure it inflames my thumb.

[vernon]

Not my thumb, but my elbow. Like Vernon I tried lots of remedies but what worked for me was cortisone injections. I guess I’m lucky as the injections last for years. I’ve had 3 injections iover 15 years so they were very successful.

 

Regarding your elbow, something that you might want to consider trying is called a Flex Bar and it's made by Thera Band. I had both golf and tennis elbow something awful for years (primarily from hitting balls off of mats) and went the injection route numerous times. While the injections worked great, worries about the long term effects again led me to seek alternative treatment. Did PT, ice massage, electro stimulus stuff, you name it but nothing really helped until I discovered the Flex Bar.

 

Granted, it's a form of PT for sure, but I haven't had an injection since I got this thing. Initially, it took a couple of weeks to notice any significant improvement but my pain was pretty acute at that time too.

 

Like most stuff, If my elbows don't hurt I sometimes forget to use it but if the symptoms start to return, I just do fifteen or twenty reps in each direction while watching TV in the evening and the problem is usually resolved in a day or two.

 

No one thing works for everyone but it's something you might want to consider. As they're only around $12 on Amazon, it's a pretty cheap experiment.

[howellhandmade]

Common problem. Depending on arthritis vs tendinitis or other issue (I have combo platter of arthritis, tendinitis, and partial UCL tear), there is some hope. I would suggest a grip change (baseball), as well as a grip (midsize) change. Baseball grip changes the thumb pressure points. A larger grip size also changes things. Often these alone or in combination will help. Unless you have a specific isolated diagnosis, I can't imagine there is a great surgical option.

 

At the risk of being slammed by those who attack "alternative" health analyses, let me give you my anecdotal experience with this exact issue: tendinitis/severe arthritis of the basal thumb joint. I play LH and this problem is primarily in my RH. It got so bad I would re-route the club at the top to avoid the pain--and make awful horrible swings. Play to about a 3 handicap so (and I'm sure for any handicap level) it was very disheartening. Saw 3 MDs with 2 different diagnosis and surgery recommended after PT (which was useless for me). Read extensively about others' results with this surgery and was not at all optimistic.

 

Close friends with a number of alternative practitioners, one in particular a functional medicine chiropractor who suggested an extreme diet change to root out inflammation contributors in hopes of gaining some modicum of relief. I was already a non gluten person. (Please please don't let this discussion dissolve into ad hominum attacks on me because I'm following a different drummer here, but I do understand...)

 

Long story short, I started an anti inflammatatory ketogenic diet with the big idea of getting rid of all foods that have been shown to irritate more than others: grains, dairy and deadly nightshade plants (potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, tobacco and red peppers). So yeah, this diet sucks really sucks, I'm here to tell you. But, that said, in about 3 weeks I experienced enough less pain to play golf (after stopping for 6 months). Still could not really make a sand shot swing where you have to maintain the club face angle throughout or at least the finish--or any pitch or chip where the club face angle had to be maintained. After 6 weeks, I got even better and could make a reasonable slash at a sand shot. Always experience thumb pain throughout the swing but it was less and I could hold on to the club.

 

Now been on this diet for 3.5 months and (lost 20 legitimate pounds too) and the pain is at a level allowing me to play a lot of golf. Started slowly adding back some foods that I love and that might be less inflammatory than others, using my thumb joint as the canary in the coal mine and started really understanding what made my body hurt. For example, throughout this diet I experienced much less joint pain than was normal for me---significantly less.

 

Now I've kind of determined that what really sets this thumb joint off is sugar more than anything else. Grains don't help but sugar for me is the culprit affecting my thumb.

 

For what this is worth, functional medicine views arthritis as not the cause in and of itself but as just another result of inflammation, that all disease is the result of inflammation. Arthritis is just another disease condition resulting from inflammation.

 

Yes. This requires a lot of discipline and the feeling of deprivation can be acute, especially in the beginning, but I think diet can be the solution to many health issues, and gaining control over one's diet can have unexpected health benefits. For those who are curious, I would suggest "The Paleo Approach" by Sarah Ballantyne, who also has a website, PaleoMom. The diet is an absolute pain in the tuchus, but maybe less so than pain or surgery or loss of occupation. As my dad used to say, life's full of choices.

[juliette91]

Common problem. Depending on arthritis vs tendinitis or other issue (I have combo platter of arthritis, tendinitis, and partial UCL tear), there is some hope. I would suggest a grip change (baseball), as well as a grip (midsize) change. Baseball grip changes the thumb pressure points. A larger grip size also changes things. Often these alone or in combination will help. Unless you have a specific isolated diagnosis, I can't imagine there is a great surgical option.

 

At the risk of being slammed by those who attack "alternative" health analyses, let me give you my anecdotal experience with this exact issue: tendinitis/severe arthritis of the basal thumb joint. I play LH and this problem is primarily in my RH. It got so bad I would re-route the club at the top to avoid the pain--and make awful horrible swings. Play to about a 3 handicap so (and I'm sure for any handicap level) it was very disheartening. Saw 3 MDs with 2 different diagnosis and surgery recommended after PT (which was useless for me). Read extensively about others' results with this surgery and was not at all optimistic.

 

Close friends with a number of alternative practitioners, one in particular a functional medicine chiropractor who suggested an extreme diet change to root out inflammation contributors in hopes of gaining some modicum of relief. I was already a non gluten person. (Please please don't let this discussion dissolve into ad hominum attacks on me because I'm following a different drummer here, but I do understand...)

 

Long story short, I started an anti inflammatatory ketogenic diet with the big idea of getting rid of all foods that have been shown to irritate more than others: grains, dairy and deadly nightshade plants (potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, tobacco and red peppers). So yeah, this diet sucks really sucks, I'm here to tell you. But, that said, in about 3 weeks I experienced enough less pain to play golf (after stopping for 6 months). Still could not really make a sand shot swing where you have to maintain the club face angle throughout or at least the finish--or any pitch or chip where the club face angle had to be maintained. After 6 weeks, I got even better and could make a reasonable slash at a sand shot. Always experience thumb pain throughout the swing but it was less and I could hold on to the club.

 

Now been on this diet for 3.5 months and (lost 20 legitimate pounds too) and the pain is at a level allowing me to play a lot of golf. Started slowly adding back some foods that I love and that might be less inflammatory than others, using my thumb joint as the canary in the coal mine and started really understanding what made my body hurt. For example, throughout this diet I experienced much less joint pain than was normal for me---significantly less.

 

Now I've kind of determined that what really sets this thumb joint off is sugar more than anything else. Grains don't help but sugar for me is the culprit affecting my thumb.

 

For what this is worth, functional medicine views arthritis as not the cause in and of itself but as just another result of inflammation, that all disease is the result of inflammation. Arthritis is just another disease condition resulting from inflammation.

 

Yes. This requires a lot of discipline and the feeling of deprivation can be acute, especially in the beginning, but I think diet can be the solution to many health issues, and gaining control over one's diet can have unexpected health benefits. For those who are curious, I would suggest "The Paleo Approach" by Sarah Ballantyne, who also has a website, PaleoMom. The diet is an absolute pain in the tuchus, but maybe less so than pain or surgery or loss of occupation. As my dad used to say, life's full of choices.

 

Yes I followed her anti inflammatory ketogenic diet pretty much. But, as I said at the end, it's sugars that make it much worse than anything else and for anyone really interested, sugars mostly means carbs---and keeping track of carbs is both easy (online sources) and really hard--not eating too many. As you said, too, the results can really be worth the depravation.

[bigdatajoel]

I’ve had intermittent left thumb issues since starting. I feel like it gets much worse when I’ve been hitting a lot off of mats. I joined a cc, and range is on grass, and it’s improved. I hit off mats testing clubs over the weekend and almost immediately noticed significant thumb pain. It was more significant than any time since hitting off grass exclusively.

 

Used to get tennis elbow and forearm pain in mats as well. That’s almost completely gone now.

 

Mats are obviously what most of us are able to hit off of, and I may be moving and canceling my membership, so I’ll be going back to them. However, I really do feel they create a lot of opportunities to damage our games and bodies.

[QuickFeet]

Anyone ever have really bad tendinitis in their thumb? If so did you have surgery or how long did it take to heal? If you had surgery how long did that take to heal and how was golf there after. I'm right handed and my left thumb is killing me between my wrist and first knuckle of the thumb.

 

Have you been to a hand specialist? There is a lot bones/tissues in the wrist area that can cause issues.

 

If it is a simple inflammation issue, as your physician about an injection of Celestone Soluspan.

[juliette91]

Common problem. Depending on arthritis vs tendinitis or other issue (I have combo platter of arthritis, tendinitis, and partial UCL tear), there is some hope. I would suggest a grip change (baseball), as well as a grip (midsize) change. Baseball grip changes the thumb pressure points. A larger grip size also changes things. Often these alone or in combination will help. Unless you have a specific isolated diagnosis, I can't imagine there is a great surgical option.

 

At the risk of being slammed by those who attack "alternative" health analyses, let me give you my anecdotal experience with this exact issue: tendinitis/severe arthritis of the basal thumb joint. I play LH and this problem is primarily in my RH. It got so bad I would re-route the club at the top to avoid the pain--and make awful horrible swings. Play to about a 3 handicap so (and I'm sure for any handicap level) it was very disheartening. Saw 3 MDs with 2 different diagnosis and surgery recommended after PT (which was useless for me). Read extensively about others' results with this surgery and was not at all optimistic.

 

Close friends with a number of alternative practitioners, one in particular a functional medicine chiropractor who suggested an extreme diet change to root out inflammation contributors in hopes of gaining some modicum of relief. I was already a non gluten person. (Please please don't let this discussion dissolve into ad hominum attacks on me because I'm following a different drummer here, but I do understand...)

 

Long story short, I started an anti inflammatatory ketogenic diet with the big idea of getting rid of all foods that have been shown to irritate more than others: grains, dairy and deadly nightshade plants (potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, tobacco and red peppers). So yeah, this diet sucks really sucks, I'm here to tell you. But, that said, in about 3 weeks I experienced enough less pain to play golf (after stopping for 6 months). Still could not really make a sand shot swing where you have to maintain the club face angle throughout or at least the finish--or any pitch or chip where the club face angle had to be maintained. After 6 weeks, I got even better and could make a reasonable slash at a sand shot. Always experience thumb pain throughout the swing but it was less and I could hold on to the club.

 

Now been on this diet for 3.5 months and (lost 20 legitimate pounds too) and the pain is at a level allowing me to play a lot of golf. Started slowly adding back some foods that I love and that might be less inflammatory than others, using my thumb joint as the canary in the coal mine and started really understanding what made my body hurt. For example, throughout this diet I experienced much less joint pain than was normal for me---significantly less.

 

Now I've kind of determined that what really sets this thumb joint off is sugar more than anything else. Grains don't help but sugar for me is the culprit affecting my thumb.

 

For what this is worth, functional medicine views arthritis as not the cause in and of itself but as just another result of inflammation, that all disease is the result of inflammation. Arthritis is just another disease condition resulting from inflammation.

 

Yes. This requires a lot of discipline and the feeling of deprivation can be acute, especially in the beginning, but I think diet can be the solution to many health issues, and gaining control over one's diet can have unexpected health benefits. For those who are curious, I would suggest "The Paleo Approach" by Sarah Ballantyne, who also has a website, PaleoMom. The diet is an absolute pain in the tuchus, but maybe less so than pain or surgery or loss of occupation. As my dad used to say, life's full of choices.

 

Yes I followed her anti inflammatory ketogenic diet pretty much. But, as I said at the end, it's sugars that make it much worse than anything else and for anyone really interested, sugars mostly means carbs---and keeping track of carbs is both easy (online sources) and really hard--not eating too many. As you said, too, the results can really be worth the depravation.

 

For those interested here is a follow up on how the foods you eat affect you. So I hit the Thanksgiving Holiday with my restricted diet and totally blew it. Had heaping helpings of pecan pie (with plenty of corn syrup and bourbon), sweet cranberry sauces, sweet potatoes, sweet nut and apple salads, you get the picture. Like going from 0 to 60 in 5 seconds only ending up in a wreck at the end. Not only did my thumb joint pain go through the roof but my other hand (which also has severe arthritis on xray) throbbed all night long making sleep pretty much a joke.

 

Only posting this here for those really interested in trying to alleviate some of their thumb joint (or any joint pain for that matter) by trying to eliminate food groups that are known to cause problems for some people. This post just shows how sensitive your body can become to what you feed it. And yeah today I plan to drink a lot of water and go back to my dietary plan. Confident that I will return to golf again soon and will post results here. Yes this is all anecdotal and yes eventually the western medicine doctor is God group will weigh in here and slam what I'm doing as scientifically bankrupt, but I'm here to tell you it ain't so.

[QuickFeet]

 

For those interested here is a follow up on how the foods you eat affect you. So I hit the Thanksgiving Holiday with my restricted diet and totally blew it. Had heaping helpings of pecan pie (with plenty of corn syrup and bourbon), sweet cranberry sauces, sweet potatoes, sweet nut and apple salads, you get the picture. Like going from 0 to 60 in 5 seconds only ending up in a wreck at the end. Not only did my thumb joint pain go through the roof but my other hand (which also has severe arthritis on xray) throbbed all night long making sleep pretty much a joke.

 

Only posting this here for those really interested in trying to alleviate some of their thumb joint (or any joint pain for that matter) by trying to eliminate food groups that are known to cause problems for some people. This post just shows how sensitive your body can become to what you feed it. And yeah today I plan to drink a lot of water and go back to my dietary plan. Confident that I will return to golf again soon and will post results here. Yes this is all anecdotal and yes eventually the western medicine doctor is God group will weigh in here and slam what I'm doing as scientifically bankrupt, but I'm here to tell you it ain't so.

 

Agree that diet is very important; food allergies (maybe better to say food sensitivities) do exist. Perhaps you are sensitive to sugar; in any form.

[KeithM38]

Anyone ever have really bad tendinitis in their thumb? If so did you have surgery or how long did it take to heal? If you had surgery how long did that take to heal and how was golf there after. I'm right handed and my left thumb is killing me between my wrist and first knuckle of the thumb.

 

Have you been to a hand specialist? There is a lot bones/tissues in the wrist area that can cause issues.

 

If it is a simple inflammation issue, as your physician about an injection of Celestone Soluspan.

I've been to two.

The first in Dallas when I lived there, he was a DR for the Pittsburg Penguins. He said he didn't want to do surgery do to risking strength loss in the thumb. So he just gave me some cortisone shots.

 

The DR here in Cincinnati is supposed to be the best in the area. We did x-ray and MRIs, both didn't show really anything he said. So again more cortisone, lasted for about 8 months. I'm over the shots, I can clearly feel something inflamed and just want it taken care of. Just don't know if I should rest it or cut it open.

 

[stryper]

Anyone ever have really bad tendinitis in their thumb? If so did you have surgery or how long did it take to heal? If you had surgery how long did that take to heal and how was golf there after. I'm right handed and my left thumb is killing me between my wrist and first knuckle of the thumb.

 

Didn't see this mentioned at all, but do you text a lot? Play apps on your phone? If so, it might not be Golf- or diet-related at all...just a thought. :dntknw:

[sheldonjhacker]

I got De Quervain's tendonosis (google it) in my left/thumb wrist... (which I've now learned is a very common golf injury) from overuse/repetitive stress from one afternoon of hitting too many balls at the range. While treating it at the Hospital for Special Surgery in NYC, the doc also found arthritis in my left wrist.

 

Lessons learned:

-do NOT hit endless buckets of balls at the range...work on short game and putting

-do NOT hit off mats

-take more unplayable penalties...unless you golf for a living, why try and be a hero if you have a lie which is buried, near a root, or barely visible in thick rough or fescue ??? "Great- I got the ball out!!!!...but...I just trashed my wrist, elbow, shoulder, etc."

-when you are injured...shut it down completely...and let your injury heal fully.

[KeithM38]

Anyone ever have really bad tendinitis in their thumb? If so did you have surgery or how long did it take to heal? If you had surgery how long did that take to heal and how was golf there after. I'm right handed and my left thumb is killing me between my wrist and first knuckle of the thumb.

 

Didn't see this mentioned at all, but do you text a lot? Play apps on your phone? If so, it might not be Golf- or diet-related at all...just a thought. :dntknw:

Don't text a lot and don't play games. I have seen the phone thumb symptoms though.

[juliette91]

Following through--post Thanksgiving blow up of my anti inflammatory ketogenic diet. Backed way off of any direct sugars (like the Sherbet I ate and the Medjool dates and the chocolate) and carbs (like grains and sweet potatoes and you name it) and drank plenty of water yesterday. The pain in my basal thumb joint (RH--I'm a LH golfer) went down 60% and the throbbing in the back of my left hand went down 75%. This is just in one day! Way beyond what I'd expected. Thought I totally blew it.

 

Anyway, where I'm coming from is that you do not need to show an allergic reaction to specific foods in order for those particular foods to affect the inflammatory process your body produces. You can just be sensitive to it, either by eating that particular food too often or just by the way your body reacts to it. Like when I eat cow cheese I get a bit phlegmy. But you don't even need overt reactions like that.

 

Posting this so that maybe one of you out there takes a flyer on dietary changes instead of the knife.

[vernon]

Well this sucks.

 

Went for my thumb injection last Tuesday (six days ago now) and, thus far, have not gotten any noticeable relief. Last year I was pain free for seven or eight months afterwards but this time no such luck.

 

To make matters worse, the doc said that I need to seriously consider having joint replacement surgery as there's just nothing left between the bones of my thumb.

 

Obviously, not the news or outcome that I was hoping for.

 

At least my elbows, neck and lower back are doing much better so I got that working for me - which is nice.

 

Getting old blows so hard.

[juliette91]

Well this sucks.

 

Went for my thumb injection last Tuesday (six days ago now) and, thus far, have not gotten any noticeable relief. Last year I was pain free for seven or eight months afterwards but this time no such luck.

 

To make matters worse, the doc said that I need to seriously consider having joint replacement surgery as there's just nothing left between the bones of my thumb.

 

Obviously, not the news or outcome that I was hoping for.

 

At least my elbows, neck and lower back are doing much better so I got that working for me - which is nice.

 

Getting old blows so hard.

 

Sorry to hear this. My severe arthritis in both basal thumb joints also shows very little to no cartilage remaining. Still, many docs will tell you that functional testing is more important than what the X-ray or MRI shows. For folks that think alternative medicines are some kind of hokum, that Western medicine is the only bible their only options are injections of steroids (or PCP injections which I've had too) and/or surgery. For thumb arthritis, I've been reading about arthroscopic surgeries that remove the trapezium and rely upon "fibrous" tissue build up (scar tissue) to make things right in there. Some studies show multi year follow ups of reduced pain with some (small studies, 20 or so people) pain free. For sure I'd do something like this to continue golfing if my current regimen just doesn't cut it (excuse the pun)

 

But sometimes dire circumstances force even the most hard core of us to try the "other side". Most of the time that is too late in the process, you've hurt your immune system so badly that non traditional approaches are bound to fail. You cannot get dietary advice from your MD that is generally worth a s__t. They're all scrambling with weekend classes to figure out nutrition and "alternative" ideas. All disease is inflammation of some kind and if something or the way you eat or the balance of what you eat causes some inflammation--and dollars to doughnuts almost everyone has something awry that way--then you might get some relief by changing your diet.

 

What I'm doing is obviously hard core but I love golf and don't want to ever give it up. The surgical outcomes take a while even if they're successful and I'm kinda selfish about my time. If this in the end doesn't work out I'll get someone to cut on my hand but until then if I can make a decent dent in the pain I'm going this route. Check out this thread for some dietary suggestions.

[playa]

Not my thumb, but my elbow. Like Vernon I tried lots of remedies but what worked for me was cortisone injections. I guess I’m lucky as the injections last for years. I’ve had 3 injections iover 15 years so they were very successful.

 

Regarding your elbow, something that you might want to consider trying is called a Flex Bar and it's made by Thera Band. I had both golf and tennis elbow something awful for years (primarily from hitting balls off of mats) and went the injection route numerous times. While the injections worked great, worries about the long term effects again led me to seek alternative treatment. Did PT, ice massage, electro stimulus stuff, you name it but nothing really helped until I discovered the Flex Bar.

 

Granted, it's a form of PT for sure, but I haven't had an injection since I got this thing. Initially, it took a couple of weeks to notice any significant improvement but my pain was pretty acute at that time too.

 

Like most stuff, If my elbows don't hurt I sometimes forget to use it but if the symptoms start to return, I just do fifteen or twenty reps in each direction while watching TV in the evening and the problem is usually resolved in a day or two.

 

No one thing works for everyone but it's something you might want to consider. As they're only around $12 on Amazon, it's a pretty cheap experiment.

I've had golfers elbow a couple times and found that using a neoprene forearm brace relieves the pain. My latest episode has been going for a few months and is slowly going away. I've also found that having a relaxed grip and smooth swing reduces pain.

[vernon]

Well this sucks.

 

Went for my thumb injection last Tuesday (six days ago now) and, thus far, have not gotten any noticeable relief. Last year I was pain free for seven or eight months afterwards but this time no such luck.

 

To make matters worse, the doc said that I need to seriously consider having joint replacement surgery as there's just nothing left between the bones of my thumb.

 

Obviously, not the news or outcome that I was hoping for.

 

At least my elbows, neck and lower back are doing much better so I got that working for me - which is nice.

 

Getting old blows so hard.

 

Sorry to hear this. My severe arthritis in both basal thumb joints also shows very little to no cartilage remaining. Still, many docs will tell you that functional testing is more important than what the X-ray or MRI shows. For folks that think alternative medicines are some kind of hokum, that Western medicine is the only bible their only options are injections of steroids (or PCP injections which I've had too) and/or surgery. For thumb arthritis, I've been reading about arthroscopic surgeries that remove the trapezium and rely upon "fibrous" tissue build up (scar tissue) to make things right in there. Some studies show multi year follow ups of reduced pain with some (small studies, 20 or so people) pain free. For sure I'd do something like this to continue golfing if my current regimen just doesn't cut it (excuse the pun)

 

But sometimes dire circumstances force even the most hard core of us to try the "other side". Most of the time that is too late in the process, you've hurt your immune system so badly that non traditional approaches are bound to fail. You cannot get dietary advice from your MD that is generally worth a s__t. They're all scrambling with weekend classes to figure out nutrition and "alternative" ideas. All disease is inflammation of some kind and if something or the way you eat or the balance of what you eat causes some inflammation--and dollars to doughnuts almost everyone has something awry that way--then you might get some relief by changing your diet.

 

What I'm doing is obviously hard core but I love golf and don't want to ever give it up. The surgical outcomes take a while even if they're successful and I'm kinda selfish about my time. If this in the end doesn't work out I'll get someone to cut on my hand but until then if I can make a decent dent in the pain I'm going this route. Check out this thread for some dietary suggestions.

Lots of good stuff in what you said. While I've had injections and "procedures" to my back and neck, I've never had any surgeries of any kind as I've seen them do more harm than good many times.

 

Heck, when I ruptured my achilles three years ago the first guy I saw in the emergency room wanted to cut and stitch the same day! Instead, I found an ortho that agreed with some protocols that I had heard about that stated a completely ruptured achilles could and would heal without surgery.

 

And it did. And in less time than the recovery process would have taken after having surgery.

 

Most ortho's that I've seen since injuring my back in 1980 have insisted that a multi-level fusion is the "only" solution and I have steadfastly refused. Now, since then, certainly some days are better than others but I've managed pretty well all this time utilizing alternative methods and have never regretted my decision to avoid the knife.

 

That being said, I've tried quite a few approaches for my thumb before finally relenting to injections a year ago. I've not conceded that joint replacement surgery is the answer but I gotta say this is the closest I've ever been to thinking that surgery might be the only answer.

 

I completely agree with your comments regarding inflammation and diet but to this point in my life haven't really done much to help myself in that regard. I'll do some research and certainly give that some serious consideration going forward.

 

Thanks for the advice and encouragement and good luck to you as well.