The three most common hand injuries are fractures/avulsions, tendinitis, and dislocations/deformities.
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How do you treat an injured hand?
Home treatment for a minor hand or wrist injury Use rest, ice, compression, and elevation (RICE) for pain and swelling. Do not use your injured hand or wrist for the first 24 hours after an injury, if possible. An elastic bandage can help decrease swelling.
When is a hand injury serious?
Seek emergency medical care in these situations: Fractures, dislocations, high pressure injuries, and amputations require immediate care. Any deep, gaping (open), or dirty cut requires prompt medical care.
What is the most common hand injury?
Dislocations This type of injury can affect most of your hand but the capitate and lunate bones are most vulnerable to it. It’s often very easy to tell if you’re dislocated a bone in your hand, although you may confuse it with a fracture.
How do I know if my hand is fractured?
A broken hand might cause these signs and symptoms:
- Severe pain that might worsen when gripping or squeezing or moving your hand.
- Swelling.
- Tenderness.
- Bruising.
- Obvious deformity, such as a crooked finger.
- Stiffness or inability to move your fingers or thumb.
- Numbness in your hand or fingers.
How long do hand injuries take to heal?
Rehabilitation and recovery. If you follow this basic advice your injury should take around 6 weeks to heal. However, everyone recovers from injuries at different rates and it is dependent on the severity of the injury and the presence of any other medical problems.
When should you XRAY a hand injury?
An X-ray should be performed if the mechanism of injury suggests a fracture is possible. Excessive pain with active and resisted movements is suspicious for tendon injury. If unsure about tendon integrity, re-evaluate in 23 days. Surgical referral is required for a compound fracture, tendon or nerve injury.
What are the signs of nerve damage in your hands?
Other symptoms of nerve damage to the hands include:
- weakness.
- numbness.
- stabbing or jabbing pain.
- tingling.
- sensitivity to touch.
- loss of coordination and balance, which can leading to falling.
- muscle weakness and paralysis of motor nerves.
What are the 6 acute injuries?
What is an Acute Injury?
- Wrist fractures.
- Ankle sprains.
- Shoulder dislocations.
- Hamstring muscle sprains.
What is a hairline fracture in hand?
A hairline fracture, also known as a stress fracture, is a small crack or severe bruise within a bone. This injury is most common in athletes, especially athletes of sports that involve running and jumping. People with osteoporosis can also develop hairline fractures.
How do you know if you have damaged a tendon in your hand?
If your extensor tendons are damaged, you’ll be unable to straighten 1 or more fingers. If your flexor tendons are damaged, you’ll be unable to bend 1 or more fingers. Tendon damage can also cause pain and swelling (inflammation) in your hand.
What is hand trauma?
Hand trauma refers to any injury involving the fingers, hands and wrists, including the tendons, ligaments and nerves.
What is a hand fracture?
A hand fracture is a break in one of the bones in the hand. This includes the small bones of the fingers (phalanges) and the long bones within the palm (metacarpals). A broken hand can be caused by a fall, crush injury, twisting injury, or through direct contact in sports.
What can you tear in your hand?
A hand strain is a stretching or tearing of fibers in muscles or tendons, the tissue that anchors muscle to bone. Strains often occur in tendons that connect the muscles of the forearm to bones in the fingers. These tendons are used to either straighten or bend your fingers and thumb.
What can cause hand injury?
Common causes of hand injuries can include:
- knocks and blows.
- landing on the hands during a fall.
- jamming a finger.
- bending the fingers or wrist too far backward.
- repetitive strain, such as from long periods of typing, heavy lifting, or playing sports.
Can a hand fracture heal on its own?
A broken hand can heal by itself. But without proper treatment, it’s more likely to heal incorrectly. Specifically, the bones might not line up properly. This is known as a malunion.
Can you break a bone in your hand and still move it?
Range of Motion. You may have a compromised range of motion if your hand is broken. This may be due to swelling, inflammation, or pain caused by the injury.
Can you break your hand and not know it?
Sometimes a bone can break without you realizing it. That’s usually what happens to the scaphoid bone in your wrist, a boat-shaped bone located on the outermost side of the thumb side of the hand.
What type of doctor treats hand injuries?
A hand specialist is an orthopedic doctor who specializes in diagnosing, treating, and preventing disorders in the hand, wrist, and forearm. They have a profound understanding of the complex networks of blood vessels, nerves, muscles, ligaments, tendons, and bones that make up the hand and fingers.
What injury takes the longest to heal?
Average Healing Times for Common Injuries
- Nerves typically take the longest, healing after 3-4 months.
- Cartilage takes about 12 weeks to heal.
- Ligaments take about 10-12 weeks to heal.
- Bones take about 6-8 weeks to heal on average.
What is Achenbach’s syndrome?
Achenbach syndrome, also known as painful blue finger or paroxysmal finger hematoma, is a rare clinical condition, which results in the sudden onset of bruising along with burning pain, mostly on the volar aspects of fingers.
What causes Jersey finger?
A jersey finger occurs when the tendon responsible for flexing the tip of the finger is torn. The most commonly injured finger is the ring finger. The torn tendon can slide as far back as the palm. Athletes participating in sports requiring frequent grasping.
Can damaged nerves heal?
Your nerves have an ability to heal and regenerate even once they have been damaged, assuming that they have been properly repaired.
Can nerve damage heal itself?
Damage to nerves may result in reduction or a complete loss of sensation, weakness and dry skin. When one of your nerves is cut or damaged, it will try to repair itself. The nerve fibres (axons) shrink back and ‘rest’ for about a month; then they begin to grow again. Axons will regenerate about 1mm per day.
Can you repair nerve damage in hands?
Occasionally, the nerve is bruised, and may heal on its own in time. However, if a nerve is cut or crushed, it may need surgical treatment in order to help improve or restore function to the hand or arm. Sometimes, certain illnesses can affect nerves and cause similar symptoms in the upper extremity.
What are the 5 most common injuries?
Top 7 Most Common Sport Injuries
- Knee Injury. About 55% of sports injuries occur in the knee. …
- ACL Tear. Your anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is responsible for connecting your thigh to your shinbone at your knee. …
- Tennis or Golf Elbow. …
- Shin Splints. …
- Groin Pull. …
- Sciatica. …
- Hamstring Strain.
What are the 3 types of injury?
Did you know that most athletic injuries can be boiled down into three main categories? Acute, Overuse and Chronic.
What are the 2 types of injury?
There are basically two types of injuries: acute injuries and overuse injuries. Acute injuries are usually the result of a single, traumatic event. Common examples include wrist fractures, ankle sprains, shoulder dislocations, and hamstring muscle strain.
