Tenosynovitis

I've been struggling with tenosynovitis for the last 10 weeks or so. That's basically tendonitis of the thumb. The tendon sheaths in the diagram to the left (click to see a bigger picture) get inflamed and rub against the tendon, causing pain. It's worst early in the morning, and also when I pick things up, write, or attempt to stretch.

I originally went to my PCP, who prescribed Naproxen (Aleve) and a generic splint from the local pharmacy. I don't take the naproxen because I only have 1 kidney and naproxen plays havoc on the kidney (all the anti-inflammatory pain medicines do). And the splint really didn't fit well and so I haven't been wearing it as much as I should.

So today, I went to see a hand orthopedic specialist in Lawrence. The wait was terrible (almost 2 hours). But once I got seen, everybody was extremely professional and knew exactly what was going on and how to treat it, etc. It's obvious that they've treated this condition many, many times. The doctor injected me with some steroids. Then he sent me to another room where a technician made a custom-fitted splint for me (the doctor joked that my generic splint was a one-size-fits-nobody splint).

I'm supposed to wear it all day except for showers, and take it off about 5 times a day and gently exercise the thumb. Then I'm to go back to the doctor in 2 weeks. We'll see how it goes.