Physical Symptoms

This is a summary of how the physical side of things developed from the time of the accident to present day.

The most surprising thing at the time was the total lack of pain.

I assure you; things changed.

Feeling:

I would say that after 26 months I'm delighted with progress, as indeed are the Hand Team at the LGI. I have limited sensation in that if touched the hand tickles, but there is still not enough for me to recognise objects purely by feel.

Temperature:

Hot and cold sensation is fine now, almost as good as new, but watch out for the cold! In the early days even going near a freezer section in a shop caused my hand to feel like it had been stuck in an ice bucket.

It's the strangest feeling; it used to react to the slightest change in temperature or even a draft in entirely random ways. This started to get better around the 6 month point for me but as far as I can tell the tendency to really feel the cold will remain a feature.

It looked dumb but; putting my hand in a thick sock with a plastic bag over the sock, and then another sock with a bag over that, tied at the forearm; was sufficient to avoid anything cold or drafty touching the skin. This deprived my newly forming nerves of any temperature variation or draft they could naively misinterpret as a liquid nitrogen attack.

Movement:

I've been pretty diligent with the physio after a self imposed dodgy start and I'm sure that things would be even easier now if I'd made it a habit earlier. So take note!

As a result of the amount of scar tissue in my wrist, the abiding sensation is that my hand is now full of Plasticine. First thing on a morning it's like the Plasticine is cold and difficult to work with, but as I exercise it and massage the scar area it becomes softer allowing tendons to move within it more freely.

The more movement, the better it becomes; but it still feels like Plasticine. For all that it's not uncomfortable, just restricted.

Functionality 14 Months after Surgery:

Rather than describe it, I've put together a brief video showing examples of what I was able to do. I think it's pretty amazing because I remember how I felt staring at the open wound. I'm aware there might be others able to do more than I've managed  and those who haven't got as far as this. This is for the latter who might need a little encouragement; it's not a competition.


Pain:
There's no point pretending that the first month is anything other than totally unpleasant. The hand was heavily bandaged and kept in the same position all the time using a plastic cast. The wrist had to be bent down as far as possible to avoid strain on the newly connected tendons arteries and nerves, and my fingers were in the shape of a loose fist. Everything was heavily swollen I can't recall having much movement at all in either my wrist or fingers.

It soon started to hurt, which I guess was a good thing in that it showed that nerves were beginning to work again. What I wasn't expecting was what happens when nerve endings get reunited. It started with what felt like an occasional mild electric shock in my arm, causing it to jolt in pain. If that had been the extent of it I would have been fine; but on occasion this mild shock progressed to something akin to being Tasered!

Now I'm the first to admit that I'm soft, so if this is what has to happen, I couldn't think of one good reason why I should have to feel it. My GP prescribed Pregabalin, which is a treatment for epilepsy. It worked fine after about a week.

By January 2012 (11 months) I was pain and drug free.

However not all the pain is physical . . . . .