Hand Therapist Nigel Chua 
Most boxing and MMA hand injuries are a broken metacarpal, a torn knuckle sling (boxer’s knuckle), a worn knuckle or wrist, or a fight bite. Bag work usually returns around 12 weeks after a fracture; a tooth cut over a knuckle needs seeing today.
Most jammed fingers in basketball and volleyball are back on court, buddy taped, in 1 to 3 weeks. Mallet finger, central slip tears and PIP fracture-dislocations look identical on day one, so run the 60-second check before you tape.
Most golf hand pain is lead-wrist or elbow tendon overload that settles in 6 to 12 weeks with less mat volume, thicker grips and forearm work. Pain that started with one heavy shot may be a hook of hamate fracture that X-rays miss.
Wrist pain in down dog and plank is usually a range problem, not an injury, and most settles in 2 to 6 weeks with fists, a wedge and daily extension work. The ten-second test, the exercises, and when to get it checked.
Gym wrist pain comes from three loaded positions: wrist bent back, wrist rotating under load, or heavy hanging grip. Swap the position and most settle in 2 to 6 weeks; little-finger-side pain, numbness or a pop needs checking.
Pickleball injures the arm two ways: falls that fracture wrists, and overuse like pickleball elbow and wrist tendon pain. Most overuse settles in 6 to 12 weeks with grip and volume changes; a wrist still sore a week after a fall needs re-imaging.
Most general overuse hand pain settles within 6 to 12 weeks when you lower the peak load and rebuild tolerance, not when you rest it. What to rule out first, and the exercises that work.
An enchondroma is a benign cartilage growth inside a finger or hand bone. Most need only a repeat X-ray; a large, painful or fractured one is treated with curettage and bone graft, with full use back over roughly 3 to 6 months.
A giant cell tumor of the tendon sheath is a benign, firm, slowly growing finger lump, the second most common hand lump after a ganglion. Surgical removal is the definitive treatment, most people regain full grip by about 12 weeks, and it can recur.
Full recovery after a finger reattachment takes 12 to 24 months, with hand therapy from the first week or two. The phase-by-phase rehab, when feeling and movement return, and when you can work and drive again.