A Look at The Medical Contribution Offered by Hand Specialists
The hand is one of the most important parts of the body since it is with our hands that we do all of our work on a regular basis. The hands are made up of multiple bones, joints, tendons, ligaments, muscles, skin, nerves and blood vessels. To ensure that the hands are functioning properly, all of these constituent parts must work properly. All of these parts share a refined and delicate relationship with each other. However, a disease or an injury can seriously affect the component structures or parts of the hand and make it difficult for the person to use his or her hand as smoothly as before.
Hand doctors or hand surgeons, as they are called, first came into existence during the World War II. The original intention was to treat war injuries that affected the hands, as well as the upper extremities. Dr. Sterling Bunnell who was a consultant for United States Army came up with the basic principles and concepts associated with hand surgery. Over the years, this became a separate field of specialization in itself. Now there are many hand specialists all over the world who treat their patients for different types of conditions and ailments that affect the hands.
In order to become a professional hand specialist in London, a doctor has to go through additional specialized training that would help him/her to treat different types of hand problems. Professional hand specialists can combine their specialty training in plastic surgery, orthopedic surgery and general surgery with their knowledge of hand physiology to treat different conditions that affect the hands. There are a lot of hand specialists who are also adept at treating problems that affect the arm, elbow, and shoulder areas. Hand specialists may also just attend to adult patients or children or both. Some of the common problems that are treated by hand specialists include the following:
- Wrist pain
- Tennis elbow
- Trigger finger
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Sports injuries affecting the wrist and hand
- Fractures of the wrist, hand and the forearm
Other hand-related problems that can be treated by these doctors include tendon and nerve injuries, arthritis, as well as congenital limb differences or birth defects affecting the hands. While many hand problems are needed to be treated with surgery, there are also those that can be treated easily with splints, therapy, medication and injections. Professional hand specialists or surgeons tend to work with people coming from all segments of society. These include professional athletes, weekend athletes, artists and musicians, surgeons, laborers, clerical workers, students and even housewives. Many times a person may experience hand problems as a side effect to some other ailment or medication. In such cases, specialized treatment is offered to these individuals with the aim of normalizing the use of their hands.
Hand specialists now form an integral part of any medical team and their contribution greatly helps to attend to diverse issues that affect this specific part of the body.
