Signs and symptoms of the most common hand conditions
Our hands are vital to our everyday life. Pretty much everything we do involves them so it can be disconcerting to experience pain and discomfort which may indicate there is something wrong.
The most common conditions are Carpal tunnel syndrome, Trigger finger, and Dupuytren’s disease.
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal tunnel syndrome is a condition which usually presents when pressure on a nerve in your wrist causes pain and numbness in your hand and fingers.
You may experience tingling and numbness in the thumb, index and middle finger, and struggle with everyday tasks such as fastening buttons.
Trigger Finger
The tendons that bend your fingers run through a tunnel which can become thickened and catch on the edge of the tunnel as the tendon glides in and out. This causes the finger to get ‘locked’ in a bent down position.
Dupuytren’s Disease (Contracture)
This is a very common condition where the skin of the palm and underlying tissue thickens, which causes a finger to contract down. It commonly affects the ring and little finger, but you can get it in any of your fingers and also your thumb.
Other conditions that affect the hand and wrist:
Many people also suffer from conditions such as:
Arthritis in the thumb and fingers which causes pain, stiffness and deformity.
Cubital Tunnel Syndrome which is a compression of the ulna nerve as it runs around the medial epicondyle (“funny bone”) that causes shooting pain up the wrist.
General fractures, sprains and damage to the hand and wrist and whilst these are all fairly common, they are well treated and don’t need to interfere with the enjoyment of your daily life.
