Hand surgery is a medical specialty that treats problems and conditions affecting the hand, wrist, forearm, and shoulder. Conditions that need surgery aren’t always life-threatening or severe. Hand surgeons often use surgery to treat conditions that improve a patient’s quality of life or to relieve pain.
If you are experiencing problems in your arm or hand, it is helpful to understand what a hand surgeon can do to help you address and prevent them.
What Conditions Does A Hand Surgeon Treat?
Hand surgery is a highly effective medical treatment for various hand conditions, both acute and chronic. No matter what problem you have in your hands, there’s likely a surgical approach that a hand surgeon can use to help address it. Some of the more common hand conditions that may need hand surgery include:
Arthritis
Hand and wrist arthritis can be excruciatingly painful. This condition causes joint cartilage to deteriorate, resulting in pain and discomfort as bones scrape against each other. As a result, patients may sustain permanent damage to affected joints, requiring surgical intervention in many cases.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
This condition occurs when the median nerve becomes compressed due to inflammation. When conservative treatments fail to provide relief from hand pain, surgery can correct the problem by widening the carpal tunnel to give the median nerve enough space.
Dupuytren’s Disease
This hand condition causes a layer of tissue beneath the skin in your hand to thicken and tighten, causing one or more fingers to remain bent toward the palm. Hand surgeons can remove some of the affected tissue.
Fractures
A fracture is one of the most common hand and wrist injuries. When the hand and wrist bones experience excessive pressure or force, they can break. Nonsurgical treatments, depending on the type and severity of the fracture, can be effective in correcting the problem. For severe fractures, your hand surgeon may use other implements that can hold shattered or misaligned bones in place while your body repairs itself.
Ganglion Cysts
Ganglion cysts are fluid-filled sacs that commonly grow on the wrist or fingers. While many ganglion cysts are asymptomatic, if they cause discomfort, a hand surgeon can remove them.
Trigger Finger
If your thumb or finger remains bent, you may have trigger finger. Trigger finger occurs when the tissues surrounding the tendons in your hand become inflamed and damaged, pulling the closest finger down.
What Are The Types Of Hand Surgery?
If an injury requires surgery, hand surgeons first determine the cause of the problem before prescribing treatment. Hand surgeries are classified as follows:
Arthroplasty
Arthroplasty is a medical procedure wherein a hand surgeon replaces a damaged joint with a new one. Your hand surgeon will remove the damaged or diseased portion of the joint and replace it with an artificial part made of medical-grade materials.
Fasciotomy
This surgical procedure relieves swelling and tension, improves circulation, and saves limbs. Fasciotomy is typically performed on the leg but can also address hand conditions.
Nerve Damage Repair
There are three primary nerves leading to your hand. If any of them are damaged, it can cause numbness and reduced hand function. Severed nerves must be repaired or reattached during surgery.
Replantation
Replantation is the surgical reattachment of a severed body part, such as a finger. It attempts to reattach and restore function to as much of the injured part as possible.
Skin Grafts
Severely damaged or diseased skin is incapable of protecting the hand’s inner workings from potentially dangerous invaders, such as bacteria and viruses. Surgeons perform this procedure by replacing injured or diseased tissue with skin from another part of the body.
Surgical Drainage or Debridement
Irrigation is the process of pouring a sterile solution over an open wound to help clean it and remove debris. Debridement is the surgical removal of infected or diseased tissue to promote wound healing.
Tendon Repair
Tendons are fibers that connect muscles to bones. Infections, trauma, or spontaneous injuries can cause tendons to rupture, possibly requiring surgery. The three types of tendon repair are primary, delayed primary, and secondary.
Hand Surgery in Palm Beach, FL
You may need reconstructive surgery if the tissues in your hand degrade, become damaged, or get infected or inflamed. A hand surgeon is the best provider to help address hand conditions, whether acute or chronic.
Contact the experts at Personalized Orthopedics of the Palm Beaches in Boynton Beach, Florida, if you or a loved one is suffering from orthopedic issues, particularly those affecting the hand. With cutting-edge therapies and trustworthy staff, we’re here to help you get back to being the best version of yourself. Call us at (561) 733-5888 for more information, or fill out our appointment request form.
