@wcwhitey I have arthritis and very little, if any cartilage in my right wrist / thumb joint say the wrist. Without a plethora of war stories I’ll just say I have been very abusive to my body and in particular my right hand and wrist.
I saw an Orthopedic Specialist / Surgeon about my thumb joint pain 4 years ago, I am now 62, and he basically told me that the surgery needed to stop the pain would require fusion of that area. I have little or no cartilage in that joint. Luckily that Doctor was also a shooter. He shot IPSC and IDPA competitions so he knew a bit about what I was talking about. I also ride motorcycles. What he told me was fusing that joint would definitely impact my ability to shoot handguns and might affect my ability to operate the throttle on a bike.
He did ask me what guns I preferred and what cartridges. He told me what I already knew,
“Do not shoot hard hitting magnums, like; .44 Magnum, .454 Casull, .460 S&W Magnum, etc.
Don’t shoot snappy guns, like; harder hitting semiautomatic pistols or light revolvers in magnum cartridges or maybe even +P.”
I added the most painful guns for me, little .380 autos like the Kel Rec P3AT and the Ruger LCP.
He told me that “Unfortunately pain will be your guide and no amount of exercise will help with bone on bone joint pain.”
I did ask about joint replacement. He said that at the time there is none available but there was active research in the works. Apparently he was correct:
https://www.bristolhandsurgery.com/thumb-cmc-replacement-surgery/
So, I opted to wait and see what happens.
In the meantime I do this:
- Take ibuprofen everyday but keep it under the recommended daily allowance of 2400mg.
- I take Osteo Bi-Flex joint supplements every day. One AM, One PM.
- I use “Icy Hot with Lidocaine” on my thumb / wrist joint when it hurts. This stuff is a Godsend. https://www.icyhot.com/en-us/products/no-mess/lidocaine-roll-on
- My fantasy guns will remain “fantasy guns”; S&W 29 of Dirty Harry fame, Glock 20 or Glock 40 10mm, Ruger Blackhawk .454 Casull, Ruger Alaskan .454
- I do not shoot +P ammo in my J frames. I do shot .357 Magnum and .45 Colt but I limit it. I no longer hotrod .45 Colt even in my original Ruger Vaquero 7.5”. or .357 Magnum, but I might in a heavy gun like a S&W model 27.
- I also found that certain rifles hurt my wrist. An AR-15 with the standard grip angle just kills me, but adding a Magpul grip with less angle did not. I also found that relaxing my grip and letting my shoulder take more recoil helped on my rifles like my Henry 45-70 and M1 Garand.
- Ruger MK .22 pistols with that European angled grip hurt like hell after a few mags. Weird.
I do know this. I have had numerous surgeries for numerous injuries. If a doctor tells you “After this surgery you will be 100%!” that doctor is full of condensed cow manure. There is always a price to pay in aches, stiffness that will not go away, loss of flexibility and even strength. Put off surgeries as long as you can but if a doctor tells you that without it the area may be too far gone to repair get a second opinion right away and if confirmed, bite the bullet and do it. I waited too long on my left shoulder. Now I have no cartilage there and the socket is so eroded current technology can’t help, so I live with it.
I hope you get some relief and / or figure out how to live with your condition. You may have to give up some things and that can be very hard to do. Oh, and mark my word, once you go give up on that boomer fantasy revolver or that ultra light back up revolver a smoking deal will come your way and that little devil whispers in your ear, ignore it and be thankful for what you have and what you can do with what you have.
