# dislocated thumb



## dompedro3 (Jan 26, 2004)

took a spill while surfing this weekend, dislocated my thumb (think thumb sticking the wrong way) I reset it myself and swam back to shore...then drove 20 mins to the hospital...ouch

ER doctor it could be as long as 8 weeks before i'm allowed to get back on a bike 

going to see my doctor and orthopedic surgeon this week to see what they can do...internet seems to agree on 3-4 weeks in a cast and then 5-6 weeks to heal completely...my summer riding season is over  might as well start shopping for cold weather riding gear now.

anyone else have any experience with this? Apparently it's quite common among skiers.


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## MERCURY (Aug 23, 2004)

I was training for my first long distance ride. decide to cross train on roller blades. went
down, ring finger pointing at very bad angle, extreme pain. pull out, ease back in, ah 
relief of sorts. it's 5 weeks before we go to do Pacific coast. only been trainig 2 weeks.
ends up being 2 weeks till surgery. so i was thinking if i don't go on this ride i might
never. so kept training, had the surgery, ( i had blown the joint apart, a broken bone would have been sweet ) they drilled a hole in the bone and pulled the ligament thru
and tied a knot. Also has a brass pin stiking out of my finger which i got removed 4 days
before we left. also at the same time at work i got a sliver of wood jammed up the index
finger of my other hand. it was swollen and infected and i took antibiotics for the first
3 weeks of the trip. my surgeried finger had been fileted. it looked like a bratwurst.
i rigged my handle bars into a break my wrists if i crash configuration because i was 
riding an old 12 speed and had to reach down to shift and i used my wrist to help stabilize.
that cast you have could be a problem. maybe make a little hook or a little " u " shaped
piece of plastic that you could attach to the bottom of your cast and just lay it over the bars. just don't crash. even with my problems i still rode portland - sandiego - arizona.
and more importantly 6 more long trips. had i not done the first( I turned 45 on that one)
might not have done the others. so my motto is " let nothing intimidate you ". do what
seems reasonable. i don't know why your doctor would tell you to stay off your bike unless
maybe he isn't a cyclist. if this is the case i would get another opinion.


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## Sinister Mike (Jul 31, 2007)

Crashed July 20th. Went down so fast, no time to jettison my steed. Among various abrasions and a bruised rib, I seemed to have jammed my thumb. Iced it periodically for days. Finally went to E.R. X-rays showed no broken bones or fractures. Told I have gamekeepers thumb. Referred to a orthopedic surgeon. He confirmed. Out 3 weeks. Researched this on the web. I actually have skiers thumb(acute) as opposed to gamekeepers(cumulative). Think thumb being bent back toward the wrist. I am wearing a splint and it is still swollen to this day. Of course I rinked out on the most mundane stretch of trail in the "woods", thats how it usually goes, right. Well after reading MERCURY's post I don't feel too bad. Good luck MERCURY.


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## dompedro3 (Jan 26, 2004)

Sinister Mike said:


> Crashed July 20th. Went down so fast, no time to jettison my steed. Among various abrasions and a bruised rib, I seemed to have jammed my thumb. Iced it periodically for days. Finally went to E.R. X-rays showed no broken bones or fractures. Told I have gamekeepers thumb. Referred to a orthopedic surgeon. He confirmed. Out 3 weeks. Researched this on the web. I actually have skiers thumb(acute) as opposed to gamekeepers(cumulative). Think thumb being bent back toward the wrist. I am wearing a splint and it is still swollen to this day. Of course I rinked out on the most mundane stretch of trail in the "woods", thats how it usually goes, right. Well after reading MERCURY's post I don't feel too bad. Good luck MERCURY.


i am about 6 days ahead of you in terms of when i did it. I have a small splint but find that I can simply not brake with my right hand effectively, I just do not have enough strength in my thumb. Doc says the splint comes off mid august and if may be 2-6 months after that (large range) before my hand returns to normal strength ( I will be biking before then.)

Speedy recovery Mike


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## Sinister Mike (Jul 31, 2007)

Thanx dompedro. Best of luck too you as well.


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## Dirt Rider (Jun 11, 2007)

A guy at work dislocated his also. He was out for around 3 months. They had to put a pin in his thumb for it to heal correctly.


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## xcguy (Apr 18, 2004)

*Many ways to mess up a thumb*

I've seen friends with different injuries spend differing times healing but they all took either forever or longer than that. Like skiers thumb where you get it caught in the pole strap and it goes backwards to "simple" dislocations like yours. They all involve injury to ligaments and tendons and the thumb joint itself. I just say take the LONG view. Healing correctly now is what's most important. :thumbsup:


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## MERCURY (Aug 23, 2004)

Hi to all: I can see where the thumb injury can be problematic to riding. I agree with xcguy. As with all injuries, the body will try to heal, try to not make it any harder.
remember, there are plenty of things you can do off of the bike to stay fit. I personnally
don't reccommend roller blading.


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## Sinister Mike (Jul 31, 2007)

23 days wasted. Was diagnosed with skiers thumb. Given a splint and told to wait, wait, wait. Well three weeks goes by and no improvement. Not a smidgen. In fact it was getting worse. Blueish hue, tingling,numb,throbbing. 5 days shy of seeing my ortho for the second time and I just cant wait. I feel as though my thumb is dying on my hand. I called an old "martial arts" friend. Years ago he fixed my wifes ankle. Similar scenario, docs said "she sprained it good", told to stay off it, soak it elevate it, and wait wait wait. Three weeks go by without any improvement. Still swollen. Still bruised. Still fu**ed up! My grandmaster suggested I "see" Gary. I carried my wife into class that day, and 10 minutes later we walked out. Her ligament was rolled out of position. In three minutes she was fine. Told to walk around on the mat. She balked "Your crazy!" One step, two steps One lap, Two laps. In five minutes she was running laps! I sh*t you not. Why didn't I "see" gary right away? I went to the E.R. And I believed their doctors. Thinking My ligament was damaged, I didn't want Gary tugging and pulling on my thumb. Well after 23days I said screw it. Gary pulled my severely jammed thumb out and Its coming back to life. Skiers thumb my ass. If I left it up to the docs I'd still be wearing that damn splint!


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## MERCURY (Aug 23, 2004)

To Sinister MIke: unbelieveably believable. I actually come from a medical family. There are good and bad. But I personally have very little faith. Last time i trusted them, I had
just started working again in the aircraft junkyards around tucson. Lots of various animal
and bird scat. Six days later, severe pain in abdomen, fever, chills, nausea, vomiting.
48 hours later, fearing " alien birth " i went to the emergency room. left to lay there in
agony for close to 12 hours ( no insurance and was later billed for extended emergency 
room stay ) and having been violated painfully by a male doctor ( you know, gotta check
that old prostrate ) not one word out of my mouth was listened to. they decided it was my
liver cause i said i drank a six pack a day. I said i thought i had poisoned myself 
( exteraneous ingestion of rat and bird **** ) and that my intestine had cramped and shut down. well any way a $3.00 fix ( fleets enema ) fix me three days later. my bill was
$9000.00. even if you are dying, don't go to the hospital. oh yeah any way we could
all go to Gary. he'd have a bang-up ( pun inteneded ) business and we would all get
well without going broke and being in pain for useless reasons.


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