The human hand is a unique tool in constant use and prone to injuries in the home, workplace and during leisure activities. Most of these injuries are first seen in your local A&E department, but I am happy to take over care whenever you can arrange to come in and see me.
Tendons are commonly cut in domestic accidents with glass or knives in the kitchen. At the same time the little nerves supplying sensation to the fingers may be divided, causing numbness and tingling in a finger.
We try and repair these as soon after the accident as possible. With early repair and dedicated time spent with the hand physiotherapist, these injuries do well. The rehabilitation process may, however, take months and may involve wearing a splint for the first 6 weeks or so.
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Small cut at the base of this man’s little finger with division of the flexor tendon (he cannot bend the finger) and digital nerve (numb in the shaded area):
Other common tendon injuries occur on the sports field (these are often closed injuries and may have associated fractures) or workplace.
I deal with ALL hand fractures except wrist fractures (e.g. scaphoid). Often these fractures need no more treatment than a splint for a few weeks, but with more complex injuries we may need to operate and open the fracture, then fix it with either pins or plates/screws.