Conditions and injuries of the finger, hand, wrist, forearm and elbow: what they are, how they behave, and when they stop being minor.
Arm pump that hits at the same point every session and clears within minutes of stopping is a compartment pattern; soreness the next day is overload. Most gripping forearm pain settles in 6 to 12 weeks with a lighter grip, varied positions and graded training.
A whole finger evenly swollen, resting bent, tender along the palm side and agony to straighten: those are Kanavel’s four signs of a flexor tendon sheath infection. Go to the ER now, then expect 6 to 12 weeks of hand therapy to keep the tendon gliding.
Red and swollen beside the nail is a paronychia, which often settles with warm soaks in a few days. A tense, throbbing fingertip pad is a felon, which usually needs draining the same day before it reaches bone.
Gout in a finger strikes overnight, peaks within a day and settles over 7 to 14 days untreated. A first red hot joint looks identical to a joint infection, so it gets checked the same day, and there are two separate treatments people constantly confuse.
Yes. Any bite that breaks the skin of the hand needs the ER or urgent care today, especially a cat puncture or a split over a knuckle from a tooth. Those two seal bacteria into joints and tendons, and can turn into an infected joint overnight.
Numb hands on the bike are a nerve squashed at the wrist: ring and little finger is the ulnar nerve (handlebar palsy), thumb to middle finger is carpal tunnel. Change hand position every 10 to 15 minutes, get weight off your hands, and treat numbness that lingers after the ride as a deadline.
A hook of hamate fracture causes deep heel-of-palm pain on the little-finger side after a golf, bat or racquet impact, and routine X-rays often miss it. A CT settles it; most late-found cases do well with removal of the hook and a return to sport around 6 to 8 weeks.
Most A2 pulley injuries heal without surgery: about 6 weeks for a strain, 3 months to full crimping for a partial tear, nearer 6 months after a complete rupture. Visible bowstringing needs imaging.
A soft lump on the point of the elbow is usually olecranon bursitis and settles in 2 to 6 weeks once you stop leaning on it. Hot, red, painful, or a break in the skin means infection until proven otherwise: get seen today.
Most extensor tendon repairs take about 12 weeks: 4 to 6 weeks splinted, light use from weeks 6 to 8, full use around week 12. The real risk is a quiet lag, a finger that stops straightening all the way. Here’s the weekly check that catches it.