Conditions

Arthritis is an inflammatory condition of the joints. There are several types of arthritis and the most common type is osteoarthritis or wear-and-tear arthritis. Arthritis affects various joints in the body and the arthritis in the hand affects the joint at the base of the thumb. Arthritis may also affect the joints of other digits.

A fracture is a break in the bone, which occurs when force greater than the bearable limit is applied against a bone. The most common symptoms of any fracture include severe pain, swelling, bruising or bleeding, deformity and discolouration of the skin and limited mobility of the hand.

The wrist is comprised of two bones in the forearm, the radius and ulna, and eight tiny carpal bones in the palm. The bones meet to form multiple large and small joints. A wrist fracture refers to a break in one or more of these bones.

The forearm is made up of 2 bones, namely, the radius and ulna. The primary function of your forearm is rotation i.e., the ability to turn your palm up and down. The fracture of the forearm affects the ability to rotate your arm, as well as bend and straighten the wrist and elbow.

A break or a crack in the bones of the thumb is known as a thumb fracture. Fractures may occur anywhere on the thumb, but a fracture at the base of the thumb, near the wrist, is considered the most serious.

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a common, painful, progressive condition that is caused by compression of the median nerve at the wrist area.

A fingertip injury is a wound or damage caused to the most distal portion of the finger. It can be a crush, a sharp cut, a tear or a combination of these, and can result in damage to the skin, nail or nailbed, tendon, pulp, bone, and nerve endings.

Injuries caused due to stretching or tearing of the ligaments in the wrist are called wrist sprains. Sprains can range from mild to severe, based on the extent of injury to the ligament.

Finger dislocation is a condition in which the bone of your finger has moved away from its normal position.

Ganglion cysts are swellings that most commonly develop along the tendons or joints of wrists or hands. They can be found either at the top of the wrist, palm side of the wrist, end joint of a finger or at the base of a finger.

Tendons in your fingers connect the finger bones to finger muscles and help bend and straighten the finger at the joint when the muscles contract. Boutonnière deformity is a condition in which a tendon injury to the middle joint of the finger results in the inability to straighten the affected finger.

Dupuytren’s contracture is a hand condition where thickening of the underlying fibrous tissues of the palm causes the fingers to bend inward. This makes it difficult to fully straighten the affected fingers.

A ligament is a strong, flexible band of fibrous tissue. The wrist has many ligaments that help to keep the wrist bones in proper position providing stability to the joint.

Malunion of a fracture is a condition where the fractured ends of a bone heal in a misaligned position resulting in bone deformity. Malunions may occur in any bone fractures in the body often due to trauma.

Gamekeeper's thumb, also known as skier's thumb, is a tear of the ulnar collateral ligament, a band of tissue that supports the joint at the base of the thumb.

A boxer’s fracture is a break in the neck of the fifth metacarpal bone of the hand (below the pinky finger) close to the knuckle. The hand is composed of 3 types of bones: carpal or wrist bones, metacarpals or long hand bones, and phalanges or finger bones.

Inflammation and swelling of the tendon sheaths put pressure on the adjacent nerves and leads to pain and numbness in the thumb side of the wrist. Strain on these tendons can cause swelling and irritation, and lead to a condition called De Quervain's tenosynovitis, which is characterized by inflammation.

ECU tendon instability can occur when the sheath covering and protecting the ECU tendon at the wrist is injured. This causes the tendon to move abnormally and occupy the wrong space within the sheath.

The triangular fibrocartilage complex, or TFCC, is a complex of cartilage and ligaments located near the outer region of the wrist, below the little finger. It serves to stabilise the wrist, allowing easy movement and shock-absorption. Sports activities or falls can damage or injure the TFCC, causing wrist pain and instability.

Scapholunate advanced collapse of the wrist or SLAC is the most common pattern of degenerative osteoarthritis of the wrist.

The joint located at the base of the thumb is known as the carpometacarpal (CMC) joint. The thumb CMC joint is where the metacarpal bone of the thumb connects to the trapezium (carpal) bone of the wrist. The CMC is the joint most affected in thumb arthritis. CMC arthritis is a medical condition in which the cartilage covering and cushioning the ends of the bones in the CMC joint is worn out due to aging or wear and tear causing swelling and tenderness of the CMC joint. CMC arthritis is commonly known as arthritis of the thumb or basal joint arthritis.