Cut off a fingertip? Press, raise the hand, wrap the part in damp gauze, bag it, put the bag in iced water, and go to the ER now. Most fingertip wounds without exposed bone heal in about 3 to 6 weeks; sensitivity takes months.
A Bennett’s or Rolando fracture needs 6 to 12 weeks to heal and at least 6 to 8 weeks in a cast or thumb spica splint. Most need surgery, and pinch strength is the last thing to come back.
A broken finger usually takes 6 to 12 weeks to heal, with 3 to 6 weeks of protection in buddy tape or a splint. Before any of that, make a loose fist: a finger that crosses its neighbor means the bone is rotated.
SLAC and SNAC wrist are arthritis that follows an old injury: a missed scapholunate tear or a scaphoid that never healed. The wear follows a predictable route, and each stage it passes closes off one of the surgical options.
Partial UCL tears in throwers often settle with 6 to 12 weeks of no throwing and a graded return, about 3 to 6 months in all. A complete tear in a pitcher usually means Tommy John surgery and 12 to 18 months before competitive pitching.
An olecranon fracture takes about 6 to 12 weeks for the bone to heal and 3 to 6 months for full strength. Whether you can straighten your elbow against gravity decides splint or surgery.
A torn distal biceps tendon is best repaired within about 2 to 3 weeks, before it retracts and needs a graft. The arm still bends, so people wait. The hook test takes seconds.
Adult forearm fractures are usually plated and take 3 to 4 months to heal, with most people back to heavy work and sport at 4 to 6 months. Rotation is the movement to chase, and a single-bone fracture means both the elbow and wrist need checking.
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.
Needle release recovery takes days; open Dupuytren’s surgery takes about 3 months, with a night splint and hand therapy. Neither cures the disease, and the middle finger joint decides your result more than the operation does.