Why is my pinky finger crooked
Flexor Tendon Repair | 1 Year Surgery Update
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all right so lately i've been getting a
lot of questions from people about
the pinky injury and if some of you have
been around since last summer you saw
that i
cut myself really badly it's throughout
several of my videos from last summer
it ended in surgery it was a long
recovery i was off work for three months
and i have been getting tons of people
on here who are having the same surgery
because they had the same injury
and now they're going mike how's your
finger doing now and so i thought
it's been exactly a year july 5th so
today is july
9th it's been a year since i
had this injury and people want to know
how has it healed
how have things come along for it i'm
going to show you guys right now
all right so first let's just show it to
you guys there's what the hand looks
like
there's what the pinky looks like
sideways
and i can't quite straighten it out all
the way
after one year's time it's not become
that big of a deal it was so emotionally
draining and frustrating in the very
beginning because it's almost like
losing a limb
you go from being able to do something
your entire life in
a certain way and then all of a sudden
it doesn't work the same way but
time heals and after enough time a year
it has gotten to a point where my brain
has become used to it
and it annoys me sometimes but it's not
the end of the world really
it was the end of the world in the very
beginning and it probably is for some of
you who are just going through this
right now
but time will heal please just believe
me
and hang in there the most frustrating
part about this is all the scar tissue
that is built up
i've got tons of scar tissue is it
softening over time
very slowly maybe a little bit
it's still just a lot of hard scar
tissue in there
anyway let's kind of get on with this so
a lot of you are wondering can i
actually use the pinky again and the
answer is so here's a here's a normal
healthy pinky
and you can bend it at each joint all
the way down
i can bend it and move it all the way
down
see how that comes up over and down
here's the comparison see if i can i'll
keep that one up
there that's the best i can do with that
one
that's it i can't bend the end of it
right here the tip is dead
and so that's where we're at right now
it does it doesn't do anything
so is it the end of the world no it's
not the end of the world do i wish it
worked fully yeah i do
i wish it worked i really wish it worked
better
back in the beginning yeah that was i
was it was very
emotional to go through but uh now that
i'm a year out my brain's gotten used to
it
it's not the worst thing when i make a
full fist it doesn't curl all the way
under
but i will tell you for those of you
that have had this injury and are
wondering because i know you're
struggling with this
the other fingers get stronger and they
kind of pick up the slack
this one still does function in that it
helps
hold cans it helps hold cups
as far as strength i haven't had my grip
tested since i you know my last visit
with the occupational therapist
and so that's been shoot probably nine
months and so i don't know where my grip
strength is at
it was down obviously compared to
this hand but uh in the you know when i
was going through all this but
it's also because i wasn't using my hand
much at all because it was stuck in a
position like this
now i will tell you i like to lift
weights and
i dead lift with 315 pounds and i'm able
to hold on to that bar just fine for
multiple reps so
it's not it works
i can do pull-ups i do pull-ups with the
weight hanging off of my waist and
i can it's not an issue i don't even
think about it i don't have to focus
extra on my grip it just my hand does
what it needs to do
and that little end of the pinky isn't a
big deal so i hope that helps you guys
who have been through this before um
i'll show you what it looks like up
close here
all right so i hope the camera's picking
this
up actually let's tilt it so you get
more light there
so it is scarred up you can see
hopefully this is picking it up
you can kind of see this part right here
was the biggest problem
it is really hard and there's just a big
ball of scar tissue right there and i
think that's what's blocking the tendon
from being able to bend
um there's scar tissue all throughout
there was the original incision it went
straight up here and then the cut went
straight across
almost cut the end of the finger off but
that's what it looks like now compared
to my other finger
which just bends in real nice this one's
just kind of
thicker and scarred up but i'm used to
it it's not the worst thing in the world
it really isn't and i hope that's you
know if you guys don't get anything else
from it who have been through this
you realize that time will heal this
situation
it's not going to be the end of the
world you will survive
anyway just a quick little update on
this pinky because i know there's a
following of people who saw those
original videos and wanted to see how
things are doing now
will i ever be able to bend that i don't
know
i hate to say no because then that sets
it up in your brain to
not be able to do it but i i work it
occasionally i don't do the exercises
like i used to because i'm constantly
exercising i'm grabbing and working and
doing things and so it's
exercising that finger but uh you know
when you block your pinky here you
should be able to bend it down
when i block it here it doesn't do
anything it just doesn't
go anywhere it's got like the very
slightest amount of wiggle
and that's it but uh i
i kinda have a feeling it's gonna be
like this for life could i have another
surgery yeah i've been told that several
times
do i want another surgery no do i really
want to go through all that again
no i'm 41 years old i think they're
going to bury me like this
i guess the worst thing i could say that
you go through with something like this
is all the scar tissue
gets really cold and the winter was the
worst part and even in the summer when
my hand gets real cold i water a lot i
walk around my property and water
rhododendrons
and that water is coming through there
really cold and sometimes i'll be out
there for an hour
watering and that metal wand is just
freezing cold
by time i get done that finger is just
gummed up i gotta go inside the house
and rinse it in warm water for a few
minutes to get it pliable again
that scar tissue just is not pliable and
so when it gets cold or
cooler it just gets hard and tight and
that's when it gets frustrating but uh
but you get more used to it over time so
i hope this video helped some of you
guys because i know this is a very
frustrating thing for those of you that
have been through an injury like this
and uh you know you want to see updates
and all that and i know how desperate it
feels i totally get it this is a year
later
some of you guys have had worse injuries
than this some of you have been telling
me you've had like your two middle
fingers cut your
index finger your thumb one girl had her
thumb
tendon cut and that would be even that'd
be ten times worse than what i
went through so i can't even imagine
that but
uh whatever the scenario is for you
i promise you time will heal
the emotional part of it but it's going
to take time and there's really nothing
you can
come on cat there's really nothing you
can do to speed that
up so the best advice i can give you if
you're struggling with it is just go sit
in a quiet place meditate
you know just kind of chill out and
forget about everything in life
for a time and just try to relax
and let it all go anyway i hope this was
helpful for you guys
it will get better
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