The wrist, hand and fingers are made up of lots of bones, ligaments, tendons, muscles and nerves. This makes them very mobile and also very vulnerable to injury. 25% of all sports injuries involve the wrist and hand.
Physiotherapy Treatment for Wrist, Hand & Finger
Here at Susan Quin Physiotherapy, I am experienced in assessing and treating wrist, hand and finger injuries. They can be divided into acute injuries (direct impact or a fall) and overuse injuries (repetitive stress). Injuries like fractures may need to be immobilised. Other injuries will need exercises and advice on how to adapt movement and work.
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Physiotherapy treatments include:
- Splinting to immobilise
- Taping to support and facilitate movement
- Manual therapy to decrease stiffness and increase movement
- Exercises to improve movement, strength and function
- Ergonomic advice
- Bone strength advice
- Falls prevention
- Advice on protection, e.g. tape fingers, brace your thumb
Acute injuries of the wrist, hand and finger
Acute injuries are common in sports where players use their hands to control the ball or tackle other players. These injuries also happen as a result of a fall, where the person has used their hand to break their fall.
Examples of acute injuries:
- Fractures, e.g. Colles (base of forearm at wrist)), scaphoid (base of thumb), metacarpal (long bone in hand) fractures from punching, hook of hamate fracture (tennis)
- Ligament, e.g. scapholunate (in the middle of the wrist) or the ligament at base of thumb due to falls (skiers thumb)
- Triangular Fibrocartilage Complex Tear (at the inside of your wrist) happens due to a fall on the hand or a twist of the wrist
- Mallet finger occurs when ball hits the tip of your finger (basketball)
Overuse injuries of the wrist, hand and finger
Overuse injuries are common in sport and in occupations where people use their hands a lot.
Examples of overuse injuries include:
- DeQuervains (tendon at base of the thumb is inflamed)
- Wrist impingement when two bones impact each other, e.g, weightlifters, at the back of the wrist or golfers, at the base of the thumb
- Ganglions or cysts at the back and front of the wrist
- Carpal tunnel syndrome when the nerve that runs from the forearm into the palm gets squeezed at your wrist
- Trigger finger when a tendon that pulls your fingers closed becomes swollen and gets stuck making it difficult to bend or straighten the finger. This occurs in climbers and also as a result of ageing
- Tendinopathies around the wrist and hand (tendon irritation)
- Stress Fractures
- Arthritis
Useful Links and Resources
Opening Hours
Monday: 9am-5pm
Tuesday: 9am-5pm
Wednesday: 9am-5pm
Thursday: 9am-5pm
Friday: 9am-5pm
Saturday-Sunday: Closed
Contact Me
Susan Quin Physiotherapy provides Home Visits for Personalised Physiotherapy Assessment and Treatment in the Raheny, Clontarf, Killester, Artane, Fairview, Donaghmede, Clongriffin, Malahide, Portmarnock, Baldoyle, Sutton and Howth areas.
