subject: Hand Injury Prevention - Physiotherapy Treatment [print this page] Hand injuries take many different forms and in their aftermath they can leave us with serious and lasting problems if not properly treated. Given the significant role that the hand plays in our lives, hand injuries should be taken very seriously. The hand does a lot of life's work; they are responsible for everything from driving a car to throwing a Frisbee to cooking a meal to picking up a baby to picking up a box.
With all this activity, it is no wonder that they are often in the line of fire for injury opportunity. For example, they are often also used to catch our falls, which is one of the common forms of serious hand injuries. In fact, certain athletic activities, like snowboarding are known for the high incidence of this injury.
Hand injury prevention is not always possible, but there are some general guidelines. Safety equipment is always important, whether you're are riding a bike or skateboard or working with power tools. Also, just maintaining good flexibility and keeping the hand muscles strong, can help prevent some forms of injury.
Focus on breaks, dislocations and arthritis
About 10 percent of hospital emergency room visits are the result of a hand injury, most of which were lacerations and bruises, but about one in five were the result of fractures, a common form of hand injury. There are many different ways in which the hand can sustain an injury, including lacerations (the most common), burns, infection, amputation and bruising. These types of injuries tend to be treated in somewhat different ways than we want to focus on for this article.
There are also hand injuries that come in the form of fractures, dislocations and injury to the tendon, cartilage and ligaments in the hand and wrist. Arthritis also fits into this category. These last three will be the focus of this article, as we look at the causes and treatments for hand injuries.
Some of these injuries are easier to diagnosis than others, because some of them are associated with a trauma event. If you fall, and break your hand in the fall, it will be rather obvious how the injury occurred, and thus how to go about diagnosing the extent and nature of the injury.
For other injuries, it is less clear cut. The hand has 19 bones, and the wrist has eight, and there numerous nerves, muscles, tendons, ligaments and cartilage in the hand and wrist. So there are a lot of possibilities.
Hand Injury Symptoms
With fractures, there is frequently tenderness, deformity, numbness, swelling, decreased range of motion, and weakness. Meanwhile injuries to the soft tissue of the hand structure are tenderness, swelling, weakness, numbness and decreased range of motion.
Meanwhile when it comes to arthritis in the wrist, the primary symptoms are swelling, pain, stiffness, weakness, and instability. These symptoms can be hard to recognize and diagnose because they are often slow to emerge, are inconsistently experienced and typically not associated with a particular trauma or event. More often than not, patients realize that they are having a harder time opening door handles, and grabbing and opening jars.
Whether associated with a trauma or not, the symptoms across these categories of hand injuries are pretty similar, and patient diagnosis is not recommended.
If a trauma occurs and any of the symptoms above are present, a doctor should be consulted because lack of proper treatment can result in long-term problems that would otherwise have been avoidable. You can apply first aid as you are waiting to see a doctor. First aid can include icing for no more than 20 minutes at a time, immobilization, and elevation of the hand above the level of heart.
When diagnosing, the doctor will examine the injury and do a visual inspection of the hand, and they will test the sensory nerve in the hand as well as the blood supply. They will also test for movement and strength and look for obviously broken bones. If warranted, X-rays may be ordered.
Hand Injuries Treatment
Pain from dislocations, fractures or soft tissue damage may be treated with pain relievers, while the hand is immobilized. Where fractures are found, they are reset, and then X-rayed to determine proper alignment before they are then put into a cast.
Dislocations of bones result from ligament injuries, the bone must be set back in place, a process which is called reduction. This can be done manually or through surgical technique. The hand is then put into a splint, to keep the injured body part from moving. If ligament or cartilage are torn, they and hand injury tendon problems will require a follow up with an orthopedist. Nearly all hand injuries will require follow-up with doctors or other medical professional.
Physiotherapy For Hand Injuries
Healing of the injury and restoration of strength and flexibility can be done through the implementation of physiotherapy techniques and tools. Most of these tools work to increase hand strength in support of the recovering hands and fingers. Strength is often loss through the immobility that is required during the healing process.
A wrist band is often recommended for those with wrist arthritis, and a TENs machine can be used to combat pain after the injury, as can ice packs.
by: Johnathan Lim
welcome to Insurances.net (https://www.insurances.net)
