Hi Karen

I wish you every success with whichever way you decide to go! Having constant pain in the wrists can be unbearable at times as everything you do involves some sort of wrist action; even if you're lying in bed you still have to hold the book! As for bum wiping ... well!!!!

I have problems with both wrists and significant joint damage in each. In 2003 I was referred to orthopaedics to see what could be done to 1. get rid of the pain and 2. improve mobility. As I am right handed (this wrist was the worst affected) the surgeon suggested I had a wrist replacement as this needed to retain some mobility, a function you lose with fusion. He also felt that at a future date the left wrist could then be fused. This seemed the best way forward because I didn't want to be unable to have some action, even if just for peeling the spuds! A fused wrist creates a lot of problems of its own which you are often not told about. The prime one being personal health, as you mention. You only need to think about it to get the picture ... your wrist does not bend any more and rotation can be painful! Writing can be difficult because there is no movement in the wrist. Trying bandaging your wrist tightly for a couple of hours ... you will get the picture!

I went ahead with the replacement and the op. was successful. Recovery time though was the best part of 12months and that included months in plaster and intensive physio. I had good rotation, more mobility and no pain. Since then I've had a few problems, a revision due to osteophytes (bits of broken bone) getting trapped and locking the mechanism and currently mobility is poor (perhaps the same thing has happened again!) but don't feel up to following it up just now. But it's not painful!

My left thumb joint is fused (kept dislocating). The joint at the base of the thumb was removed and the 'hole' fixed with bits of bone from the joint and then fused. It was pinned for several weeks to hold it all in place but once the pin was out it was great!

Whatever you have done you will be limited to some extent. Lifting weights are limited to about 4kg, but you get to know yourself what you can and can't manage. If you fall, put your arm out and land on it, it could break very easily, fusion or replacement. It all sounds a bit dismal but the upside NO PAIN! It's a big decision to make and much will depend on the state of your wrist and whether one procedure might more appropriate than another. In some very badly damaged wrists it is not possible to replace and fusion is the only way ahead. Your surgeon will organise MRI scans to check damage and should be able to advise you of the best option. That said fusion is the cheapest so you may not get offered a replacement.

Let me know if I can add anything further! Hope this helps,

Lyn x

Hi Karen,

I have had both my wrists fused. Like you i was reluctant to have either of them done when it was first suggested to me and i refused.

I had the right one fused in 2002 after having a tendon rupture of the right ring finger, i had been warned that this might happen but like a fool i ignored the advice. Consequently i had to have a larger op than i would have had if i had taken the advice given to me.

I had my wrist fused with a titanium plate, the head of my ulnar removed, a bone graft from the pelvis and a tendon repair of all my tendons which apparently were all just about to rupture.

The recovery period for all this was six months, with extensive physio and OT sometimes going twice a week to the hand clinic.

I had the second wrist fused in 2004 to prevent having a further tendon rupture. This time i had the same op minus the tendon repair, but including the bone graft and removal of the head of the ulnar.

To be very honest with you the recovery is painful i was in hospital for 6 days and 9 days, and the exercise regime is painful and you have to be prepared to do the exercises at home four times a day.

Long term it has taken the pain out of my wrists although i still have pain in my fingers but not to the same extent.

Both fusions have reduced alot of the function of my hands. I cannot lift anything remotely heavy and have now got used to it but it took me a while. I need a kettle tipper, saw handled knives in the kitchen, and need help from family to make a meal ie lifting casseroles out of the oven draining pans etc. I cannot pull along a suitcase or lift it onto a train. I have adaptations to the car a handbrake adjuster and a push button start and have an automatic as i cannot manage the gear lever.

I did work as a nurse but could not manage after the fusions so took ill health retirement.

All this sounds very negative i know, but the operations have taken the pain out of my wrists and i was told that if i didn't have them done i would end up with my fingers curled up like a claw which i certainly didn't want having worked in a nursing home at one time and seen a patient struggling to eat her meals and wash herself with hands like that.


Hope all this has been a help Karen.

Very best wishes

Bevxx

Please free free to email me for my phone numer if you want to speak to me about any of this.