Hand surgery repairs tissue and bone damage in your hand and wrist. With hand surgery, the expert team of surgeons at Utah Orthopaedics restores hand and finger function while reducing or eliminating pain, stiffness, and other problems.
With most hand pain and function problems, the Utah Orthopaedics team recommends nonsurgical treatment first. For example, you should first try rest, bracing, physical therapy, and corticosteroid injections to see if they relieve your pain and hand movement problems.
If your hand problems continue and you’ve exhausted the conservative treatments, the Utah Orthopaedics team would then consider hand surgery. The most common reasons for needing hand surgery include:
The team can also help with hand problems that begin in other areas of your body. For example, cubital tunnel syndrome — in which the ulnar nerve in your inner elbow becomes badly inflamed — can cause hand pain, numbness, and tingling in your pinky and ring fingers. Surgery can relieve those symptoms.
Hand surgery differs with each specific condition. Common hand surgeries include:
When possible, the Utah Orthopaedics team performs minimally invasive surgery using small, buttonhole-sized incisions.
Arthroscopy allows your surgeon to view the inside of a small joint like your wrist on a high-definition monitor. They then make one or more new incisions in the area to insert surgical tools through. Using this technique, your surgeon can diagnose problems and repair them at the same time.
Minimally invasive surgery methods reduce the risk of infection, minimize pain, and allow a faster recovery. And minimally invasive surgery is usually an outpatient procedure, so you can often go home right after your surgery.
In some cases of particularly complicated hand trauma, surgeons need to use larger incisions. But regardless of the method used, the Utah Orthopaedics team always focuses on excellent results.
At Utah Orthopaedics, Dr. Illing, a fellowship-trained orthopaedic hand surgeon offers compassionate care using state-of-the-art techniques. Call the office today or book an appointment online for help with hand and wrist pain.
