extensor tendon

[ewjohns]

Rip

I sliced my ring finger extensor tendon in two. I had surgery and they repaired it this was one day ago. The doctors are saying 4-6 months to heel I was wondering if you have had any experience with anyone who had this happen and if grip strength can e fully recovered. Or any thought on the heeling process.

BTW
This was a mother to type....

[Mark Rippetoe]

No experience with it. We'll ask.

[Jonathon Sullivan]

4-6 months sounds like a long time, even for a tendon injury, but he's the surgeon and he was in your hand, so there it is. Tendons heal slow as fuck. It's a bumnmer.

If it's your ring finger extensor tendon, the effect on your grip strength won't be as bad as a flexor tendon injury, an injury to one of the two prime fingers or, god forbid, a collateral ligament injury to the thumb, which can leave you with a lifetime of handing the mayonnaise jar to your girlfriend so she can open it for you. If the injury was well-repaired, you should do okay in the long run, but you'll have to be patient. If you re-injure it or do something that causes failure of the anastamosis, you're deeply screwed. My strategy would be one of obedience to my hand surgeon.

Tell him you're willing to suffer to get your grip strength back and want aggressive PT and ROM exercises when he thinks you're ready for them. Then do them. They're going to hurt.

Luck.

[ewjohns]

Sully thank you for your input. I will be listening to my surgeon. I thought it sounded a little long also. I am thinking hill sprints and squats are going to be the bulk of my program for a while hopefully i can maintain strength. I am going crazy setting on my ass they told me to sweat as little as possible until the cast is removed in a week and a half. I guess the next month or so will tell me more than anything.