Conditions and injuries of the finger, hand, wrist, forearm and elbow: what they are, how they behave, and when they stop being minor.
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.
Tennis elbow is tendon degeneration at the outer elbow, and most cases settle within 12 months. A 3 to 6 month graded loading program, not rest or injections, is what rebuilds the tendon and decides how fast you get there.
De Quervain’s tenosynovitis is thumb-side wrist pain from two tendons squeezed in their tunnel, worst when you lift thumbs-up. Splint early and change how you lift, and most settle in 4 to 6 weeks; injection and surgery are for the stubborn few.
A broken wrist is usually healed enough to come out of the cast at about 6 weeks, works for daily life by about 3 months, and takes 6 to 12 months for full strength. Here’s every week in between, cast or plate.
A scaphoid fracture is a break in the wrist bone at the base of the thumb, and up to 1 in 5 hide on the first X-ray. Most undisplaced breaks need 8 to 12+ weeks in a cast; a tender snuffbox after a fall means imaging, not waiting.
A true jammed finger stops hurting in 1 to 2 weeks and should move fully by 3 to 4, though the swelling can last months. Don’t pull it. Five self-check questions, which injury it really is, buddy taping, exercises and when to get an X-ray.
Night tingling in the thumb, index and middle fingers that shakes out is early carpal tunnel, and a neutral night splint helps most people within 2 to 6 weeks. Constant numbness and a flattening thumb mound mean the nerve is on a deadline.