De Quervains
Hello.
Been a long lurker on this thread and finally had the courage to post.
I developed de Quervains of my right hand in Aug 2025 after placing overhead luggage during a flight. I felt a sharp pain in my right hand but didn’t think of it much. A few weeks later the pain kept getting worse so I finally went to a doctor who ordered a MRI. It did show de Quervains of the first compartment and he did offer a steroid injection. I declined and used a splint 24/7 for 6-8 weeks. Once I came off the splint I found a generic PT who helped me to get the pain under control within 5-6 sessions. My pain had mostly vanished for almost 1 month.
Randomly in Jan 2026 I was blowing my nose and I felt a sharp pain in the same hand and then the pain returned. I started splinting again and the pain resolved within 2-3 weeks. I then had another flare up a few weeks later and then decided to get a steroid shot in March. After getting a steroid shot I splinted most of the time for 6 weeks but since my hands were getting stiff so I stopped splinting.
I met with a specialized hand therapist who recommended PT and small dumbbell exercises. However, I’ve developed this burning of my wrist (top surface) and spreads into the forearm which also occurs at rest. The sharp painful movements of the thumb have overall decreased since the injection but this burning is very uncomfortable at times. It comes and goes, especially when I do some PT. My PT said that if this happens I should just cut down the reps and sets per day. I have some mild residual pain with wrist extension.
I’m not sure what’s going on but it’s been frustrating cause I’ve been in pain now for almost 10 months. Is this the end? Do I need surgery? I don’t want to get another injection cause it made my skin very sensitive and prone to rashes.
Has anyone had any luck with ultrasound therapy?