The latest thing for me to research is into Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). According to the NHS it is “a poorly understood condition where a person experiences persistent severe and debilitating pain”.

On 7th March, 2022, I required surgery on my left hand for Dupuytren’s Contracture. This is a condition which affects the palmar fascia, and the common signs are the bending of the fingers down towards the palm of the hand. Usually the outside two fingers, but can affect the whole hand.

A pretty straight forward operation apparently which good success rates. Unfortunately for me this hasn’t been the case. I often wonder if in a previous life I was perhaps a rather naughty person – over the past 6 years I have had nothing but problems, one after the other with my health. There isn’t much known about this disease, no-one in my family has it, it doesn’t appear to be diet related and my diet is really good. They mention a possible alcohol link, and granted I used to drink every day prior to my cancer diagnosis. I very rarely drink now, so perhaps this is the left overs of my previous life!! This condition literally appeared over a period of a few weeks during the lockdown we experienced in 2020. Perhaps it was a fear reaction?

My body and perhaps my mind has gone into overdrive and is still reacting to a trauma response to my hand. My hand is still swollen, I cannot bend properly my 3 middle fingers, and the middle finger which was operated on along with the palm of my hand are extremely painful. It actually hurts still to touch or rub the skin around the scars. And every time I stretch my hand out, it feels like the skin will split. My body seems to have laid extra scar tissue along these incisions as well. I have had several invasive surgeries through my life without this response.

I have seen the surgeon and he has prescribed pregabalin, which is supposed to help with the nerve relationship with pain – change the pain pathways. It has reduced the pain a little not but enough for me to use my hand properly. This medication is also prescribed for anxiety and depression – I am neither of these things – it is a drug which is addictive so you have to have a plan to come off it.

I am seeing the physio every week at the hospital and have exercises, play dough, a splint to wear at night, various pressure bandages for my finger, and silicone tubing and pads. None of these things are reducing the swelling, helping with the finger movement or the pain. The best thing that the physio suggested is alternately immersing my hand in hot and cold water – 1 minute in hot then 30 seconds in the cold water. This actually feels good and relieves the pain for a short while.

Tomorrow I am going to try out Shock Wave Therapy. I had never heard of it before, but a friend of mine who is a runner has it for an injury and suggested I try it out. So I am!

According to https://www.shockwavetherapy.eu/subpage#top shockwave therapy is “a multidisciplinary device used in orthopaedics, physiotherapy, sports medicine, urology and veterinary medicine. Its main assets are fast pain relief and mobility restoration. Together with being a non-surgical therapy with no need for painkillers makes it an ideal therapy to speed up recovery and cure various indications causing acute or chronic pain”. 

“Shockwave is an acoustic wave which carries high energy to painful spots and myoskeletal tissues with subacute, subchronic and chronic conditions. The energy promotes regeneration and reparative processes of the bones, tendons and other soft tissues”. 

I will report back with my experiences over the course of the next few weeks.

I also wonder who else is experiencing this after an operation? What they have found to help with the pain management and what alternative treatments have been tried? Most importantly of all – does it eventually go away? I sincerely hope so, life is tough with only the full use of one hand with the other in pain 24/7 and one which cannot pick up a tea cup properly.

Also on the list to try is a flotation tank, maybe that will switch off the nerve/pain relationship that has gone into overdrive! There has to be something out there for me to try which yields results!