Tips for Avoiding Hand Surgery

How much do you depend on your hands? If you’re like most adults in the United States, the answer is probably that you rely on your hands a lot for everything from independent living tasks to work or making art to competing in sports.

Your hands must be strong enough to hold up under pressure, with fine motor control that lets you make movements with precision and accuracy.

But, you might not realize how much stress your hands regularly endure or how common the risks of hand, wrist, and upper arm conditions are. At Twin Palm Orthopedics, located in Ocala, Florida, hand orthopedic surgeon Dr. Nirav Gupta often sees patients experiencing significant hand dysfunction and needing hand surgery to restore pain-free function.

If you don’t want that to happen, here are some helpful tips and tricks for keeping your hands healthy.

Maintaining healthy hands

Hand health involves your fingers, palms, and wrists. Many small bones, tendons, and muscles are involved in the full function of this body part, not to mention major nerves that are often a source of dysfunction and chronic pain.

To keep your hands healthy, you must avoid acute injuries. However, issues related to overuse are also a common cause of hand issues requiring surgery. Hand surgery is often the preferred treatment for uncontrolled degenerative conditions.

Tips for hand health

To keep your hands healthy, follow these expert tips.

Stretch regularly

This tip is especially essential if aspects of your personal or professional life put you at higher risk for repetitive stress injuries. Stretching is necessary if you spend a lot of time typing, playing hand-intensive sports like tennis, or working with heavy power equipment that vibrates.

Take the pressure off your hands, wrists, and upper arms

Being aware of stress on your hands reduces stress and tension in your hands.

Pay attention to early warning signs

If you notice pain, cramping, numbness, tingling, or dysfunction in your hands, wrists, or lower arms, contact a musculoskeletal function and orthopedics expert like Dr. Gupta.

Restoring hand function

While prevention makes a significant difference, you still could experience hand, wrist, or lower-arm pain or dysfunction. If that happens, let Dr. Gupta know, and he can recommend the best approach to treating the issue.

Conservative treatments like rest, icing therapy, physical therapy, and pain injections may be all you need to address the issue with your hands or wrists. 

If you need surgery, know that Dr. Gupta is experienced with minimally invasive surgical techniques, keeping your risks low and recovery quick and stress-free.

To learn more about customized hand health and hand surgery prevention tips based on your medical history and lifestyle, consult with Dr. Gupta at Twin Palm Orthopedics today. Schedule your initial consultation appointment online or over the phone now.