Conditions and injuries of the finger, hand, wrist, forearm and elbow: what they are, how they behave, and when they stop being minor.
A hand cut needs more than stitches if a finger won’t bend or straighten, feels numb on one side, or the blood spurts. The checks to do before it’s closed, which cuts are emergencies, and how long healing takes.
Elbow arthritis hurts at the ends of the range, not the middle, and takes your straightening first. Most cases are managed with load changes and daily range work; debridement commonly gives back 20 to 40 degrees.
A hard, fixed lump on the back of the hand that never changes size is usually a carpal boss, a small bone spur, not a ganglion. Most need nothing done; painful ones usually settle with 6 to 8 weeks of offloading.
If your thumb won’t lift off a table 4 to 12 weeks after a wrist fracture, the EPL tendon has likely ruptured. It won’t heal on its own: the 10-second test, the warning signs, and tendon transfer recovery week by week.
Ulnar impaction is little-finger-side wrist pain from an ulna a few millimeters too long. Most cases get 3 to 6 months of load changes, bracing and strengthening first; if that fails, ulnar shortening takes 4 to 6 months to full loading.
Boxer’s knuckle is a torn sling that lets the finger tendon slip off the knuckle. Caught within 3 weeks, most heal in a yoke splint worn 6 to 8 weeks; after 2 to 3 months, it usually needs surgery.
Start scar management once the wound is closed, usually day 10 to 14, and keep going daily for six months: silicone, firm massage and full movement. Here’s how hard, how often, and when to get it checked.
Raynaud’s is an overreaction of the finger arteries to cold or stress: white, then blue, then red. Usually harmless, but onset after 40, one hand, or fingertip sores need screening for a connective tissue disease.
Swan neck deformity is a middle finger joint that bends backwards with a drooping fingertip. While it’s flexible, a ring splint usually restores grip and is often the whole treatment; once it’s fixed, surgery becomes the option.
Carpal tunnel in pregnancy is fluid squeezing the median nerve at the wrist, usually in the second half of pregnancy, and most cases settle within weeks to a few months after delivery. A neutral night splint is the safe first-line treatment.