In the 10 years she spent as an optician, Sandra Weber helped people find the right glasses to fit their faces and assist with their eyesight. 

Toward the end of her time at the job, pain in her thumb made the smallest movements painful, leading to her retirement. 

“I couldn’t use my hands anymore to make glasses fit,” Weber said.  

As she waited in a pre-op room at Northwest Specialty Hospital on Friday with her husband, Roger Weber, she said she couldn’t wait to be on the other side of the pain and get back to doing the hobbies she enjoys most.  

“It’s a new procedure and it just seemed like it made sense for me and it would help me gain the ability back in my hand to play pickleball and hug my grandkids without pain,” Weber said. 

Dr. Chad Turner performed three thumb implant surgeries Friday at Northwest Specialty Hospital as the first of their kind in the region.

“This touch prosthesis has now become the standard of care in Europe for treating thumb arthritis and I would anticipate we’re going to follow suit when we see how much better people do with faster recoveries, better motion and better long-term strength,” Turner said. 

Because about half of hand functions rely on thumbs, it’s one of the most common problems Turner said he treats as a hand surgeon.

Turner is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon with Northwest Specialty Hospital’s new Northwest Hand to Shoulder Center in Liberty Lake.

The implant works like a tiny total hip, flipped upside down, with a ball-and-socket joint, and serves as an alternative to injections and splints that used to get people through their arthritis pain. 

“It hasn’t been an option in this region at all and we’re the first to offer it in the state of Idaho,” Turner said. “I think that it’s great that we’re able to do that here at Northwest Specialty Hospital and be the leaders in the Inland Northwest of offering people this level of care. This is a better option for their thumb arthritis.”   

The implant has been used in Europe for more than a decade and in more than 135,000 patients, but it was only recently approved in the U.S.  

The first TOUCH implant procedure in the Pacific Northwest was completed in April in Seattle. Turner said he’s excited to put the area on the map as a cutting-edge location for helping others like Weber overcome their thumb pain.  

“She plays the piano and she draws and paints and likes pickleball so she’s a very active person who wants to use her thumb without the pain,” Turner said. “Our goal is to alleviate her pain and get her function as normal as can be.” 

Weber is especially excited to return to playing hymns and classical music on the piano, since the pain had grown too strong. 

“It’s also really hard to write. The pain is all the way down the thumb and this new procedure should help that,” Weber said. “Dr. Turner explained the recovery is better too, it should be six to eight weeks compared to three to six months.”   

Previously, surgeons removed the trapezium bone, where the bone in your thumb meets your wrist.   

The trapezium procedure works well for pain relief, but Turner said it was a very painful procedure with a longer recovery time and less overall function afterward. 

Once the implant was approved for use in America, Turner said a conference he attended last fall highlighted its use and efficacy, piquing his interest. 

“I also did a training with one of the French surgeons who’s one of the world experts,” Turner said. “I think it’s fantastic that now we’re able to do this in the Inland Northwest and Idaho.”