Hand Therapist Nigel Chua 
Your wrist has 8 carpal bones in two rows: scaphoid, lunate, triquetrum, pisiform, then trapezium, trapezoid, capitate, hamate. Here is where each sits, how to find them, and what goes wrong in each part of the wrist.
Desk work often returns within days to 2 weeks of a hand injury; heavy gripping usually takes 6 to 12 weeks, and 3 months or more after a tendon repair. Go back task by task, with specific restrictions, not all at once.
Thumb, index and middle finger belong to the median nerve, ring and little to the ulnar, the back of the thumb web to the radial. Which fingers go numb is the most useful clue you can bring to an appointment.
Yes, diabetes affects the hands: trigger finger, Dupuytren’s, carpal tunnel and stiff, tight fingers all come from sugar stiffening collagen. The prayer sign checks for it in 10 seconds, and daily stretching keeps the range you have.
After a hand injury, four exercises do most of the work: tendon glides, blocked bending, an intrinsic stretch and forearm rotation. Do about 10 slow rounds with 5-second holds, every 2 to 3 hours while awake.
Neutral wrist splint at night for carpal tunnel, a cock-up for sprains and tendon pain, a thumb spica for De Quervain’s and thumb arthritis. Most people need one for 3 to 6 weeks, not months.
Yes. A pinched nerve root in the neck (cervical radiculopathy) can numb the hand. Pain down the arm, symptoms that change with head position and arm weakness point to the neck, not carpal tunnel.
Most musicians’ hand pain is overuse that settles in 2 to 12 weeks with smarter practice. A finger that curls only at the instrument and never hurts is focal dystonia, and it needs a specialist, not rest.
Most gaming wrist and hand pain is overload that settles in 2 to 12 weeks with shorter sessions, three setup fixes and strength work. Numbness is a nerve, and you don’t play through it.
Climber’s elbow and brachialis pain need at least 12 weeks of progressive loading; a lumbrical tear takes about 4 to 12 weeks, with pockets back last. How to tell them apart and when a pop needs a surgeon.