I've been searching around tonight for an answer to this so decided to post, in hopes that someone else has experienced this, or that one of our lovely doctors pops in.
Several years ago I developed tendonitis in my right wrist, in the tendon that goes from wrist to thumb along the top side of the hand. At the time, my doc recommended a cortisone shot, which helped it for about a year, and then the pain returned. A second shot was administered in March of last year, and at the time I was severely inflammed and it probably took two weeks before it felt any better.
Eventually it did, however, and has felt fine for the last 1-1/2 years. The normal discoloration and atrophy were there, but this time I have a related problem - If I even mildly scratch that area, or if it rubs up against something, I get these awful blood blisters that take a week to fade.
This morning while driving, I was making a tricky turn and apparently bumped my hand on something. I glanced down and noticed that there was a tear in the skin and a good sized well of blood underneath. As soon as I got to my destination I washed it and applied a bandaid and antibiotic ointment.
I know that these are happening because the muscle tissue hasn't regenerated and I'm very thin-skinned in that area - so the veins running thru there have no protection.
Is there anything - vitamins, whatever, that can help regenerate the tissue here? Or a topical ointment? Is this something that I'm going to have to live with and just be careful not to bump that area, in hopes that someday the muscle tissue comes back?
Ideas?
Oh...and yes, I do intend on asking the doc about it too the next time I'm there, but can't see something this trivial as a need to actually go see him specifically for it.
Is there anything - vitamins, whatever, that can help regenerate the tissue here? Or a topical ointment? Is this something that I'm going to have to live with and just be careful not to bump that area, in hopes that someday the muscle tissue comes back?
I was talking to a nurse of a nurse practitioner and she said You should eat foods with Vitamin K, and foods containing something called bioflavornoid (sp?), because they can assist in strengthening the connective tissue, which will decrease the spread of blood and bruising. Also Zinc and vitamin C supplements are also recommended. She didn't mention any ointment.
I also found this info from a site that Cortisone-subjected tissue has to rebuild from scratch. It's a very long process, one that may take years. Sometimes, the tissue never heals. The corticosteroid used in any injection has a corrosive effect on the body's tissue. It literally rots the tissue. In short, the tissue falls apart into its constituent parts and looks dead.
Thank you for that link Honi...Luckily I've never needed another shot in that tendon, and although I experience slight discomfort now and then, it doesn't appear that the original problem will return. If it does, however, I'm apt to just put up with it.
