Hand Therapist Nigel Chua

Overdid it after carpal tunnel surgery? Most flares settle in 2 to 5 days. What to do in the next 48 hours, the next-morning rule, and when to call your surgeon.

Bruising after carpal tunnel surgery usually peaks at days 2 to 5, tracks into the fingers or forearm, and fades in 2 to 3 weeks. When it’s normal and when to call.

Don’t keep the finger still, soak the wound, grip hard or lean on your palm too soon. A hand therapist’s list of what not to do after trigger finger surgery.

A trapeziectomy scar is red, firm and tender for 2 to 3 months, then softens over 12 to 18. How to massage it, the numb patch on the thumb, and when to get it checked.

Trapeziectomy with suspensionplasty removes the arthritic thumb-base bone and slings the thumb up. Recovery week by week: splint, pinch strength, driving and work.

Most broken wrists stay in a cast for about 4 to 6 weeks, usually after a splint for the first week while the swelling settles. Here’s which cast you’re likely to get, what’s normal inside it, and the signs it’s too tight.

A hairline wrist fracture is a real break where the pieces haven’t moved. Most need 4 to 6 weeks in a cast or rigid splint and about 6 to 8 weeks to heal. Pain at the base of the thumb after a “normal” X-ray needs a repeat check at 10 to 14 days.

How to tell if your thumb is broken, why where the break sits changes everything, cast vs surgery, and the week-by-week healing time back to full pinch and grip, from a hand therapist.

Most forearm pain is overworked tendons or muscles and settles over days to weeks with less load. Where it hurts narrows the cause, and a swollen, tight forearm after an injury is an emergency.

Left hand pain you can press on, that changes when you move the hand, is almost always the hand, wrist or a nerve. With chest pressure, sweating, breathlessness or nausea, call emergency services now.