[jhynesrockmtn]

I see a BOT has resurrected this thread. Timely. I have been dealing with CMC joint arthritis pain now for several months. It impacts both hands but the left is the worst. I had a consult with a hand surgeon yesterday and they re-did xrays before the visit.

He just looked at me and said, sorry, I don't have any good news. You have significant CMC joint or Basilar thumb arthritis in both thumbs. The right actually looks worse on xray so I'm not sure why the left is more painful. I'm right handed. I'll be 62 in April.

I had two of the most painful injections I've done. They do steroid guided by xray into the joint. Yesterday was very bad. The shots hurt during and after. It feels like a balloon is being blown up in the joint. I got what they call "steroid flare" in my left joint yesterday afternoon. Super bad constant ache. Luckily I had some left over hyrdo's from a mouth surgery several months back. It is way better this morning. He said by Saturday I should be basically pain free.

He said he as a few hundred patients that do these injections annually and it provides good relief. Surgery is the next step, but it is a long recovery and he said while the pain relief is excellent, "it's not the thumb god gave you" after.

We'll see how the injections hold up. I've had them in my knee and shoulder before. I'm a type 1 diabetic and steroids really mess with your blood sugar for a few days. Even at this low dose.