One of my greatest pleasures in life is in music. I've been playing music since I was old enough to crawl and beat on something. I've spent the last 10 years learning and perfecting how to play the piano, and I wouldn't be able to do it without my ulnar collateral ligament in my thumb. And right now it is a swollen tendon and has completely rendered my piano playing useless until it heals.
My thumb had some tissue damage, so I got myself a tether thumb stabilizer to help support it. When I put the stabilizer on, it helped keep my thumb stable and immobile so it could heal. I had to keep the splint on for several weeks while the tissue repaired itself. When it was time to take the splint off, the tissue had repaired itself enough. I had to use the thumb for a while to help rebuild the muscles from weeks of not using it.
The condition barrett's esophagus comes from a transformation in the texture of the esophagus. The lining of the esophagus actually turns into the thicker lining that is most commonly found in your intestines. The worst part of barrett's esophagus is that the people who are effected by this disease are susceptible to a very rare but very deadly form of cancer. There is also no cure for this disease so the people have no hope.