I apologize as this post will be long d/t so much involved. I am a left-handed nurse who pops pills out of blister packs all evening long. 9 weeks ago, while passing meds, I felt a "pop" in my thumb, particularly in the flexor tendon area. Iced it finished my shift. The next day it was very swollen and extremely sore. I went to an urgent care center who diagnosed me with tendinitis . Put it in a simple splint followed by 3 weeks of pain control physical therapy with no improvement. Went to a hand specialist who xrayed it, negative for fracture, etc. She put me in a cast for 3 weeks to immobilize the area, told me it was tendinitis/sprain. Cast came off.. back to a soft glove type of splint and more PT. Some improvement but I still couldn't grasp, twist or flex my thumb or lean on my hand to get out of a chair, etc. without a lot of pain. Pressure to the area is sometimes so painful~however, goes away once hand is at rest. Last week I had an MRI done which shows subluxation of radial basal joint. I go back to the doc next Tuesday and am still attending PT sessions 2 times a week. I want to go back to work!! but it still hurts and my strength is minimal. Again, its my dominant hand.

My question is ... is this something I have to just suck up and live with? is there anything that can be done to get rid of this pain and weakness? I do take Mobic once a day and motrin if needed. I ice it and apply heat. PT is using ultrasound, ES. Feels good at the time, but once I manipulate my hand, voila ... pain