Our hands are amazingly complex structures, that for the most part, can
be problem free. When we do have a problem that requires medical
attention, hand surgery may be the best option.
Our hands are complex structures made up of tendons, muscles, bones, and
many other systems. All the systems must work together to provide the
strength, movement, and sensitivity needed to function properly. Our
hands allow us to function on a daily scale from threading a needle, to
typing on a computer to picking up a child. When things are working
well, we can tend to take them for granted. A serious condition is
sometimes on of the first reminders, of how import our hands are. There
are many conditions and diseases that can make our lives more difficult.
Arthritis is one such disease that can directly affect the use of your
hands. If you are fortunate to live a long life you will probably become
familiar with arthritis. And, if you already have arthritis then you
know how challenging small tasks can become with hands that are in weak
or in pain. But, you don’t have to live with the everyday pain that
comes with this disease. Hand surgery is the best option for alleviating
the symptoms of arthritis.
Arthritis is an inflammatory disease that attacks the joints of the
body. Typically people with arthritis tend to first notice some
stiffness and loss of flexibility. As arthritis progresses, the joint is
no longer present leaving rough bone to bone contact. When this
happens, it can become extremely painful to do normal everyday tasks.
Simple actions such as pinching your thumb to your index finger can
become impossible and sometimes the pain in the joints can keep you
awake at night. At its worst arthritis can deform the fingers to where
they are no longer straight. Hand surgery is an available option when
this condition becomes too much to manage with pain medications alone or
therapy have not helped. And hand surgery can increase the mobility of
the hand while also relieving the pain associated with this disease.
Hand surgeons are trained and have extensive experience to restore
strength, flexibility and function to an arthritic hand. While you will
not get back the function you had in your youth, the goal is to restore
as much function as possible and reduce or eliminate pain. There are a
couple of types of hand surgery your doctor will evaluate you for, one
is joint reconstruction and the other is joint fusion. With
reconstruction, the surgery alleviates the bone to bone contact by
removing the saddle bone. In it’s place the doctor will place a piece of
tissue, such as a tendon or natural scar to act as a cushion since the
joint is no longer viable. Joint fusion eliminates the arthritic surface
and the bones on each side are fused together. This type of surgery is
used less often as it can restrict motion, while alleviating the pain.
It is important to discuss with your doctor the types of tasks you are
accustomed to doing, this can help in deciding what kind of hand surgery
can be done to assist in restoring function.
