Finger joint replacement recovery takes about 3 months for everyday use and 6 months or more for the final result, with a day splint for 6 to 8 weeks and a night splint to around 3 months. Expect less pain and straighter fingers, not more movement or strength.
A fused joint usually knits in 8 to 12 weeks and most people are back to full use in 3 to 6 months. You lose movement at that one joint only: a fused wrist still turns palm up and palm down, and the work afterwards is keeping every neighboring joint moving.
SLAC and SNAC wrist are arthritis that follows an old injury: a missed scapholunate tear or a scaphoid that never healed. The wear follows a predictable route, and each stage it passes closes off one of the surgical options.
Gout in a finger strikes overnight, peaks within a day and settles over 7 to 14 days untreated. A first red hot joint looks identical to a joint infection, so it gets checked the same day, and there are two separate treatments people constantly confuse.