Nail Changes After a Hand Injury: A Six-Month Record of What Happened
Nails grow 3mm a month, so today’s ridge records last month’s event. What each common change means, what to expect after a nail bed injury, and the one streak that needs seeing.
Hand Therapist Nigel Chua
Burns to the Hand: The Scar Is the Injury That Lasts
The burn is the short story; the contracture is the long one. Why depth predicts scarring, what 20 minutes of cool water changes, and why the splint position feels wrong on purpose.
Ring Avulsion Injury: The Wound Looks Small and Isn’t
A ring that catches while you fall strips the finger’s skin and the arteries with it. Why the wound looks trivial, what to do in the first hour, and why silicone rings exist.
Cellulitis or Septic Arthritis? The Difference Is Whether the Finger Moves
Cellulitis hurts to touch but the finger still bends. Septic arthritis makes any movement agony and destroys cartilage in days. How to tell them apart, and the gout imposter.
Hypermobility and Hand Pain: You Don’t Need More Stretching
Bendy joints hurt because they rest at end range on ligament rather than muscle. Why stretching makes it worse, what ring splints do, and the mid-range control that fixes it.
Psoriatic Arthritis in the Hands: Sausage Fingers and Pitted Nails
It takes the end joints rheumatoid spares, swells whole fingers like sausages, and pits the nails. How to tell it apart, and why the treatment window is measured in months.
Peripheral Neuropathy or Carpal Tunnel? Ask About the Feet
Both numb your hands. The four differences that separate them — and why asking about the feet is the most useful question in the consultation.
Thoracic Outlet Syndrome: When Arms Overhead Make It Worse
Compression before the nerves reach the arm. Why arms overhead make it worse, how it differs from carpal and cubital tunnel, and the vascular version that needs seeing today.
Finger Joints: MCP, PIP, DIP — and Why the Middle One Ruins Hands
MCP, PIP and DIP fail in completely different ways. Why the knuckle is splinted bent, why the middle joint ruins hands, and why rotation beats angulation in any finger fracture.
Elbow Anatomy: Three Joints in One, and Why It Stiffens So Fast
Three joints inside one capsule. Why the elbow stiffens faster than anything else in the arm, what attaches to each bony point, and the functional arc rehab actually aims for.