UKC

Hi all,

I'm looking for an Orthopaedic consultant with experience with treating climbing related hand and wrist injuries - more specifically TFCC injuries. I'm based in North Yorkshire but am willing to travel in the likely event there is no-one that fits the bill in my region. Anyone have any knowledge or previous experience with this?

Before you go anywhere near a surgeon and their knife, I'd advise going to see Janet Lech at Easingwold. I had terrible (as I thought, climbing related) shoulder problems causing intense pain. This went on for about 5 years and was so bad on some days I could not drive or use mouse and keyboard. My GP prescribed pain killers and sent me to see a surgeon who said that he could operate but not sure what for. Ended up with a physio who did steroid jabs in the shoulder which helped for ca 10 months per jab. My wife (also a physio) thought it was neck related and worked on that, which also helped, but it still recurred. When I went to see Janet, as soon as I said' "I've got a problem with my neck", she said, "Yes, I could hear that when you walked in - come and stand in front of this mirror - I've got my hands level with your hips - what do you see?" I said, "Your right hand is 2 inches higher than your left" and she replied, "Yes - so, that's what's causing the problem in your neck - now, what's causing the problem in your hips?" An hour and a half later, I came away with a handful of Pilates type exercises to do every day (10 mins worth) and I haven't had a problem since. It'll cost you ca £85 (might have gone up a bit since I went) and I've never felt my money was better spent.

https://www.fht.org.uk/users/lech149940

If you do end up going down the surgical route I received superb care from Miss Victoria Deans in Halifax, I broke my wrist in Chamonix and Sallanches made a complete mess of the surgery.

Once I got back home it was described as an exercise in turd polishing but she listened to my hopes for an outcome and has left me with a very functional and pain free wrist.

Not local to you but not an unrealistic journey.

You could always check for a holder of the UK UIAA/ICAR/ISMM diploma of mountain medicine who is also a hand surgeon. Check www.medex.org.uk .

David Hillebrandt 

While I cannot recommend anyone, I snapped my TFCC 5 years ago. The surgeon recommended I do nothing and after the initial inflammation subsided and some physio it has not caused me any problems.

Thank you all so much for your suggestions, so helpful! Fingers crossed, not planning surgery but was considering steroid injection. 

I don't know what that nutcase above is suggesting some random quack for, but please for the love of god ignore it along with the homeopathy.

Preface - snapped radius v badly mountain biking 3 years ago, tore tfcc with it, plate + 12 screws, for 6 months after bone healed I couldn't even open a door with left hand due to tfcc pain. Approx 9 months later I was almost pain free, no surgery

1) Go and buy a wrist widget. No, seriously, google it and buy it. Balk at the £30, and then once you have it get your mother to sew you a more robust version from velcro (as it will fall apart in a few months).  75% of TFCC injuries will slowly heal or become manageable just by wearing this (but I mean wearing it for like months on end).  TFCC does not stop hurting because every time you open your hand it spreads your radius and ulnar apart a bit and that pulls on the tfcc. Wrist W stops this.

2) The best hand surgeon in the north is Doug Campbell in Leeds, who is one of the top hand surgeons in europe, advisor to things like the olympics, pga tour e.t.c.  I would advise you to pony up £200 for an initial consultation, then ask (he is fine with this) to go onto the NHS waiting list for an MRA (like an MRI but with contrast dye). He has looked at lots of TFCC tears and understands the balance between repair, debridement, and leaving to fix.  I went back and forth between like 5 crap consultants for ages until I just paid him for an hour and a half of his time.  Listen to what he says and do it.

Best of luck.