You depend on your hands and wrists. At work, whether you use a keyboard or a clipboard, a hammer, or a steering wheel, healthy hands and wrists are not optional.
The surgeons at Cedars-Sinai Marina del Rey Hospital who specialize in hand and wrist procedures provide comprehensive care for all the many problems that can affect the upper extremities. Our board-certified and fellowship-trained hand and wrist specialists evaluate and treat hundreds of patients each year.
Surgery is not always required and sometimes, the most effective treatment often takes the shape of non-operative measures, which include hand therapy and the use of different types of splints. However, when surgery is necessary, our surgeons use the latest and most sophisticated techniques in treating our patients. Some of the most common issues they treat include:
- acute traumatic injuries
- reconstruction for chronic post-traumatic problems
- acquired conditions
- nerve compressions that most commonly involve carpal tunnel syndrome
- tumors and tumor-like masses such as ganglions
- congenital deformities
- neuromuscular disorders in children (cerebral palsy) and the elderly (after strokes)
We use our hands and wrists for the bulk of our activities during the day, without ever stopping to think about it.
Until one suffers from arthritis trigger finger, carpal tunnel syndrome, or other ailments that can affect the hand and wrist, only then does one realize just how important our hands are to everyday tasks. Aching hands can transform even a simple task into a painful ordeal!
Beneath our skin, the wrists and hands are one of the most intricate yet vulnerable areas to injure in the body. The complex architecture of tendons, nerves, joints, ligaments, and bones is vulnerable to illness or injury.
However, if people take the time to understand a few basic preventive procedures, they will be able to keep their wrists and hands in good shape and avoid having to see a hand specialist.
Here are a few tips to help you keep your hands and wrists in a healthy condition:
- avoid activities that bend or twist the wrists for long periods of time
- avoid doing repetitive movements for long periods of time without rest breaks
- avoid holding objects in one position for long periods of time
- if your symptoms improve when you stop an activity, resume that activity gradually; as you do, keep your wrists straight or only slightly bent
- make sure that changes at work do not cause other wrist problems or make your condition worse
- reduce the speed and force of repetitive hand movements
- stop any activities that you think may be causing numbness and pain
- take frequent breaks from typing or other repetitive activities to stretch your hands and wrists
- talk with your workplace safety officer about changes in equipment or rotating some of your duties if you suspect that your hand or wrist pain is work-related
- watch your grip: gripping with only the thumb and index finger can stress the wrist, so use your whole hand to grasp an object whenever possible
- use specially designed gloves that support the wrist and have vibration-absorbing padding, take frequent breaks, and switch hands often when working with tools that vibrate
- Carpal Tunnel Release
- Carpal Tunnel Steroid Injection
- Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Treatment
- Closed Reduction (Finger)
- Emergent Management of Hand Dislocation
- Fasciotomy
- Ganglion Cyst Surgery
- Hand Fracture Surgery
- Joint Reconstruction Surgery
- Minimally Invasive Technique - Dupuytrens Disease
- Nerve Decompression
- Non-Operative Cubital Tunnel Syndrome Treatment
- Non-Operative Finger Fracture Treatment
- Non-Operative Finger Sprain Treatments
- Non-Operative Ganglion Cyst Treatment
- Non-Operative Hand and Wrist Arthritis Treatments
- Non-Operative Hand Fracture Treatment
- Orthopaedic Surgery for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
- Orthopaedic Surgery for Flexor Tendon Lacerations
- Orthopaedic Surgery for Gamekeeper's Thumb
- Orthopaedic Surgery for Hand Infections
- Phalangeal Fracture Surgery
- Posterior Long Arm Splinting
- Sugar-Tong Forearm Splinting
- Thumb Spica Splinting
- Volar Splinting
- Wrist Arthrocentesis (Joint Aspiration)
- Wrist Arthroscopy
The human hand itself is very complex and delicate in structure. Thus, hand surgery requires a completely different surgical approach from a qualified hand and wrist surgeon. It traditionally includes treatment of the entire hand, wrist, and forearm.