De Quervain tenonditis slow recovery

I was diagnosed with De Quervain about 4 months ago. It happened while windsurfing and i felt it immediately.
The thing is that i didn't treat it until about 2 months later when it persisted and actually got worse. I went to 2 orthopedists who both told me that the only way out is cortisone injection and if that does not work then surgery which is supposed to be really fast and simple.
I did the injection which had no positive effects and am treating with physio and acupuncture. I'm also using a wrist support for a month now but i really don't see big improvement.
I'm in doubt regarding the surgery, should i do it or not? As all of us here, i'm addicted to the sport and being for 4 months out of the water kills me.

Any one had this in the past?

thanks a lot
Antony

I have had tendonitis at the elbow and at the wrist. The tennis elbow was from windsurfing and stuck around for more than a year until I found a very simple physical therapy thing (using the Thera-Band Flexbar) that cured it in just a few days. I've been fine ever since, and have had to use the Flexbar only a few times when I felt very mild symptoms come back. Original report at boardsurfr.blogspot.com/2010/05/no-more-tennis-elbow.html

My wrist tendonitis (carpal tunnel) went undiagnosed/misdiagnosed for about a year, despite doctor visits. When I finally discovered what it was, wearing a wrist support cured it in a few weeks.

Neither one of these applies directly to your problem, but I'm mentioning it because I think there is hope that you'll find something that will work. Many physical therapists don't know about using the Flexbar for eccentric exercises to cure tennis and golfer elbow. I used it after reading about a clinical study where it worked extremely well; in my case, it worked even better than in the study. Maybe someone has developed a similar exercise for De Quervain. Or perhaps arnica or something else works for you. Try a few things before surgery, and good luck.

I did a quick Google search, and here is one publication that describes eccentric exercises for De Quervain: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3364060/
It's just a single-patient case report, but it helped. It was published by a chiropractor. I've had extremely good and extremely questionable experiences with chiropractors, but even the questionable one seemed to help.

Also, check out this video:

It describes an exercise that worked for the guy who posted. It's also an eccentric exercise (lengthening under load), similar to the Flexbar exercises, but for De Quervain. You may want to start with very low weights, and do the exercise even slower than shown in the video. Definitely worth trying! I just hope you're not already doing it in physio.

I've had big problems with both golfers and tennis elbow,no ops for me but the doctors gave little help ,it took me years to learn how to self manage,admittedly I did abuse them regularly.my advice is rest to a point that it feels comfortable,then slowly build up with lightexexercise.the hardest part is being disciplined not to over do it.you need to get a feel for when you've done enough and how long to rest.elbow supports definitely helped,but only for when I was working the area,take it off when relaxed,ice,and anti inflam gel also some results,but nothing worked more than my own awareness.I'm learning to sail at the moment ,not using a harness and get killer forearm pump regularly,no probs but any twinge in that area and I will be changing my style,oh yeah always look for a different way to hold things that don't strain the effected area,this will give tendons more of a rest

Hi Antony,
Info morts and boardsurfer have but up.is pretty spot on.
Usually rest (which can be frustrating or at least reduced workload) to help settle. As it is now longer going into chronic, cortizone wont help (as u found out). I think surgery might have more risk than gain, especially with this diagnosis.

Once u have had enough of resting from as many aggravating factors then try the strengthening with focus on eccentric (I havent had any experience with flexbar as I usually setup theraband program for clients to take home. But if not too expensive worth a shot over period of 6-8 weeks.

It is worth seeing someone to assess neck and elbow. Chiro vs physio argument is always the debate (I am physio) but as long as they give u the one on one time in rooms and dont sound llike they r feeding to much rubbish then go for it (word of mouth is usuallly best)(happy for u to msg me to see if treatment seems appropriate).

One last thing how was diagnosis confirmed I.e. ultrasound, mri or doctor. It can be one of those confirmed to early when practitioners unsure. I find mri useful as there may be cartilage involvement which could explain length in recovery.
Cheers
Mick