Our hands enable us to thrive. We feel, touch, grasp, carry and hold the world around us using our hands. So, what do we do when our hands hurt or are weak? In some cases, we turn to the experience and expertise of one of our Jacksonville Orthopedic surgeons. This blog explores the reasons you may need hand surgery

First Steps – Treatment Before Surgery

For many patients, hand surgery is not the first tool to reach for when they need to address pain, limited range of motion, or even the onset of diseases such as arthritis. There are many pre-surgical treatments that do a wonderful job of reducing or eliminating pain, improving the range of motion and strength in your hands and addressing the early signs and symptoms of a disease. Those include:

• Acupuncture
• Physical therapy
• Chiropractic care

While these treatments help millions of people overcome pain, limited range of motion and disease, they may not be appropriate for your case, or sometimes they are not enough.

When You May Need Hand Surgery

Our Jacksonville orthopedic surgeons are each a hand surgery specialist and they practice from the perspective that every patient is unique, and so are their healthcare challenges. For that reason, surgery may or may not be the best option for you. Reach out to our Jacksonville orthopedic unit with questions or to schedule an initial exam.

• Trauma: Hand surgery following trauma is common. Broken fingers, a broken wrist, crushing injuries, traumatic amputations are all examples of when hand surgery is part of emergency care.
• Post Trauma Recovery: Sometimes surgery is not possible at the time of trauma and must be part of the follow-up care for recovery. At other times, emergency care needs to be corrected with hand surgery to ensure that long-term use of your hand is as natural as possible.
• Joint Replacement: Replacement of the wrist joint is an option when arthritis advances to the point where:
  • The wrist become locked
  • There is limited range of motion
  • Is severe pain or weakness in the fingers and hand
  • The quality of life of the patient diminishes
• Disease Impacts Use of the Wrist: The primary disease that affects the wrist is arthritis, but other diseases or conditions also require hand surgery. Those may include birth defects, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and infections.

Many options exist for treating problems with your wrist. The best advice for people who suffer from hand pain, limited range of motion, or weakness in your hand is to talk with a hand surgery specialist who recognizes that your treatment options and condition require a unique and personalized approach to care and treatment.

A hand fracture and a hand injury that’s going to require surgery are two different things. But how do you know if your particular injury is going to require surgery? The first thing you need to do is contact a hand surgery specialist immediately. Scheduling an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon is the only way to know for sure what the next step will be for getting you on the road to recovery.

Do I Really Need Hand Surgery?

A Jacksonville orthopedic surgeon will assess your hand during an exam by looking for the following:

• If the bones in your hand are unstable such as in a compound fracture.
• If there are bones piercing your skin.
• If the bones are shattered.
• Look at the position of your fingers.
• Check the range of motion of your fingers.
• Determine if you have any numbness in your fingers.
• Perform X-Rays to finalize the diagnosis

If an orthopedic doctor determines you have an injury versus a hand fracture, you will be given the option of surgery. At which time the orthopedic surgeon will generally implant wires, plates or screws into your hand to hold the bones in place.

Who Can I Call for Information About a Hand Surgery?

Should you require surgery, or would like more information about a hand surgery, please contact one of our Jacksonville orthopedic surgeons today. At Southeast Orthopedic Specialists, we promise to treat you and your injury with all the care and compassion you deserve while taking the time to thoroughly answer all your questions.

What About After Surgery Care?

After your injury has healed, your hand surgery specialist could opt for removing the implants; however, some doctors decide to leave them in place. Going forward, your joints might be stiff from the surgery; therefore, your surgeon will probably have you perform some post-recovery exercises to help restore the strength and range of motion in your hand.

Both a sprained or broken ankle can cause severe pain. In addition, the same sorts of injuries could cause both types of injuries. Shared symptoms include swelling, pain and trouble walking. A doctor may even have to order an x-ray to know for sure; however, there are some signs that your ankle is surely broken and not just sprained.

In either case, you will be prudent to consider calling upon one of our foot and ankle surgeons at Southeast Orthopedic Specialists. Our experienced orthopedic doctors want to relieve your pain and help you return to your feet.

Signs of a Broken Ankle

Both ankle fractures or sprains usually occur because of too much pressure gets put on the joint. People typically suffer from these types of accidents during sports or auto accidents. In some cases, ankles can get stressed because a person stumbles or simply overuses the joint. People who suffer from conditions that lower bone density or who take certain medications may be more vulnerable to fractured ankles.

If you notice any sign of a deformation, a bone that has pierced skin or an inability to put any weight on your ankle at all, there is a high chance that you did fracture an ankle bone. Most likely, the fractured bone is the one called the fibula. This is the smaller bone on the outside of the bottom of each leg.

Sometimes, mild fractions don’t produce symptoms that feel much more severe than sprains. People have been known to walk on small fractures without realizing that they broke a bone. If you only suffer from mild symptoms, how can you tell if you have a broken ankle? If your symptoms don’t get better or get worse after ice, compression, rest and a pain reliever, you should still consider the possibility that you have broken an ankle bone. Most foot and ankle orthopedists will advise you that it’s better to get a professional diagnosis than to try to guess.

Our feet and ankles are extremely important to our body. They allow us to walk around and do other things such as dance or play sports. Because of this, it is important to listen to your body. If your feet and ankles are injured, you want to take care of them as soon as possible. Failure to do so could lead to an impact on your quality of life.

Symptoms to Watch For

If you ever experience pain in your feet or ankles, you should take notice. These are just a few of the symptoms that you should be on the lookout for and if you do experience any of these things, you should see an orthopedist to have them checked out:

• Pain that lasts for more than 72 hours in your feet or ankles
• Swelling of one of your legs or feet that lasts for more than 24 hours
• An increase in pain when you are exercising or walking
• Pain while you are resting or when you are elevating your legs
• A new progression of a foot deformity that comes on suddenly
• An infection in your ankles or feet
• The flattening of your arch in one of your feet or both
• A developing blister or ulcer on your foot or feet that you did not feel happening
• An ulcer or blister on your foot or feet that is not healing
• A loss of sensation in your feet or ankles

These are some very serious issues that you want to have checked out as soon as possible. If you are experiencing any of these problems, you should contact one of our orthopedic doctors Orange Park Florida. Contact us today to make an appointment so we can get you back on your feet.