Trigger Finger Surgery Post-OP, aftermath - explained by Mickey Stein (Trigger Finger Part 2)

[guitarist100]

How long was it before you started playing guitar again? my surgery was 5 weeks ago the surgery went well but i am still getting some pain along the finger at the knuckle when i try to play a D chord on my guitar thanks derekj.

[hachamacha]

@guitarist100 HI Derek: I started playing again (after my first surgery anyway) almost immediately. I'd say I had some pain for a month, but the best thing I did afterward was have some PT (after the first surgery, about a month) and after the 2nd & 3rd(combined into one surgery) about 2 months. Got to get rid of the scar tissue to get rid of the pain as much as possible -- good luck -

[MarshallAmpMan]

I am going to have this surgery on September 16th. I am having a local. My doctor says they don't give general anesthesia for this type of surgery. Were you in a lot of pain after the surgery, I mean like a day later. I image that day that you had surgery it was numb. Thanks for posting this. Can you tell me the amount of pain?  I mean were you in agony?

[hachamacha]

@MarshallAmpMan Actually they wanted to give me Propofol (sp?) a general anesthetic so apparently from what I've heard, most have the general. They pull tendons from the hand through an incision. A general seems reasonable. Anyway, I refused the general, and was numb for quite awhile afterwards, never really experiencing any 'horrible pain', just minor pain. Maybe there is a newer procedure. Good luck.

I think that PT was more painful for a couple months afterward getting rid of scar tissue.

[guitarist100]

@MarshallAmpMan i had my surgery 3 weeks ago on my left hand middle finger and i have had very little pain just a bit of stiffness hope all goes well for u.

[guitarist100]

My surgery was done last wednesday afternoon and the large bandage was removed after 3 days ,now its a large plaster just waiting now for the stitches to be removed after 10 days. Hopefully back to playing guitar in the next month or so .

[guitarist100]

I am having this surgery my consultant says the injection is painful is that true? and i take it the injection is in the hand itself , its been a long wait to get back to guitar playing.

[hachamacha]

@guitarist100 Hi - The injection is painful, no doubt. The thing is that they usually give you a painkiller at the site of the injection. It is still a little painful, not a big deal. You won't probably be able to play guitar that day because your fingers (the hand part is just a node where the finger tendons cross) might be a little numb, painful. Next day, should be OK if it works. Good luck --

[LilRedRasta]

Hey man I got a 3rd degree collateral ligament sprain/tear in my middle finger about 2 years ago.... I never got it fixed I just waited to the swelling went down and started playing guitar again even though it's deformed I can screech it just enough to play...since then it's alot stronger BUT I'm afraid continued playing for 3 hours a day will give me athritis...but I'm to scared to get surgery because I basically learned how to play well with this injury and surgery will change that...do you t

[Chibirin44]

1. you mentioned that you had pain because u didnt use local anetheisia. what did u use instead and whose idea was it to do such? what would u recommend now?

2. Im sure that the surgeon is going to try to push cortisone shots on me, but frankly they rarely solve the problem and i dont want any of the side affects. Did you get the cortisone? If not, how did u convince your doctor to go straight to surgery?

3. How long did it take to shedule the surgery?

Thank you so much for reading.

~ Sam

[hachamacha]

@Chibirin44 Hi Chibirin: This was my idea. I didn't use general anesthetic, but I did use local in my hands. If you're really concerned about the outcome, maybe that's a good idea, because you can 'test' the repair before they close and avoid a return trip if it doesn't work right.

2: I had 2 years , (a lifetime amount, no more remaining) for me, did nothing.

3) 7 years after I started having problems, one week after my hands stopped working.

Good luck, Sam,

Message me if you need more info.

[Chibirin44]

Hi Hashi.

Finally saw a docor about my finger (9 years overdue) and heard for the first time about trigger finger. Now normally this wouldnt be a big issue, but alas, i play the violin and with my luck the trigger finger is on my left hand. Being the musician that u are, im sure u know how devastating this is and how much it can affect your playing and your general mood.

I saw your video and read the discripton beneath and i had a couple of questions that i hope u can answer.

[hachamacha]

@Chibirin44 -- Oops, I guess I just replied. Feel free to contact me if you want more info. This thing worked out well. I wish you the best.

[coolredstratocaster]

Hi Hashi, i'm going in to have this operation next week and i've been following your u tube vid's ... and i was just wondering how long did it take you to get back to a 100% ...?

thank ron mirro

[hachamacha]

@coolredstratocaster Hi crs, For the first finger, it was easy, just 4-7 weeks. When I had 2 done at once, there was a complication so ~6-8 months before I was in really good shape again. Now it's like it never happened.

Best of luck to you - hashi.

[coolredstratocaster]

@hachamacha ,hi hashi , thank you for getting back to me ... i have two more questions. once the bandage and stitches were removed, when were you did you start playing again and were you able to get into any kind of a practice routine .. like running scales ?

thanks again ,

ron

[hachamacha]

@coolredstratocaster Sure thing. Playing again? I actually have around here somewhere on youtube a video of me playing the day of the surgery. As far as playing 'out' goes, ~3-4 weeks because needed more stamina for a gig.

Re: Practice routine: I never really stopped once surgery was completed in the first case. In the 2+3 surgery, I lost feeling in those fingers for months, so I still practiced, sometimes hurt/cut the fingers because I couldn't feel them. Mine wasn't the usual case though. H

[egarmel]

Today is Sunday and I had my surgery on Thursday. I had a local but did not watch the surgery. My hand was numb from the surgery for about 3 hours. I took a couple of pills for pain but the pain was minimal. I was expecting more. I noticed you were scratching your arm and that itch drove me nuts. My wife is a nurse and I had her take the bandages off. I have a small bandage on now and I am using my fingers to type this post. No pain, but tender around the incision.

Next is therapy.

[hachamacha]

@egarmel

Hi eg,

I ripped my bandages off early as well with no bad effect. The incision's scar tissue is difficult and PT is very good for it. I wish you the best.

Hashi

[unliya]

thanks. It's as I feared. I wanted to watch too but the set up made it so that I couldn't see. Damn. I tested, but in the op room it didn't stick. I was warned not to have the surgery done here (Taiwan) but I don't have money to do it elsewhere. Maybe I should find out how to have it fixed in Thailand where they pioneered minimally invasive TF surgery. Thanks anyhow.

[hachamacha]

@unliya Hi - I had to spend a lot of time negotiating the "I want to see it" surgery ;) -- I guess they never had anyone else ask but they gave in eventually. Yeah, if you can get it somewhere you can see it, it's really pretty amazing. Also the thing I mentioned about 'testing' the operation before closure.

- H

[unliya]

after the thick bandages were removed my finger got stuck. The dr reassured me it was due to adhesive tissue where the wound was healing. I bend my fingers and make fists (now 2 weeks after surgery) and it is quite painful and the finger clicks and sticks. did this happen to you? It feels like the surgery was a failure.. :-(

[hachamacha]

@unliya

Hi unliya,

I stayed up during surgery to watch and test the "fix" because I wasn't interested in returning to surgery if it hadn't worked, but I can say that I had no problems with sticking or triggering after the surgery.

If you still are triggering, I would wonder if surgery did all that should have been done. There's a lot of levels at it. I had a lot of white plaque on my tendon, all removed in surgery.

Feel free to shoot me a message since I'm limited in reply length here.

[unliya]

Thanks for the clip.  I'm scheduled for surgery on Friday after searching for treatment for 5 years! Can't wait!

[hachamacha]

@unliya I hope your surgery goes perfectly. Remember to go for PT if you have any need for it, since the aftermath is the toughest part.

Best of luck to you and you'll probably be playing again in no time, Hashi

[padawan007]

im a guitar player and on my left hand the 4th finger is little bit weird i mean my 3 and 4th finger i can do L with my 3th and 4th finger L SHAPE

[AoxomoxoA]

Good news!

...I'm a bass player with a trigger finger on my middle finger on my plucking hand...I'm a little worried about the potential numbness that sometimes occurs with the surgery...but it's good to hear a success story :-)

[hachamacha]

Hi again -- I sent you a message explaining it in more detail for you. I think it was a terrific thing for me but requires some working out of scar tissue afterward. It is great not to have that damned triggering anymore!

best of wishes to you -- H

[AoxomoxoA]

How is the finger healing? Looks like a month out and I'm wondering how it's going.

[hachamacha]

Really well and thanks for asking.

I've got a bit of scar tissue left which is normal, but the trigger finger is 100% gone at this point.

I've been practicing guitar this week, and can easily play for hours without any of the old problems. I've got a couple of new videos up (on that trigger finger playlist), but I think one more week and I'm in very good shape.

Thanks again -- H

[useryug]

Yus, hope the pain goes away quickly.

Best wishes.

[hachamacha]

@useryug

I'm pretty much me again. I've lost interest in YouTube for a bit, but will be back soon. I've done some gigging and sitting in in town here, and can do 4-5 hours at a stretch no sweat so I'm thinking of recording some of my original instrumentals,

Thanks, Hashi

[pauldil]

Sounds like some very promising results, Hashi! Hope the pain goes away quickly and looking forward to hearing you play again very soon.

Paul

[hachamacha]

@pauldil

Thanks, Paul.

I think I'll be back on here playing any day now. I've just been 'off of youtube' but still playing a lot and have recovered plenty well just over the last 2 months when I got my feeling back.

Thanks, Hashi

[matsbrab]

Glad to hear that your surgery went well. I enjoy listening to you play and hope to do so again in the near future. I wish you a speedy and complete recovery.

[hachamacha]

Thanks, matsbrab : I think things are "healing".

Appreciate it,

Hashi