The Hand

The wrist and hand is composed of 29 bones, 19 in the hand and fingers, 8 in the wrist and 2 in the forearm. As a complex the wrist, hand, and fingers are capable of a great variety of movements, however the forearm muscles are actually responsible for most of the movement and strength of the hand and fingers.

The hand is a very commonly injured part of the body because of its constant involvement in almost all activities. Because of this it requires accurate and early diagnosis of wrist injuries to obtain optimal recovery. Minor hand injuries or wrist injuries if not treated appropriately can become chronic problems, affecting not only day to day activities but also your job requirements and lifestyle. It is advised that you seek the advice of a hand physiotherapist if you have sustained an injury to this area.

Everyone has had a wrist injury or hand injury at some stage in their life. These are commonly caused by:

Wrist injuries or hand injuries such as wrist sprains are commonly seen by our hand physiotherapists and these are caused by a fall and trying to stop the fall with your hand. Commonly the wrist is bent backwards and symptoms will appear such as swelling, bruising, loss of range of motion and loss of wrist strength.

For this type of injury the hand physiotherapist will accurately diagnose the wrist injury and then work out a treatment plan accordingly. Usually RICE (rest, ice, compression and elevation) principles are the first part of the treatment, followed by other hand physiotherapy techniques. Some of these hand physio treatment techniques for the wrist injury include immobilization, exercise, stretching, splinting and strengthening exercises.

Most injuries can be separated into acute wrist injury or hand injuries and chronic wrist injury or hand injuries.

Acute wrist / hand injuries include:

hand bones

Chronic wrist / hand injuries include:

These are only a few of the many hand injuries that our hand physiotherapists see at Sydney Physiotherapists.

Hand Physio arthritis