Hand Therapist Nigel Chua 
Skier’s thumb is a torn UCL ligament on the inner side of the thumb knuckle. Partial tears heal in a thumb spica splint in 4 to 6 weeks; complete tears often can’t heal alone and need repair, ideally within about 3 weeks.
A boxer’s fracture usually takes about 6 weeks for the bone to knit and 8 to 12 weeks for full grip strength, and most heal without surgery. A finger that scissors or any cut over the knuckle changes that, today.
Finger osteoarthritis can’t be cured, but the painful phase usually settles over a few years; the Heberden’s and Bouchard’s nodes stay. Heat, daily movement, small splints and smarter grips do the real work.
Back to full use, gym included, in 6 to 8 weeks. A hand therapist’s week-by-week trigger finger surgery recovery: the tender palm, morning stiffness, work and driving, and what changes if the finger was locked before surgery.
Most mild wrist sprains settle in 2 to 3 weeks and are fully back by 4 to 6; moderate ones take 4 to 8. Tender in the hollow at the base of the thumb, or not clearly better by week 3, means it may never have been just a sprain.
A TFCC tear causes little-finger-side wrist pain with twisting and pushing. Most settle without surgery: 4 to 6 weeks in a brace, then strengthening, with normal use back by around 3 months.
A smooth lump on the wrist is most often a ganglion cyst: trapped joint fluid, not cancer, and around half go away on their own. Don’t smash or pop it; if it hurts, aspiration and surgery both work, with very different odds of it coming back.
Thumb base (CMC) arthritis is wear of the joint where the thumb meets the wrist: a deep ache that flares with every pinch. A splint, joint protection and the right strengthening settle most; injections help flares, and surgery is for the joint that fails all of that.
Cubital tunnel syndrome is the ulnar nerve squeezed at the inner elbow, causing ring and little finger tingling. Mild cases settle in 6 weeks to 3 months with night positioning and habit changes; weakness or wasting needs a nerve test and surgical opinion soon.
Golfer’s elbow is tendon overload at the inner elbow, and most cases settle within 6 to 12 months with a 3 to 6 month loading program. Inner elbow pain with ring and little finger tingling means the ulnar nerve is involved and needs checking.