This is a child from Fujian, his right thumb is a floating thumb, last October we gave him the second stage of surgery, and is now in the process of functional recovery exercises, some time ago we received a video from the parents of the child, the parents are particularly excited, showing us the child’s post-surgery situation, we see that the child’s thumb function and appearance recovery are not bad. A 4-year-old boy with a floating thumb in his right hand and no function of the thumb Before we did the floating thumb surgery on this child, his thumb did not have any function, it was a floating thumb that could rotate at will. Such a thumb could not perform its proper function, such as pinching, squeezing, and other movements that require the use of the thumb in daily life in the future, but he was not able to do them. This child was four years old at the time of the surgery, which is a bit too old, not particularly young, in terms of the optimal time for floating bunion surgery. The child was relatively more protective, and probably knew that his hand was different from other children’s, so he was reluctant to move it, and was less willing to use his right hand. After reaching out to me, the parents wanted to improve their child’s floating bunion through surgery, so that the child’s hand would appear to have at least five fingers intact. After the hemimetacarpal bone graft reconstruction surgery, the child’s thumb functioned and appeared much better than before the surgery. I explained to the parents the surgical method of preserving the five fingers, and used a hemimetacarpal bone graft reconstruction that did not move any other part of the body, and the surgery was performed on the child’s hand only, which was operated in two phases. In the first surgery, we reconstructed the shape of his thumb so that it would no longer rotate randomly. Five months later, we performed the second surgery, which was mainly to rebuild the function of the thumb. After both surgeries, the child began to do functional exercises, as his thumb would become more and more flexible with functional exercises. After the reconstruction of his metacarpal bone, his thumb was preserved and he has five complete fingers. With a thumb like this, the child can do some pinching movements, which is a great gain for the child, and the function and shape of his thumb are much better than before the surgery. After the second stage of floating bunion surgery, the child: Thank you doctor for giving me a new hand One month after the second stage of floating bunion surgery, the parents brought the child to the clinic again. After removing the needle, I looked at the child’s hand, which had really improved a lot compared to the pre-operative period, and I re-dressed it, and he said, “Thank you doctor for giving me a new hand hand. ” I told him that he must use his hand, and that the only way his hand will get better is to use it. I told the parents to help the child do functional exercises, letting the child grasp big things like balls and sticks, take a pen to draw, and then grasp small things like glass balls and beans. This is a gradual adaptation process for the child, but the child must be allowed to use his thumb, and not let the child pinch things with his index and middle fingers. This child is more lively and cheerful, good at expressing and communicating, and also very brave, and psychologically there is no fear that the hand has gone through the surgery, which is better, and only needs repeated practice, and there will be a greater gain in functional exercise. The mother was particularly excited: the child’s hand can now move on its own For children with bunions, surgery and post-surgical functional exercises are equally important. We have always emphasized the importance of post-surgical functional exercises for children with bunions, and the child’s parents have done a very good job in helping their child with the functional exercises according to our requirements. Some time ago, the child’s mother sent us a video, saying that she was particularly excited because the child’s hand could move on its own, which was not expected before the surgery. I saw from the video that the child was able to do some mild palm-to-palm activities and was able to do palm-to-palm according to his own will, and he was able to do pinch-to-pinch activities with his thumb and ring finger, so at this point in time the child has gained some of the functionality of the thumb, and in general, the child’s thumb has recovered functionally and in shape quite well. We believe that with the active guidance and help of the parents, the child’s thumb function and shape will recover more and more satisfactorily. Q&A: When is the best time to operate on my child’s floating thumb? Many parents often ask me when is the most appropriate time to operate on their child’s bunion, both in the clinic and on the internet. In fact, we have talked about this issue many times, but at this stage, as long as you have found a surgeon who can perform the surgery, it is more appropriate for your child to undergo the surgery at this stage. We recommend that children have the surgery between the ages of 6 months and 1 year, but many children miss the surgery and many parents regret it. However, we should not compare the surgery with the child’s past, but with the child’s future, that is to say, whether it is more appropriate to have the surgery at this stage or to have the surgery in two years’ time, or even later, we think that it is more appropriate to have the surgery at this stage. The younger the child is when the floating bunion surgery is performed, the more ideal the recovery will be. However, for him as an individual, do not feel that it is too late to find us, and do it as early as possible since you have the conditions to do the surgery, no matter from the perspective of the function and appearance of the bunion, as well as the impact on the child’s mental health, etc., the surgery is always helpful to the child, and the help is not small, so parents should do it when the child is still young. Floating bunion surgery is performed as early as possible when the child is still young.