18 Days Post-Op Check

Last Monday, I returned to hospital for my follow-up appointments with the nurse and the occupational therapist. The appointment with the nurse was first and she removed the dressing and the Steri-Strips which were holding my incision closed. I was quite pleased with how small the wound was and I was also pleased that she managed to remove all the sticky strips without it being too painful!

 

She did redress the wound and told me that I would be able to remove the dressing after two days and from that point I'll be able to wash the hand as normal but should avoid soaking it too long as that can compromise the wound healing.  Overall she seemed pleased with the way it was healing and didn't have any concerns or any need to see me again. Before I went round to see the occupational therapist the nurse also gave me a sick note to cover the full six weeks of the healing process. I had been hoping that I might be able to return to work for the start of term but the hospital had always been quite reluctant to discuss that idea. From wearing the splints for 2 1/2 weeks now, I can see that the list of things that I cannot do is too big to enable me to return to work. I am a bit disappointed about this but on balance I think it is the most sensible thing to do.  

 

Next, I went to the occupational therapist. She asked me how I was getting on with my exercises and I expressed my worries that I don't seem to be able to do the movements very effectively. I was hoping she could give me advice as to whether this was normal for this stage in the process or whether I should be doing better by now. I also showed her that my dynamic splint is not holding the fingers  very straight and she did end up adjusting it so that their fingers are held in a more straight position now. She observed me doing my exercises and said that I was doing quite well but also said that we could increase the frequency to every two hours from now on. She also explained to me that after I had removed the dressing I need to massage the skin on the back of my hand and around the scar tissue to help with circulation and to allow the skin to move over the joints. This will help me to regain a full range of movement as well, as the scar tissue can restrict the movement of the skin and tendons if the massage is not carried out. 

 

Overall, I was pleased with this appointment and determined to persevere with my exercise is to regain a full range of movement. The occupational therapist measured the angles of movement that I have at the moment so we can compare next time and hopefully see an improvement. My dynamic splint was less comfortable initially, now that the fingers are being held in a straight position, but my fingers have got used to it over the week and it is now pretty comfortable. I go back to the OT tomorrow to see how I'm getting on - hopefully I will show more improvement and a larger range of movement.