3 million Americans are diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome each year making it a very common medical condition. It all begins with the notorious tingling sensation in the hand. Therefore, seeking medical advice from an orthopedic specialist sooner rather than later is crucial.

Carpal Tunnel Basics. The carpal tunnel is located on the palm side of the hand and provides passage for the median nerve. The median nerve travels down the arm and into the hand and controls the feeling and movement of the thumb and fingers. Along with the median nerve, nine flexor tendons run through the carpal tunnel to assist the fingers in bending.

What Causes Carpal Tunnel Syndrome? For the flexor tendons to move freely, the carpal tunnel surrounds them in a sleeve to act as a lubricant to the tissues. When the sleeve swells within the carpal tunnel, it puts pressure on the median nerve. The result of this pressure is why people with carpal tunnel syndrome experience numbness and tingling in the beginning phases.

Symptoms.

• Tingling and numbness throughout the finger and hand are the strongest indicators of carpal tunnel syndrome. The pinky finger is not affected since the median nerve does not run through that finger. Usually, the thumb and index, middle or ring finger are symptomatic. The symptoms do not resolve themselves on their own. Without intervention, this numbness can travel up the arm and cause discomfort while driving or using your phone.
• Muscle weakness is another sign of carpal tunnel syndrome. Some people start to notice themselves dropping things because of the weakness in their hand and fingers. All of this goes back to the median nerve being disturbed within the carpal tunnel which ultimately affects the mobility of the fingers.

Solutions. Implementing an ergonomic workstation is the best strategy to prevent carpal tunnel. There are also ways to reduce stress on your hands and wrists. Surgery may be appropriate if your pain is severe and conservative methods aren’t working.

• Reduce your force and relax your grip
• Take short, frequent breaks
• Wrist splints
• Corticosteroids
• Endoscopic surgery: the surgeon uses a telescope-like device with a camera that allows them to see inside the carpal tunnel. They are then able to cut the ligament through small incisions in the hand or wrist.
• Open surgery: The surgeon cuts the ligament to free the nerve through an incision in the palm.

If your hands, wrists or fingers are bothering you, Dr. Guilherme Giusti at Southeast Orthopedic Specialists is dedicated to finding the right solution for you.  Schedule your appointment online today!

We use our hands so much every day, and when they are in pain, our life is put on hold. From typing to brushing our teeth, to driving, eating, and using our cell phones, our hands are a very important part of our life.

Don’t let hand pain keep you from the activities you enjoy. If you are experiencing hand pain that is preventing you from enjoying your day-to-day activities, make an appointment to visit our orthopedic specialists in Jacksonville, FL.

Keep reading to learn about the 5 most common causes of hand pain.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

If you feel numbness or tingling in your thumb, index, middle fingers, or wrist that comes and goes, you may have carpal tunnel syndrome. The carpal tunnel is a small tube in the wrist that protects the median nerve, one of the main nerves in the hand. This median nerve provides feeling in the thumb, middle, index, and ring fingers, and controls the thumb muscles.

When the carpal tunnel becomes too narrow, pressure is put on the median nerve, which causes pain, numbness, tingling, and pain in the hand.

Carpal tunnel can be hereditary or caused by repeated hand movements, extreme hand and wrist positions, pregnancy, or other health conditions. If left untreated, carpal tunnel syndrome will become worse and can cause permanent damage.

Arthritis of the Hand

The hand is composed of many small bones, joints, ligaments, and tendons, making it prone to arthritis. Arthritis is inflammation of the joints that causes pain and stiffness. Rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease, commonly affects the hands and causes painful swelling that erodes bones and joints over time. In osteoarthritis, the cartilage protecting the bones wears away causing bones to grind against each other.

De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis

De Quervain’s tenosynovitis is the inflammation of the protective sheaths covering the tendons of the thumb running down to the wrist. Repetitive hand and wrist motions may trigger this condition, as well as lifting a child repeatedly using your thumbs as leverage. This condition causes pain and swelling near the base of your thumb, and makes it difficult to pinch or grasp without pain.

Trigger Finger

Trigger finger is when one of your fingers gets stuck in a bent position and releases with a painful “snap” similar to the release of a trigger. Trigger finger can also present itself as finger stiffness, a popping or clicking sound as you move your fingers, pain at the base of the affected finger, or a finger that is locked in a bent position.

Trigger finger occurs when the protective sheath surrounding the finger tendons becomes irritated or inflamed. Trigger finger is more common in women than in men and can be the result of repetitive gripping motions.

Fractures of the Hand, Fingers, and Wrist

Falling and using your hands to catch yourself is one of the most common ways to fracture the bones in your hands, fingers, and wrists. Car accidents, work-related accidents, and sports injuries are also common ways to injure hand bones. Osteoporosis causes weak bones and increases the risk of hand fractures.

If you are experiencing any of the above symptoms of hand pain, don’t delay! Call an orthopedic specialist in Jacksonville, FL, right away to diagnose, treat and prevent future damage to your hands so you can get back to living your life pain-free.

Of all the ailments an orthopedic doctor can help cure, Ganglion cysts are one of the most common. Ganglion cysts are viscous fluid filled lumps or masses that form around joints and tendons. They tend to be firm to the touch and uniformly round. Often, orthopedic doctors will use a light to determine if the mass is translucent, indicating the mass is fluid filled and not some other type of growth.

What is a Ganglion Cyst?

Ganglion Cysts are benign and will not develop into cancer. These cysts can range in size from very tiny and unnoticeable below the skin, to larger peach pit sized lumps that appear most commonly on the palms and wrists, but also in the ankles and feet.

While not always painful, Ganglion Cysts can cause pain by asserting pressure on a nerve, or discomfort by limiting motion in a joint. The exact cause of a Ganglion cyst is not known. Anyone can develop one, but they occur more frequently in women from 20 to 40 years old. Orthopedic doctors have determined that other risk factors include those who suffer from osteoarthritis, wear and tear to joints, as well as those people who have sustained tendon or joint injuries making them more susceptible to the development of Ganglion Cysts.

Can an Orthopedic Doctor Help with Your Ganglion Cyst

The good news about Ganglion cysts is that there are several treatment options that you can discuss with your orthopedic doctor. The first option your orthopedic doctor may suggest is a simple office procedure called an aspiration. This procedure requires your orthopedic doctor to numb the area of skin where the Ganglion cyst is located and then insert a small needle to draw the fluid out of the cyst. While immediately effective, it does not remove the root of the cyst meaning the cyst may redevelop later requiring another aspiration to be done. If aspiration is not an option, your orthopedic doctor may recommend surgery to remove the cyst and underlying cause. This is most commonly done on an outpatient basis, but will require 3 to 6 weeks to for the incision to heal and full range of motion to return.

If you have wrist or hand pain, you may be wondering if you might have carpal tunnel syndrome. The severity of this common condition can range from being a mild nuisance to a debilitating condition that prevents you from working and doing other activities that you enjoy. Here is some helpful information to determine if you have carpal tunnel. For a professional diagnosis, however, consult the experts at Southeast Orthopedic Specialists.

What is Carpal Tunnel?

The carpal tunnel runs between your forearm and hand. Inside the carpal tunnel is the median nerve, as well as several tendons. This system helps enable movement and sensation in your thumb and first three fingers.

What are the Symptoms of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?

Carpal tunnel syndrome is increasingly common, due to the repetitive movements involved in typing, texting, and general use of electronic devices. Symptoms include pain the joints of the wrist, hand, thumb and fingers. Other symptoms include tingling, numbness and an overall weakness. The sensation is sometimes described as a feeling of a lack of circulation in the hand.

What Treatments are Available for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?

Treatments for carpal tunnel syndrome are recommended according to the severity of the condition, how long the condition has been in existence, and how the carpal tunnel has responded to previous treatments.

One of the most simple things that can be done to get rid of carpal tunnel syndrome is to discontinue use of the hand and fingers that are affected. Even though this treatment is simple in theory, in practice it is difficult. The hand and fingers would be immobilized with a special fitted bandage, and the patient shouldn’t use that hand to do anything; even something as seemingly innocent as brushing their teeth.

Another treatment option for carpal tunnel syndrome is taking anti-inflammatory medication to bring down the swelling. This relieves pressure on the nerves and tendons, alleviating pain.

A regimen of ice treatments may also be recommended to bring down swelling and promote healing.

Contact A Specialist

In severe cases, surgery may be conducted as a drastic measure when other forms of treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome have failed to produce results.

The earlier that diagnosis and treatment begins for carpal tunnel syndrome, the better. If you’re experiencing some or all of the symptoms mentioned above, please contact the orthopedic specialists in Florida.

Hand and wrist pain can be especially debilitating since we are all so reliant on our hands in our day-to-day lives. If you’ve been looking for an effective, permanent solution to the condition in your hands or wrists, it may be time to consider the specialized procedures offered by our hand surgery specialists.

The Intricacies of Hand Conditions

Our hands are a marvel. There are so many tiny ligaments, muscles, and bones inside the hand that all must function together. While this is great in the sense that it allows our hands to perform an extremely wide range of tasks, it also means there are a lot of things that can go wrong.

When a bone, ligament, or muscle inside your hand becomes damaged either via an injury or a disease, surgery is often the most effective means of repairing it, and there are a variety of surgical procedures designed to treat a variety of conditions. When considering one of these procedures, though, you will want to ensure you are working with a highly skilled surgeon who is experienced in hand and wrist surgeries. To schedule an appointment with one of our world-class hand surgery specialists, be sure to contact us today.

The Benefits of Hand and Wrist Surgery

In many cases, non-surgical treatment is not enough to heal the conditions that cause hand and wrist pain. Hand and wrist surgery, however, is highly effective and proven to reduce or eliminate pain that is caused by a wide range of conditions.

After diagnosing your condition and discussing your options, the hand surgery specialists at Southeast Orthopedic Specialists will schedule a procedure for you that will allow you to regain the function in your hands, eliminate the pain, and start enjoying a more fulfilling life once more.

The human hand is a scientific marvel, capable of countless tasks. For those suffering from hand and wrist pain, though, these tasks can become a near constant source of discomfort. If you are tired of dealing with hand and wrist pain and the problems that it causes, our hand surgery specialists are ready to help you fix the problem once and for all.

What Causes Hand and Wrist Pain?

Hand and wrist pain can be caused by a wide range of factors, most all of which result in the damage of the many joints, muscles, nerves, tendons, and bones inside the wrist and hand. These factors include arthritis, trigger finger, ganglion cysts, Dupuytren’s Disease, fractures and carpal tunnel as well as others.

In many cases, it may be quite difficult to self-diagnose the cause of your hand and wrist pain as the symptoms of these various conditions may feel quite similar. However, all of these conditions are things that are best dealt with sooner rather than later. If you are suffering from hand and/or wrist pain and are ready for a solution, feel free to contact our hand surgery specialists today to schedule an appointment.

How to Correct Hand and Wrist Pain

Hand and wrist pain can sometimes be corrected with non-surgical solutions. In most cases, however, surgery is the most effective way to fully eliminate hand and wrist pain.

Surgeries designed to alleviate hand and wrist pain will vary depending on the condition that is causing your pain, so a thorough diagnosis is the first step in fixing the problem. From there, our hand surgery specialists will work to fully correct the damage using state-of-the-art procedures and the most cutting edge technological advancements in the medical industry.

If you are tired of dealing with hand and wrist pain and the constant effects that it has on your day-to-day tasks, we hope that you will visit us at Southeast Orthopedic Specialists and allow us to help you regain a pain-free life.

Our hands are used to perform many necessary functions. Hand weakness or pain can be debilitating and limit a person’s ability to dress, drive and more. For those that do not benefit from conservative approaches to treating weakness, injury or pain, hand surgery specialists provide additional options to address specific conditions affecting the hands and wrists.

There are a number of benefits from seeking the option of hand surgery specialists and receiving treatment at the Jacksonville orthopedic unit. Learn why people with hand pain or limited range of motion turn to a hand surgery specialist.

Hand Surgeon Experts

A Jacksonville hand surgeon is an expert in addressing the various conditions that can affect the hand, wrist and forearm. They often use non-invasive or minimally-invasive measures to diagnose and treat conditions. When more invasive surgery is called for, hand surgeons have the expertise and training to operate on the delicate soft tissue, nerves and bones making up the hand and wrist.

Hand Surgery Specialists Can Address Your Hand Pain

You could have hurt your hand recently and be experiencing some discomfort in your hand or wrist. When cases of hand pain do not resolve themselves quickly, you may need to learn more about your non-surgical or surgical options. A visit to the hand surgeon may be needed when a person experiences symptoms including:

• Problems opening or closing fingers;
• Pain in the fingers;
• Discomfort, numbness or tingling in the hand or wrist; or
• An injury to either the hand or wrist.

A hand surgeon may suggest acupuncture, physical therapy or stem cell injections as part of your treatment options. Understand more about the range of options available to effectively address problems of the hand or wrist.

Hand surgery specialists have the advanced training to treat trauma, injury and advanced diseases affecting the hand and wrist. Patients can receive treatment for hand weakness, pain or limited range of motion. Speak with an orthopedic hand specialist to learn more about your treatment options today.