How long does it take to heal ligaments ?

JohnW63

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Long story made short.

I strained a tendon under my ring finger grabbing a dog collar, when our two dogs were going at it over a varmint one of them killed, then I strained a ligament on the side of my index finger twisting a TV mount knob too hard ( the knuckle popped really loud too. ) and then tried to punch one too many Amazon boxes open, where had real strong tape holding it together, instread of the happy blue Amazon tape. All on my left hand, all in the matter of a few weeks. After three weeks of Aleive and other NSAID pills, things aren't that much better in all sore and stiff spots. The doc I saw for the ligament said that connective tissues that get less blood flow take the longest to heal.

So, if you have had a finger injury of these types, just how long did it take to be all better ?
 

txbumper57

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For me John it all depends on how bad the ligament is strained. If it is strained enough to re-aggravate on a regular basis it can take a long time to heal. If it is not that bad of a strain I normally see a good amount of improvement after about a week or two. If it is a bad strain then it can take up to 6-8 weeks sometimes. If you continue to re-aggravate it you pretty much start from scratch every time it flares up.

Something to consider doing is alternating Heat and Cold 30 minutes each on it whenever you can. You can get the Gel Ice packs to put in the freezer and the gel heating packs that are activated by the Microwave at Walmart for pretty cheap. The method of Alternating Heat and then Ice on the affected area will increase blood flow to that area ultimately allowing the ligament to heal quicker. Try to keep as much mobility in the finger as possible without putting a lot of force on it. Other than that the best thing to do (and I know this sounds obvious but is sometimes hard to actually do) is to try and avoid aggravating it as much as possible during the recovery period.


TX
 
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CA-35

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Something to consider doing is alternating Heat and Cold 30 minutes each on it whenever you can. The method of Alternating Heat and then Ice on the affected area will increase blood flow to that area ultimately allowing the ligament to heal quicker. TX

He's giving you pearls John, absolute words of wisdom.

Don't even consider it. Do it immediately if not sooner. The cold reduces swelling and inflammation and then the heat will bring the blood back with all its nutrients.
 

txbumper57

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He's giving you pearls John, absolute words of wisdom.

Don't even consider it. Do it immediately if not sooner. The cold reduces swelling and inflammation and then the heat will bring the blood back with all its nutrients.

After hundreds of Therapy Sessions on my Shoulder and left arm I could probably get my degree in Physical Therapy, LOL!
 

JohnW63

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I haven't re-injured it ( them ), as far as I know, but it's less comfortable playing and I need to limber up or put some heat on the index finger to get less stiff. Got some tunes I need to get down before the next recital on the first week of April. They never really swelled up, much, so I hope that means it was minor. I guess I'm just being impatient. I normally shake things off pretty quickly.
 

adorshki

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Not that we're sticklers for that kind of thing around here, but shouldn't this be in the Aches & Pains forum?
More to the point though, there're topical cannabinoid available now which some people swear by, even if they don't get you high.
Personally I agree with the "don't keep re-injuring it" crowd, and the hot/cold to stimulate circulation.
Glucosamine with chondroitin and MSM (potentiates it) could help if there are micro-tears of cartilaginous connective tissue, what connects the ligaments to the bone.
 

JohnW63

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There is an Aches and Pains forum ? I never noticed it. Mods, feel free to relocate this thread.

Glucosamine with chondroitin

We have some of that laying around, I may start taking that. Can I assume that , " If it doesn't really hurt, it's OK to do " with my sore fingers ?

I just don't want to stop playing and learning, while I wait for zero symptoms.
 

davismanLV

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What the doc said about ligaments and connective tissue getting less blood supply and healing more slowly is absolutely true. When I had my bone spurs removed on my left heel, they had to take my Achilles tendon off the heel bone and then reattach it. I had to be non-weight bearing for TWO MONTHS to make sure it was fully healed before starting ambulation again. So it can take time. Then increase your activity slowly, so you don't restrain or reinjure. TX's advice about alternating hot and cold is good advice. Keeps inflammation down and increases blood flow which should expedite healing. Did the doc give you any idea how long this may take to be back to normal?
 

JohnW63

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Tom,

Not really. Since the index finger injury was on the clock, it was a workers comp thing. I got to see a PA in the workers comp doctors office. It was rather embarrasing calling the incident in.

Me: Hi. I need to report an injury.
Them: What is the nature of your injury ?
Me: I was twisting a knob with my left hand and my knuckle popped really loud and my first knuckle is kinda' sore and a little stiff.
Them: Any bruising or swelling ?
Me: No
Them: On a scale of 1 - 10, what is your pain level.
Me: Um...a 1, I guess.

At this point, I can imagine the lady putting her hand over the mouth mic on a headset and saying, " Psst. Sally. I got a guy on the phone reporting he cracked his knuckle and wants to claim workers comp ! "
 

davismanLV

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Yeah, it gets a bit dicey with these questions when they ask you these things. After filing my disability claim because of my heel bone spurs bilaterally and two bad knees. They'll say, "Did this happen at work?" And I'm like, "Well if you consider the last 16 years I've been working on my feet every day I've worked, then, yes." They don't really even know how to respond to that so..... I get ya. Good news is, after 2 years of fighting, I finally won my case. I'm officially disabled. Now if I could play guitar better...... :beaten:

But I have more practice time.....
 

davismanLV

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Thanks, guys! It's funny but after this two years of stress with the case just dragging on and on, I guess I didn't know how much stress I was truly under until it was removed from my shoulders. It still doesn't seem real. But I didn't mean to hijack John's thread..... sorry, amigo.
 

JohnW63

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Tom,

Hijack away ! I figure anyone who thoughtfully contributes to any of my posts is free to have the same number of veers as their thread post count. By that, I think you still have one more in the bank !

On the topic of your newly proclaimed disability, I hope you make great progress healing.
 

davismanLV

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Thanks, John. I appreciate it. I try not to whine or carry on much here or anywhere but.... this getting old stuff SUCKS and .... it's just mean. You spend your whole life developing skills like riding horses and skiiing, and playing guitar and .... all the things start going south and then you can't do them. Unfair! But no one ever said life is fair. In August I am eligible for Medicare so I'll start replacing defective parts. Maybe we can sneak your thumb in??
 

JohnW63

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Heat, cold, and Condroiten , man ! I'll give it time. Maybe it will help my shoulder too ! But that's a different story.
 

Los Angeles

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I've gone through a lot of injuries in my day, and of course the only real answer here is "it depends." Ligaments sometimes heal just fine and sometimes never heal without surgical reattachment, and even then they might never be 100%.

All that said, I'll take a ligament injury over a severe tendon injury. Those things seem to never go away. Every time you use the muscle, you risk going back to square one.
 

JohnW63

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Luckily, nothing I have done is a tear. Just strains. My Chiropractor heard my story, manipulated the finger and joint, and figured I might have some micro tears in the index finger. He told me I probably should back off the guitar playing for awhile. :(
 

davismanLV

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Although they do different jobs they're both connective tissue. They just connect different things. One, bone to bone (like to stabilize a joint) and the other connects muscle to bone (to move body parts) but they have similar qualities. I think in both cases reducing movement and allowing them to heal (which takes a while) is a good thing. Well, NOT good for guitar playing, but good for healing. It takes patience and time. Time I have plenty of (as far as I know) and patience is not one of my strong points. I have a meme that would be good to post here but it would get me in trouble. It's one of those old-timey etching type photos of one old guy pontificating to another one and it says, "Why does PATIENCE have to be a virtue? Why can't HURRY THE F**K UP be a virtue?"

This may still get me in trouble but it's true...... Why can't it??? :stupid:
 
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