Background
About 4 years ago I started having pain in the middle finger of my dominant hand. Presented mostly in the middle joint and is worst when the tip is pressed sideways. Figured it was a sprain (have had lots over the years) so I buddy taped it and went on. Pain would come and go but never really went away. Moved on to various braces. No luck.
In 2023 I had met my deductible from shoulder surgery, so went to a hand specialist. He identified a bone spur on the xray in the first joint (closest to the palm) of that finger and said he thought that was the cause. Gave me a cortisone shot in that joint. That worked. Pain went away completely for about 9 months.
Went back for another shot and to find out how things might be resolved more permanently, like removing the bone spur. He did the shot and said the permeant fix was joint replacement. I was a a bit taken aback. He is a bit gung-ho and cocky, but didn't really press that it needed to be done soon.
When that shot wore off, I went to a different hand doctor to get a second opinion. He agreed about the bone spur and that joint replacement was the only surgical solution. Then he added that he would not recommend the joint replacement for me at my age (54) and activity level. That he would advise years of the shot because "joint replacement in the hand is not as far along or successful as some other places."
I never really got an answer as to why they cannot just remove the bone spur.
Wondering if our TA H&F gurus can clarify this for me and if anyone has had success with other options to treat or resolve this issue. Last shot is wearing off and it is really annoying. Hurts most of the time and ranges from 1 to 7 or 8 in pain level. So gonna go get another cortisone shot soon.
About 4 years ago I started having pain in the middle finger of my dominant hand. Presented mostly in the middle joint and is worst when the tip is pressed sideways. Figured it was a sprain (have had lots over the years) so I buddy taped it and went on. Pain would come and go but never really went away. Moved on to various braces. No luck.
In 2023 I had met my deductible from shoulder surgery, so went to a hand specialist. He identified a bone spur on the xray in the first joint (closest to the palm) of that finger and said he thought that was the cause. Gave me a cortisone shot in that joint. That worked. Pain went away completely for about 9 months.
Went back for another shot and to find out how things might be resolved more permanently, like removing the bone spur. He did the shot and said the permeant fix was joint replacement. I was a a bit taken aback. He is a bit gung-ho and cocky, but didn't really press that it needed to be done soon.
When that shot wore off, I went to a different hand doctor to get a second opinion. He agreed about the bone spur and that joint replacement was the only surgical solution. Then he added that he would not recommend the joint replacement for me at my age (54) and activity level. That he would advise years of the shot because "joint replacement in the hand is not as far along or successful as some other places."
I never really got an answer as to why they cannot just remove the bone spur.
Wondering if our TA H&F gurus can clarify this for me and if anyone has had success with other options to treat or resolve this issue. Last shot is wearing off and it is really annoying. Hurts most of the time and ranges from 1 to 7 or 8 in pain level. So gonna go get another cortisone shot soon.