• No lifting greater than 1-2 pounds
  • May do self-care activities as well as light duty work such as typing and writing
• Make a fist 5 times an hour while awake
  • Take care to avoid over-extending fingers so as to not stress the incision site. The skin on the palm of the hand is tight; wound healing problems can manifest if the wound edges at the surgical site separate.
• Keep hand elevated above the level of your heart

Day 0-2

• Keep post-operative dressing in place
• Keep dressing clean and dry

Day 3

• Remove post-operative dressing and place a band-aid over the incision site
• Keep surgical site clean and dry

• Sutures are removed and steri-strips are applied
  • With too much activity with your hand following surgery, the wound edges may
    separate. This is called a dehiscence. If this happens, a dressing of gauze and coban will be placed on the hand to allow the wound to heal from the bottom up. Keep the area clean, dry and covered until the incision site is fully closed and healed. Normal activity (no weight or water restrictions) may be resumed once wound is completely healed.
• May get steri-strips wet, but may not soak (bath tub, swimming, hot tub, etc.); pat area dry with clean towel
• Once steri-strips fall off and the incision site is fully closed and healed, water activity is unrestricted
• May gradually return to activity with no weight restrictions