How does the ring finger surgery alternative of Dry Needling and Electro-Acupuncture compare with ring finger surgery recovery? At my dry needling and orthopedic acupuncture clinic in Tampa, FL I treat ring finger pain with advanced procedures on a regular basis.
For starters, the ring finger surgery alternative involves dry needling & electro-acupuncture which has no downtime for recovery while ring finger surgery recovery takes months. I take a comprehensive approach that treats the joint, tendons, ligaments, muscles and nerves that can contribute to ring finger pain.
Let me give you a short case study on a patient who had a 90% improvement in his ring finger pain without surgery. DQ is a 37 year old man with a long history of left ring finger pain after a fall. He was first evaluated by our clinic in May 2019. He was treated with dry needling in electro-acupuncture for a series of 8 treatments spaced apart once a week. His CMC, the surrounding ligaments and flexor tendons and his ulnar nerve were needled and stimulated with a low frequency in the range of 2-4hz (This protoco is something your regular acupuncturist and you’re weekend trained dry needler could never perform).
Now at 12 months out from his treatment he reports 90% improvement.
The upshot? Ring finger surgery for CMC arthritis is a big operation, one where usually a tendon is taken from the forearm and coiled up and used as a substitute for cartilage in the joint. So what’s easier, a big surgery or a few treatments for a month or two with tiny needles?
NOTE: Dry Needling & Electro-Acupuncture are a medical procedure and like all medical procedures has a success and failure rate. A 90% improvement is not necessarily the result that every patient will experience.
