Your hands are your body’s most important instruments. They are incredibly durable, and designed to help with strenuous tasks such as lifting or boxing, but are equality as capable of completing detailed work. Our hands are needed to do everything from creating art, to shaking someone’s hand. So when hand pain prevents you from doing what you love or completing daily tasks, it can be frustrating. Isn’t it time you took charge of your hand pain? Learn about the most common types of hand injuries and how a Coastal Orthopedics physician can help.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a condition that causes numbness and tingling in the hand. It can be caused by a number of different factors, from other health conditions to repetitive motions.
Treatment Options
After being diagnosed with CTS, you will have a number of treatment options, both surgical and non-surgical. In some cases, it may be treated with a simple wrist splint and ibuprofen. However, other patients may need surgery to relieve their CTS pain.
Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis can affect any part of your body, but it is most commonly found in the hands. Arthritis is simply a general term for any kind of inflammation in the joints. It can attack the cartilage in your hands and destroy the protective cushioning between your joints. Hand arthritis not only causes great pain, but it also causes structural changes in the hand, leading to joint deformity and limited motion.
Treatment Options
There are a number of medications that can help treat the symptoms of arthritis. Stretches and hand exercises may also help relieve pain and keep your hand functioning. Your doctor may also try steroid injections to help relieve your symptoms. In extreme cases, surgery may be performed to help with the symptoms.
Tendonitis
Tendonitis is inflammation of the tendons. Like arthritis, it can occur in most of the joints in your body, but is most common in the hand and wrist. It results from repetitive actions that put stress on your tendons.
Treatment Options
The style of treatment you receive will depend of the severity of your tendonitis. Some patients will simply need rest and ice on their sore hand to relieve their symptoms. Others may choose certain medications or steroid injections. In extreme cases, the patient may need surgery to repair the damaged tendon.
