Wrist, Hand, and Finger Injuries

While wrist, hand, and finger injuries naturally develop through habitual wear and tear processors and progressive overuse, they are more commonly seen as a result of:

• Direct trauma associated with sports
• Trips resulting in FOOSH injuries
• Accidents with heavy machinery and/or power tools

Patients who present with wrist, hand, or finger injuries following direct trauma may have the following signs and symptoms:

• Pain
• Sensitivity
• Weakness
• Heat
• Swelling
• Deformity
• Joint restriction and/or locking
• Clicking

The common neuromusculoskeletal diagnoses for injuries of the wrist, hand, and fingers are:

• Ligament strains and/or tears
• Tendon strains and/or tears
• Joints sprains
• Overlying and intrinsic muscles tissue tearing, straining, or bruising
• Complicated fractures requiring surgical intervention (scaphoid, or fractures near the physis of the metacarpals and phalanges)
• Stable fractures requiring splinting followed by progressive rehabilitation
• Partial and complete dislocations
• Compression or crushing injuries potentially resulting in carpal tunnel, and nail-bed deformities

Depending on the diagnosis and the severity of the wrist, hand, or finger injury, patients may respond well to a conservative manual approach involving:

• Soft tissue therapy
• Passive joint mobilisation
• Musculoskeletal dry needling
• Advanced taping techniques (rigid taping and/or kinesio taping)
• Progressive injury rehabilitation