The Finger Front

Exciting things have happened since the last finger update.  If you like medical details, read on.  If not, then just skip this post.

I went to the hand doctor and OT on the Tuesday after Labor Day.  The verdict was that it was healed enough to start exercises.  Woo-hoo!  I'm still wearing the splint all the time except to take it off to do exercises 6-8 times a day.  Mostly I'm doing 6 times a day because I haven't been able to figure out how to get into a routine of 8 times a day.

During the 6 weeks of continuous splinting non-bending, I did DIP Blocking and MP (Flat Rooftop) exercises 4-6 times a day with 10 reps for each exercise.  This was to prevent the joints from getting stiff, to keep the ligaments moving so that they didn't attach to the bone in wrong places, and to prevent a boutonniere.  To tell the truth, those exercises were pretty easy and quick.  Sometimes I'd be an overachiever and do 15 reps instead of 10.  I would also do DIP Blocking on the adjacent ring finger because it was having sympathy pain.

Once the "real" exercise phase began, the first week consisted of 8 exercises (6-8 times a day).  I still did DIP Blocking and and MP exercises, but then I added two different PIP exercises (PIP Blocking and Individual PIP Flexion), Three Fists, and Towel Scrunches.  Everything was 10 reps each except the towel scrunches, which was 20 reps.  The towel scrunches were just a sneaky way to get me to do more of one of the fist exercises.  And, the OT said something about towel scrunches being good for coordinated motion.

This week I went back to the OT, and the exercises changed.  The ones that are the same are the DIP Blocking, PIP Blocking, Three Fists, and Towel Scrunches.  Plus, three passive exercises were added (read here:  stretching exercises) where I stretch the DIP and PIP joints individually plus do a combination stretch (10 reps each to a count of 3).  In addition, I do five more of the combination stretches where I'm supposed to hold the bent position and the stretch for 3-5 counts.  If that isn't enough, three times a day I'm supposed to do some exercises with a special putty.  It's a non-Newtonian fluid, and the OT called it "naughty putty" because if you leave it sitting on or in anything other than its container, trouble is likely to occur.  Anyway, it's this putty stuff that's like a combination of gak and silly putty.  I do some hand rolls and more "making a fist" exercises.  By the end of all that, I'm feeling the small aches and pains and am ready for the finger to go into the splint for a bit.

See below for some exercise illustrations.  That's the update for now!