UKH

Interested to hear anyone else’s experience that’s gone through re-hab after flexor tendon reconstruction / volar plate repair surgery. Thanks in advance 🙂

I’ve had surgery on a trapped Ulna Nerve and Median Nerve and although considerably different, the surgeon said it was the worst he had seen and unlikely to improve.

About 8 years ago i had two open finger dislocations which required tendon reconstruction on both fingers (index and middle) as a result of a fall from a ladder. I was devastated at the time but followed the physio program to the letter and was climbing again in 5 months - the only issue since has been poor circulation in one of the fingers when exposed on really cold days otherwise my recovery has been complete. I salute the NHS.  

Cheers - sounds similar. Do you have any ongoing physio now, and do you climb now with them taped? Had my surgery last week, so a long way to go yet.

After 5 months i started climbing and  have never had to use tape. Within a year after the accident i was back to climbing the same grades as before - i reckon the repaired tendons are just as strong as before the accident. One thing that i think helped was the use of therapy putty (labelled mobillis rolyon) which you can buy in different grades as recommeded by the physio, a bit like a dense  stabilised Playdoh. I think i had about 4 or 5 months of physio from the hospital - i remember tbe physio telling me it takes about 3 months for a tendon to heal after surgery. It was really a case of working on the exercises myself at home every day. I ended up with various foam and rubber balls, spring loaded finger exercise devices and several grades of putty.  When i fell off the ladder my fingers were grotesquely dislocated, bones visible with a snapped tendon in each finger - all i could think about was whether i would climb again so i understand your concerns. Stick with the program and hopefully you will make a similar recovery. Please feel free to ask if you need more info.

The putty sounds interesting - will ask about that when I’m back in next week to have the stitches out. At the moment I’ve got 50 reps of hand exercises every two hours - hurts like hell. Great to hear you got back to the same level quite quickly. Did you do another sport during your lay off time?

Yes, the pain was quite something. Another key element was massaging the affected area on a regular basis (as directed by the physio) to break down scar tissue.

I couldn't risk cycling, skiing or anything that could result in a fall but clocked up hundreds of miles walking locally to keep the cardio up. I discovered places in Newcastle that i didn't know existed.. including a few pubs on the way...