Mallet Finger- Finger Deformity That Bends the Finger

Our hands are important parts of our body as they act as tools with which we can control all our work as well as our environment. With the constant use of our hands we are bound to get variety of injuries like cuts, bumps, and bruises. Most of these injuries heal without any medical attention. But, there are a few injuries, if perceived as minor initially, can become severe afterwards if left untreated. One of these injuries can be named as Mallet Finger; it is a deformity of the finger in which the tendon that straightens it, is damaged. 

The tendon of a finger is damaged when a ball or any other object hits it and forcibly bends it. The force of the blow tears the tendon and sometimes it may even pull away a bone along with the tendon making it difficult to straighten the finger. If you suffer from this deformity, initially you will suffer from pain and swollen distal IP joint and you won't be able to straighten your finger. If you experience such finger problems than you can treat this with various procedures. Doctors offer various treatments like exercise, splints and surgery for correcting mallet finger. Keeping your finger in rest will also help it to heal quickly.       

If finger injures are not treated well, can sometimes lead to major injuries. Though our bones in the hand are small, we should not treat a broken or fractured finger as a minor injury. The bones in our finger let us perform specialized functions like holding, grasping, carrying things, throwing etc. If a finger fractures, it can make your whole hand out of alignment preventing it to do the day to day work. If you ignore the fracture, your finger may remain stiff and swollen causing pain. Some of the symptoms of the broken finger bone are swelling, tenderness, bruising, inability to move, pain etc.

Suffering From a Swollen Thumb? Check for De Quervain's Tendinosis

Human body consists of tendons, tough tissues that connects muscle to bone and is responsible for withstanding tension. Sometimes, the tendon around the thumb gets irritated and swollen due to various reasons and this condition is known as De Quervain's tendinosis. The word tendinosis in itself means the swelling of the tendons. Swelling and compression of the tendon can cause pain and tenderness around the thumb and you experience the pain while forming a fist, trying to grip something and when trying to turn your wrist. 

However, the exact cause of this condition is not yet known, its cause is considered as any activity that depends on repetitive hand or wrist movement. These activities include doing household chores or working in the garden, playing, lifting things etc. All such activities can even worsen the pain in a person suffering De Quervain's tendinosis. This condition can further lead to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in a person. It is a condition of hand and arm that causes numbness, tingling, weakness and other symptoms and is caused due to the pressure on the median nerve in your wrist. Various factors including structure of the wrist, certain health problems and possibly patterns of hand use contribute to this condition. 

Carpal tunnel is a thin passageway surrounded by bones and ligaments. It is located on the palm side of the wrist protecting the main nerve of hand and the nine tendons that help bend fingers. Compression of the nerve due to pressure causes numbness, tingling and weakness in the hand. Symptoms of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome usually occur in the thumb, index finger, middle finger, and half of the ring finger. You can get relief by keeping your hand movement at rest. However, people suffering from this condition can get relieved with quick and proper treatment and can easily restore wrist and hand function actively. 

Ulnar Tunnel Syndrome - A Painful Condition Leading To Trigger Finger

Ulnar Tunnel Syndrome is a painful condition of your hand and is caused when the median nerve that extends down the arm, across the elbow, and into the hand gets compressed. Median nerve is one of the main nerves branching from the brachial plexus. Injury to the hand such as joint dislocation or fracture can tear or inflame the ulnar nerve making it swollen and thus gets trapped causing pain. Injuries to your hand can cause due to accidents, falling etc and further cause the condition called ulnar nerve entrapment. The symptoms of this condition include: 

• softness along the inside of the elbow 
• tingling and deadness in little and ring fingers 
• difficulty hand movements. 
• lack of griping power, muscle weakness 
• pain within the border of the shoulder blade

If you experience any of these symptoms, you should immediately contact a physician. Early diagnosis and treatment is essential to control the pain and fast recovery. Though mostly the problem is in the elbow area, people experience pain in the hand and fingers because ulnar nerve controls movement and sensation there. Both sensory and motor skills are affected causing Trigger finger, a painful condition related with a clicking sensation during finger extension, or locking in a closed position during gripping activities.

The index, middle and ring fingers are common to this condition and the clicking is clearly heard upon while bending the fingers to make a firm grip. Suffering from this condition cannot make firm grips while holding something as he finds it difficult to stretch or bend his fingers properly. Trying to stretch or hold something will cause pain leading the patient to the doctor. The popping or the clicking of the finger is the characteristic of trigger thumb and it worsens in the morning upon waking up. With passive stretching of hand and fingers, we can avoid this condition. 

Stiffness of the Elbow May Lead To Elbow Arthritis

Human body is a mechanism that functions with the help of different parts and organs. Nervous system is one of the main system upon which the proper functionality of the body is dependent. The condition of the nervous system in which the radial nerve is squeezed by surrounding structures in the elbow or forearm is called radial tunnel syndrome. This syndrome is mainly characterized by weakness or pain in the hand and wrist. It is mainly caused due to an increased pressure on the radial nerve. The compression in the nerve usually occurs in the elbow or forearm by the muscles and ligament-like tissues.

The compression in the elbow may lead to pain and weakness of the hand; it may further result into Elbow Arthritis. You may also suffer from this condition due to direct trauma to the elbow or forearm. Arthritis of the elbow in many people not only causes pain when they bend their elbow, but also when they straighten it preventing them to carry on their day to day work. Rheumatoid arthritis is the most common cause of this condition while osteoarthritis and injuries damage the cartilage of the elbow joint making people suffer from arthritis in the elbow joint. 

An injury or damage to the elbow joint may further leads to stiffness of the elbow. Stiffness is relatively a common elbow problem. A trauma involving considerable bone and soft-tissue injury may lead to elbow stiffness. If you experience a stiff elbow after an injury or surgery, than you may find it difficult to move your hand freely and it may take more than a year to improve your hand movement. With physiotherapy and elbow splinting, you can improve the motion at a quicker speed. However, if you don’t see any improvement in your hand movement even after physiotherapy or elbow splinting than surgical treatment is recommended to release the elbow joint.

Triangular Fibrocartilage Complex- A Sprain in the Wrist

Triangular Fibrocartilage Complex (TFCC) is a complicate structure and is a chief provider to the strength and stability of the wrist. It is also a common source of pain for the wrist by the side of the ulna (small finger). The entire TFCC is placed between the ulna and two carpal bones (lunate and triquetrum) and is a collection of many structures that hold up the Triangular Fibrocartilage Proper. The Triangular Fibrocartilage is the major tendon that soothes the Distal Radio-Ulnar Joint (DRUJ), the part of the wrist joint lying between the two bones of the forearm (radius and ulna), and allowing rotation of forearm.

Injuries to the Triangular Fibrocartilage ligament affect the ulnar (little finger) side of the wrist. It may be injured by a fall, sports injury, car crash, or other trauma. If you fracture your wrist than you are likely to suffer from TFCC tears and this can be the major cause of wrist pain even after the injury is healed. You may also get Triangular Fibrocartilage Complex even without any injury if the ulna bone is longer than the radius bone. TFCC can be referred as a sprain to the wrist and its injury may result as a very disable wrist condition.

Apart from the TFCC injuries, your wrist may also suffer from the Kienbock’s Disease. It is a disorder of the wrist and is a condition in which the blood supply to the lunate bone is reduced and this result in the death of the bone. Lunate bone is one of the central bones in the wrist providing proper movement and support to the joint.  It makes up the proximal carpal row in the wrist along with the scaphoid and triquetrum bones either side of it. The Kienbock’s Disease is most common in men between the age group of 20 and 40. Its symptoms include pain, stiffness, and arthritis of the wrist over the time.

Mucous Cysts - A Fluid-Filled Swelling on the Lips or Mouth

Our skin is prone to various conditions that cause lumps and bumps on the surface or just beneath the skin. A cyst is a formation of a sac-like pocket of tissue containing fluid, air, or other substances. It can develop almost in any part of your body on or beneath the skin. Cysts can be of different types including mucous, retinacular cysts etc and most of these are benign, or non-cancerous. Let us discuss the different types of cysts.

 Mucous cysts

Also known as a mucocoele, a mucous cyst is a fluid-filled bump that mainly occurs on the lip or in the mouth. The main reason of the development of cyst in the mouth is the mucus of the mouth’s salivary glands gets plugged. Most cysts grow on the lower lip but has all the possibility to occur anywhere within the oral cavity. Though most of the cysts are temporary and painless but can become permanent if they are not treated o time.

Pitiable dental health and hygiene, a habit of lip or cheek biting because of stress can increase the risk for developing mucous cysts.

Retinacular cysts

The occurrence of ganglion cyst in the flexor tendon sheath is known as a retinacular cyst. It is usually a tender mass that occurs in the palm by the base of a finger. The development of this cyst often causes pain when gripping objects.

Doctors determine whether you need treatment for the cyst development or not taking into account a number of factors. The factors include:

• the kind of cyst
• the spot of the cyst growth
• if it is causing pain or not
• whether the cyst is infectious 

Dupuytren's contracture is a skin condition that occurs due to the thickening of the fibrous tissue layer beneath the skin of the palm and fingers. Although it doesn’t cause pain, but the solidifying and tightening of this tough tissue can cause the fingers to bend (flex).

Ulnar Tunnel Syndrome and Its Remedy

Have you ever faced pain in your wrist? Have you seen your doctor? You might be facing ulnar tunnel syndrome. This syndrome is caused by pressure on the ulnar nerve at the wrist. It is found on the outer side of the wrist.

This syndrome happens when one overuse or repetitive use their hands. Swelling or thickening of the tissue close to the ulnar nerve is caused from a ganglion. It is commonly seen is bicycle riders as they hold on to the handlebars for longer period. The symptoms include pain, numbness and tingling in the ring finger and pinkie finger.

Trigger finger and trigger thumb are also common. It happens due to space problem, which bends the finger, or thumb that gets compressed. Sometimes the tendons shrink due to various problems such as diabetes, thyroid, etc. It swells and thickens the lining of the tendon. People often face pain in the fingers and bending towards the palm. 

Fortunately, this syndrome is curable. It is a simple surgery, which is 100% successful and permanently cures the problem. You can visit an orthopedic surgeon and had a surgery. After surgery, one needs to keep the hand clean and away from water for 3 days. Showering is not recommended though one can bathe after wrapping the hand with plastic cover. 

After 3 days one can shower easily, however, one can avoid submerging their hand inside the water for atleast 10 days. One does not have to visit the doctor to remove the stitches, it will get merged. It is recommended to avoid heavy activities such as lifting heavy objects. 

So, if you are feeling the pain in your wrist or fingers, then you can contact an orthopedic surgeon and get surgery done as fast as possible. It will help in curing the pain and make sure that one does not feel the pain again and again.