I am having a thumb reconstruction today and will make it my own test of the Canadian healthcare system. In a rather spectacular high speed ski crash at Lake Louise ski resort 2 years ago, I manage to earn what we call “skiers thumb” ( gate keepers thumb if you are from the UK). This is where you rip the inside ligament off the attachment point of the thumb hence making it very hard to undo a jar, open a door or gate, or to pick up a number of objects depending on there shape.
Skiers Thumb can hurt and make having an aposing thumb painful
Skier’s thumb describes an injury of the soft tissue that connects the bones of your thumb together. In medical terms, this soft tissue is called a ligament.
“This injury was originally noted in 1955 as a chronic ligament problem seen in Scottish gamekeepers who damaged their thumbs by repeatedly twisting the necks of hares. The injury was termed the gamekeeper’s thumb at that time. The popularity of recreational downhill skiing has caused this injury to become much more common in the United States and has caused the term gamekeeper’s thumb to be replaced with the more contemporary term, skier’s thumb.
Skier’s thumb now accounts for a significant number of skiing injuries (10%). In severe cases, with complete tearing of the ligament, this injury must be surgically repaired. The ultimate stability of the ligament is important because of its contribution to the grasping function of the thumb.”
My procedure will be to have a donor ligament from my forarm drilled into the thumb above the ball joint on one side (metacarpus) and likely stitched to the remaining ligament near the thumb bone (Phalanx).
It should work well as I know a number of other ski racers who have had it done and they suggest life is easier with a functional apposing thumb. The hassle is that Dr. Linn suggests it will be 8 weeks to a proper heal and although the old way was not great I could still do most things and now I will have to not use my thumb until given the OK as to pull out the insert would be foolish.
I guess I will have a great place to introduce a Power Web and other hand exercisers in to my life in say about 8 weeks.
Why is this my test of the Canadian Healthcare system you might ask? I will hopefully follow up and share my experiences as I go through this operation and get back to blog readers with a follow-up.
