TFCC Tear recovery process?

[tom one]

hi ive just had surgery to repair tfcc in my right wrist . I have had the splint up to my shoulder on for 6 weeks and have had that taken off 3 days ago now im in a smaller wrist strap. Im now doing forward and back movements of my wrist to get my flexibility and motion back in my wrist but when i do this I am getting pain every time i do this .. Is this just pain from stiffness .. ? wen will it go away ??? and how long is the physio hand therapy process ? I am asking these questions cause Im a bit worried and i also have to go through this again and have tfcc repaired in my left wrist aswell ... just wanna know what Im looking at !!!

Also I have had this injury in my right wrist for over 2 years and tried to heal it naturally and the pain went away after a around 1 year but the injury is still there the pain just gradually goes away untill you flair it up again and realise that surgery is the only option! How i got these injuries was from punching very hard !

[jtk73]

i had surgery 9 weeks ago and have just now come out of the splint, the last two weeks i was 'weaning' out of it. i have been doing my forward and back exercises every 1-2 hrs, but never at the point to pain. most is stiffness. but i have been told i should be right to ski in january. but it is a slow process...

i am now at rotating the wrist stage but it is slow too.... but i do not do exercises until pain, i stop before the pain.

i also see an OT and not a physio

[tom one]

yeh thanks for that let us know how you go with it.. im seeing a hand therapist doing the same as you with tha forward and back movements but pushing with pain .. bit worried about it .. im 8 weeks out from surgery so your ahead by 1 week lol. let me know how u go !!

[jtk73]

I am now using a hammer!

LOL. I basically have a small, light hammer and I vary where i hold it (close or further from the head of the hammer) and I do my rotating exercises.

I also have putty cos we have started my strength exercises. LOL. Only extra soft putty, my grip strength in my left hand (which is not strong anyway) is 23kg, my right hand (the wrist surgery one) is at 9kg. LOL

Long way to go...

Which city are you in Tom One???

[tom one]

im from sydney ... wat bout u?? yeh i herd its alot of physio to get back to normal .. i guess ill be doing that soon .. using a hammer thats wierd

[jtk73]

I am in Brissy.
Yeh, I thought the hammer was weird too, but after trying it with the OT it certainly makes sense.

The thought of carrying the hammer around though (i have to do the exercises regularly)... I could get done for carrying a weapon..... LOL

[tom one]

haha yeh you could lol!! are you getting any pain at all ?? cause im getting pain wen im doing my forward and back movements !

[jtk73]

no, no pain. I basically push it to the point where it is just on the threshold of being painful, but the OT has stressed that I am not to push it where it starts being painful.

[tom one]

shit ive been pushing with pain im worried ay ! i hope its ok .. I see my doctor tomorrow so ill ask him some questions bout it then... I have to get tha same surgery on my left hand after summer this is tha worst !!

[jtk73]

hey, how did you go? What did your doc say???

I saw my OT today. I have about 2/3 of my ROM back so far and she said everything is moving well.

I am doing strength exercises as well now (with putty) my only concern is my backwards ROM is not the best......

[tom one]

hey jt seen my doc he said a bit of pain is normal and he thinks im going well ! my back movements aint tha best either .. im not on strength training yet seen my ot on friday and im now doing side movements and rotating tha wrist .. not weaaring my small splint as much aswell .. i heard a few clicks in my wrist tha other day hope thats normal??? cause my left injured one does that!! oh well wat can u do but try and be positve ... my % of my flexability is improving every week so thats good !

[jtk73]

Well, That is great news.

My wrist clicked the other day and the bending improved even more! It wasn't a painful click so that was good.....

:D

[tom one]

hey jt hows tha hand pulling up ??? im using a hamer too now lol

[jtk73]

Hi there Tomone - I just saw doctor today and he is very impressed with how it has healed saying that it was better than he thought.

So, I can now go back to cycling!!!! YEEHAH!!!!

I guess doing my exercises every hour paid off.

Good to see you have the hammer exercises too! Hope all is going well.

I do not have to go back to him unless i have any concerns! YEAHHHHH!

[tom one]

thats good to hear good on you !! im seeing my doctor soon too but i got too get this same thing done on my left in january got to go through it all again !! oh well got to do it ay