Wrist fusion

[Trapshooter12]

I need to have my wrist fused from an injury that I don't know when it happened long ago.

I pretend to be a Welder at my job.

Was wondering what the pros and cons would be.

The first Dr I went to said it was messed up and referred me. The second Dr said the same thing but put me in a brace that I feel is more of a bandaid than a fix. The brace is not feasible for work.

 

[powdahound76]

Get a second opinion.
or 3rd.

may be true. may be a short sighted ortho who takes the easy route.

Years ago my brother saw an ortho guy for knee issues. Guy wanted to cut and grind a bunch.

Second opinion guy looked MRI, his shoe soles, did a gait analysis on a treadmill. PT for 2 months.
no pain or issues 25 yrs later if he keeps his PT up 3 days a week (takes 10 min).

Extreme case and clearly it happens.
Find a sports med wrist specialist who is surgically conservative.

I know the best ones, but they are in CO. Have been treated by them more than once.

 

[Maggot]

NOt much info here but medical science has progressed a lot. Probably a good idea to get the surgery before it gets worse, Mabey a 3rd opinion?

I fought hip replacement for a long time but after I did it Ive kicked myself for waiting. If you do it get a surgeon who specializes in that.

 

[Average guy]

Get a second opinion.

or 3rd.

may be true. may be a short sighted ortho who takes the easy route.

Years ago my brother saw an ortho guy for knee issues. Guy wanted to cut and grind a bunch.

Second opinion guy looked MRI, his shoe soles, did a gait analysis on a treadmill. PT for 2 months.
no pain or issues 25 yrs later if he keeps his PT up 3 days a week (takes 10 min).

Extreme case and clearly it happens.
Find a sports med wrist specialist who is surgically conservative.

I know the best ones, but they are in CO. Have been treated by them more than once

He’s right

 

[E. Bryant]

I thought I might be going down a similar path with my ankles about 10 years ago, due to degenerative arthritis. Turned out that what they really need was some minor kinematic adjustment and a shit-ton of work invested into strengthening and flexibility.

I second the suggestion for working with a sports rehab place. Many of those have some pretty good experience with older clients, since that's a significant number of those that get hurt playing tennis, basketball, etc. nowadays. It probably won't be fun, but avoiding surgical options is worth the effort.

 

[stemikel]

Where are you? I know a guy in the Chicago area

 

[Adam B]

What do you need fused? I broke my scaphoid years ago and the only fix for that is a fusion since there is no blood flow to it.

 

[koobs84]

is there any PT that could help with this?

Not sure of the work you do but fusing all the wrist bones together is going to cause significant loss in range of motion.

 

[Average guy]

My good friend ended up with some fusion in his hand. He also is a welder. He found a good work around after surgery by using a Tweco flex neck when running wire. They allow infinite positioning of the tip that wasn’t possible with his limited range of motion