Hand Therapist Nigel Chua

Reattaching a finger is the start, not the end. The phase-by-phase rehab after replantation, what recovery of movement and sensation realistically looks like, and the risks in week one.

A tendon transfer re-routes a working muscle to do a failed one’s job. The four rules that decide the result, the re-education phase nobody warns you about, and the honest timeline.

Pain at the point of the elbow that hurts pushing, not gripping. How triceps tendinopathy differs from bursitis and rupture, and the loading plan that actually settles it.

In a crushed hand the bones are rarely the problem. Pressure, swelling and a closed space are. The first 48 hours, the warning signs, and why stiffness is the real long-term risk.

Extensor tendon injuries rarely need surgery, and that’s exactly why they get dismissed. What the zones mean, which ones have a deadline, and the knuckle wound that’s an emergency.

A cut flexor tendon does not heal on its own — the ends pull apart. The two-finger test that finds it, what the zones mean, and the repair window measured in days.

Ganglions in the palm behave nothing like the ones on the wrist. How to tell a seed ganglion from a trigger finger nodule, and when a lump in the hand is worth doing something about.

Hand osteoarthritis attacks three specific joints, not the whole hand. Which ones, why using your hands isn’t the cause, and the window where treatment still changes things.

Swelling after a hand injury decides how stiff the hand ends up. Why it pushes the hand into the worst position, what the safe position is, and the three-week window.