The human hand, consisting of the wrist, palm, and fingers, is remarkably flexible, aiding in daily tasks. Challenges arise when hand and wrist issues impede activities like driving, bathing, and cooking. This intricate structure comprises 27 bones, 27 joints, 34 muscles, over 100 ligaments and tendons, along with blood vessels, nerves, and soft tissue.
Conditions affecting Hand and Wrist
- Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
- Thumb Arthritis
- Trigger Finger
- Dupuytren’s Contracture
- Arthritis of the Wrist
- Flexor Tendon Injuries
- Wrist Pain
- Ganglion Cysts
- Hand Fractures
- endon and Nerve Lacerations
- Scaphoid Fractures
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, caused by median nerve compression at the wrist
Symptoms:
symptoms like finger numbness, hand and wrist pain, and weakened grip. Risk factors include anomalies, repetitive motions, fractures, hormonal imbalances, and medical conditions
Treatment
Treatment for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome ranges from conservative approaches to surgery. Conservative methods address underlying conditions, splinting, rest, ice, and exercises. Surgical options, including Carpal Tunnel Release Surgery, aim to relieve nerve pressure. Post-surgery care involves elevation, splints, ice, hygiene and therapy
Cartilage and synovial fluid facilitate smooth joint movement.
Thumb Arthritis:
Thumb arthritis, is common in women over 40 years of age
Symptoms
Swelling, pain, stiffness, deformity and hampering thumb function.
Treatment
Treatment involves lifestyle changes, medication, splints, or injections, with surgery as a last resort.
Surgical choices for thumb arthritis include osteotomy, trapeziectomy, arthroplasty, and arthrodesis. Rehabilitation after surgery aids in hand strength and mobility. Wearing splints or casts supports healing, with a return to normal activities in months.
Trigger Finger
In the human body, the ability to bend and move the fingers is facilitated by strong tendons that link muscles to the finger bones. These tendons run alongside the bones, supported at intervals by ligament tunnels known as pulleys. These pulleys enable tendons to glide through smoothly as the fingers flex or extend, aided by a lubricating layer called tenosynovium, which reduces friction.
However, when inflammation affects the tenosynovium, a condition known as trigger finger occurs. Also referred to as stenosing tenosynovitis or flexor tendonitis, trigger finger results in one of the fingers or thumbs becoming stuck in a bent position.
Symptoms
Pain, tenderness, a popping or clicking sensation during movement, stiffness, and eventually, a finger becoming locked in a bent position.
Treatment
To alleviate trigger finger symptoms, conservative treatments are often employed. These may include managing underlying medical conditions, resting the hand, performing strengthening and stretching exercises, using ice and anti-inflammatory medications, and considering steroid injections. In more severe cases, surgical procedures like percutaneous trigger finger release surgery is recommended
Dupuytren’s Contracture
Dupuytren’s Contracture is a condition in which fibrous tissues in the palm thicken, causing fingers to bend inward. It typically affects the ring and little fingers, hindering their full extension. The exact cause is unknown, but factors like age, social habits, medical conditions, gender, heredity, and ancestry are some of the predisposing factors.
Symptoms
Lumps or nodules found in the palm which leads to difficulty in straightening the finger, and contracture of the nodules which forms tough bands under the skin.
Treatment
Nonsurgical treatments like NSAIDs, heat compression, massage, exercises, and injections for milder cases to surgical procedures for more severe conditions.