You use your hands day in and day out for various activities such as bathing, dressing, cooking, cleaning, working, exercising, and a wide range of recreational pursuits. It’s easy to take your hands for granted–until something goes wrong.
There are many painful conditions that can affect your hands, including carpal tunnel syndrome, hand fractures, and trigger finger. Any of these diagnoses can have a significant impact on your quality of life, making it hard to perform even simple tasks. Here is a closer look at each of these common hand conditions.
Carpal tunnel syndrome
Carpal tunnel syndrome is a common condition in which the median nerve (one of the hand’s major nerves) becomes compressed or squeezed. Symptoms typically start gradually, beginning with tingling or numbness that comes and goes in the thumb, index finger, and middle finger. There may also be an electric-shock-like sensation in these fingers. These sensations may travel up the arm; they may also be triggered by doing certain things such as holding a phone or steering wheel. You may find yourself “shaking out” your hands to relieve symptoms. Over time, the numbness or tingling may become constant and be accompanied by weakness.
Anyone can develop carpal tunnel syndrome, but it’s more common in people with certain anatomic factors, female patients, those with inflammatory conditions, and those whose jobs or hobbies require prolonged and repetitive motions of the hands and wrists.
Hand fractures
If your doctor tells you that you have a hand fracture, it means that you have broken one of the bones in your hand. Hand fractures can occur in the small bones of the fingers or the long bones within the palm. In a severe injury, you may experience multiple broken bones in your hand at one time.
Hand fractures are often caused by falls, crush injuries, twisting injuries, or direct-contact sports. Most hand fractures can heal on their own without surgical treatment. Depending on the specifics of your injury, your doctor may recommend wearing a cast or a splint for a certain amount of time. However, for more serious injuries or fractures with complicated factors (such as a break that does not line up correctly), surgery may be required.
Trigger finger
“Trigger finger” is a condition in which one of your fingers gets “stuck” in a bent position and may straighten or bend with a snap (like pulling and releasing a trigger). Also known as stenosing tenosynovitis, trigger finger is the result of inflammation narrowing the space in the sheath surrounding the tendon of the affected finger. In severe cases, the finger can become locked in the bent position.
Trigger finger is most common in people with jobs that require repetitive gripping motions, people with diabetes, and female patients. Treatment for this condition depends on the severity of the case and may include rest, use of a splint, stretching exercises, nonsteroidal medications, steroid injections, percutaneous release, or surgery.
Contact us for more information or to schedule a consultation if you are experiencing pain, numbness, weakness, or other unusual hand symptoms.