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Tag: Wrist Injury

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General Treatments

Treating Common Basketball Injuries to Arms and Hands

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Basketball injuries to the fingers, hand, wrist, or elbow are common during the summertime.

The swish of a perfect basketball shot is a classic sound during hot summer days. From youths to adults, most everyone enjoys a game of basketball. Whether your hoop of choice is in the park or over the garage, you want to focus on improving your game this season while having fun. Naturally, you may be concerned about possible twisted ankles or concussions. However, basketball injuries involving your arm, elbow, wrist, and hand are also common, as well as preventable and treatable.

Common Arm and Hand Basketball Injuries

As with any sport, basketball injuries can and will occur, especially with your hands, elbows, wrists, and hands. Unfortunately, basketball injuries can get in the way of developing your technique.

You see more arm, hand and finger injuries in contact sports like basketball. Catching the ball incorrectly can bend your fingers unnaturally and cause injuries in other areas. Collisions during offensive and defensive plays also cause mild, moderate, and serious injuries.

Here are a few common arm and hand basketball injuries and how to treat them.

1. Bruises

You receive a bruise due to a collision with another player or a direct blow by the ball or another object. A bruise that takes too long to fade can indicate a more serious injury.

You can use the R.I.C.E. method to treat many injuries, especially bruises and swelling. Rest the area. Ice it every two hours, for 20 minutes total. Apply compression, such as an Ace bandage, to reduce the swelling. Elevate the area over the heart.

2. Shoulder Injuries

The repetitive motions associated with shooting from the socket can lead to shoulder injuries of the ligaments, tendons, and muscles therein. You may inflame the tendon or tear a rotator cuff. Overuse can lead to both, but an acute injury can also lead to tears. R.I.C.E. can help with the swelling, but tears need medical attention, such as cortisone injections.

3. Jammed Fingers

It’s common to jam a finger when playing basketball. Soak the injury in cold water for at least 20 minutes. Protect your jammed finger from further damage by “buddy taping” it to the next finger with medical tape.

4. Muscle strains

You can strain a muscle due to lack of flexibility or overuse. For overuse, try light stretching. You may also see an indent, bruising, and swelling, so it’s best to treat these injuries with the R.I.C.E. method.

5. Wrist Sprains

Many mild to moderate wrist sprains may be treated similarly to an ankle sprain with home remedies, but you should still pay us a visit for proper analysis. The ligaments may only be minorly damaged. However, they could also be torn and causing severe pain.

Try resting your wrist for 48 hours, and over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medicine may help. Consult with your doctor before taking any medications.

If the pain persists, you may have a more serious tear or a broken wrist. In the case of fractures or dislocations, do visit our offices to allow us to properly diagnose your case. An injury may seem minor, but the degree of pain and its longevity may worry you. Don’t hide an injury, or your injury may require surgery down the road due to lack of proper treatment.

Prevention is Key

A good coach is key to learning proper techniques with shooting, dribbling, passing, offense, and defense. Aside from practice, you should always take preventative measures against basketball injuries by stretching before you go out on the court.

Taking just five minutes of your time to warm-up each time you play may keep you playing all summer and help prevent injury.

Contact us at Dr. Avery Arora’s offices in West Bloomfield, Howell, Warren, or Macomb Township for assistance with any injuries regarding your arm, wrist, or hand.

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Categories
General

High Five for a Safe Fourth of July: Prevent Fireworks-Related Injuries

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Finger injuries and hand injuries are the most common bodily injuries caused by fireworks. Prevent fireworks-related injuries with safe techniques.

Backyard barbeques and brats are a great way to celebrate the holiday, but when it comes to firework festivities, don’t let an accident snuff out your fun.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission finds that an average of 280 people go to the emergency room around the Fourth of July because of firework injuries, and nearly half of the patients (47%) are children 14 years old or younger.  Individuals ages 15 to 44 accounted for 44% of the injuries, and the rest were 45 and older.

Burns were the biggest injury, with the top spot being the hands, followed by the face, legs, eyes, trunk, and arms.

Your hands are the most susceptible to injury because you’re holding and lighting the firework, putting your fingers, palm, and the top of your hand in the line of fire. The hand that holds the firework is the one most often injured.

And, a fact that is super scary is that sparklers, the firework we hand out to all the kids at the party, are the number one culprit for burn injuries.  Burning for about a minute, they can reach temperatures of 1800 to 3000 degrees Fahrenheit.  That’s hot enough to cook an egg.  If one of the embers hits your hand or the wire wick burns down to your fingers, it can cause severe injury.

Placing cold water on the burn and antibiotic ointment, vitamin C, or aloe may seem like the right way to treat these injuries, but they likely need professional attention.   Wounds from sparklers and fireworks of any kind may leave behind bacteria and tetanus spores, sulfur dust, ash, charcoal, gunpowder residue, or fibers, which need surgical debridement and treatment. They could also lead to an infection or a permanent tightening of the skin near the wound.

Other types of fireworks that lead to the most injuries are reloadable shells, firecrackers, and Roman candles.

So, what should you do if you do get burned by a firework?

If the burn is superficial, barely scratching the surface of your skin, you can probably treat it at home, but you’ll need to keep an eye on it.  Clean it daily with soap and water, and put a thick coat of petroleum ointment on it.  Cover it with a water and an airtight bandage.  Keep the wound moist, rather than dry, and you should heal quicker with less pain.  If it doesn’t look good after a week, make a doctor’s appointment.

For more severe burns, put your hand under cool water, loosely wrap it to keep it clean, and head to the ER.  Putting ice on your burn isn’t a good idea.  It can cause frostbite and skin damage.  The ice also numbs the area and gives you a false sense that the burn is okay.

While the best ideas are to let the professionals put on the show or forget the fireworks altogether, there are ways to stay safer while having firework fun.

  • Don’t let young children handle or light fireworks, and always have an adult supervising.
  • Read all label instructions carefully.
  • If the firework comes packaged in brown paper, it was likely made for professional displays and could be dangerous for novices.
  • Don’t place your hands or body over any firework that you’re lighting. Step back as soon as it’s lit.
  • Don’t try to relight or pick up a firework that didn’t ignite correctly.
  • Light fireworks and sparklers one at a time.
  • Keep a bucket of water or garden hose nearby to douse spent devices and to have accessible if something does go wrong.

Arora Hand Surgery hopes you have a great holiday spent safely with family and friends.  If you need more information about keeping your hands safe with fireworks, contact us through our website or call one of our offices, located in West Bloomfield, Warren, Macomb Township, and Howell.

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General Treatments Wrists

How to Use a Compression Bandage on an Injured Wrist

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If you have wrist pain due to a sprain, strain or medical condition like carpal tunnel syndrome or arthritis, you may find it helpful to wrap the wrist with an elastic bandage in order to help alleviate the pain. Wrist wrapping is also sometimes done to prevent injuries when participating in certain sports. It is, of course, important to know how to wrap a wrist properly.

Step 1

Make sure you have a bandage of the proper length. If it is too short, you are just going to have to start the process all over again. Begin wrapping at the point farthest away from your heart. This helps to ease swelling in the lower part of the wrist, that can sometimes actually be aggravated by the process of wrapping, and it also encourages the return of blood and lymphatic fluid. So start the first wrap just below the knuckles, covering the palm, and extending around the fingers.

Step 2

Pass the wrap between your index finger and thumb, and then do a few wraps around the wrist, extending upward toward the elbow. This provides the best level of stability, and helps to prevent further injury to the wrist. Each wrap should cover about half of the previous wrap.

Step 3

Reverse the direction. Once you get to the elbow, keep on wrapping until you are back at your hand. If you started the procedure with a bandage that is too short, you can use two bandages. Just place the start of the second one a few inches over the end of the first one, and continue wrapping. When you get to the thumb, make a figure 8 and wrap upwards a bit more.

Step 4

Secure the bandage, using either the clips that were provided with the bandage or a safety pin. You may need some assistance in order to do this.

Step 5

Make sure that the bandage is not too tightly wrapped. If your fingers feel cold, the bandage should be loosened. You should also be able to wiggle your fingers. You want to be sure that the bandage is tight enough to provide support, but not so tight that it interferes with blood flow.

Other Considerations

If you are applying ice to an injured area, make sure that you remove the bandage first. You should find that the discomfort and swelling in the injured area will ease within 72 hours, but if it does not, you should see your doctor. Keep in mind, too, that if you are not sure of the nature of the injury, it may not be wise to self-diagnose and self-treat. Some injuries can actually be aggravated by using an elastic bandage.

Also, make sure that you remove the bandage periodically to allow air circulation to the affected area.

Categories
General Wrists

Preventing Repetitive Stress Injuries in the Wrist

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Repetitive stress can lead to any number of wrist injuries, including carpal tunnel syndrome, bursitis and tendonitis. All have essentially the same symptoms – pain in the wrist, arm and hand. In order to prevent repetitive stress injuries to our wrist, follow these six tips:

  1. Stay Strong

It really is true that if you dont use it, youll lose it. So exercise your wrists regularly to make sure that they remain strong.

  1. Stay Healthy

If your overall health is not good, all areas of your body (including your wrists) will be vulnerable to stress. Exercise regularly, eat a good diet, and maintain a healthy weight.

  1. Change Positions

Sitting in one place for lengthy periods of time can cause muscle strain. This is especially true if your job requires you to use a computer for hours on end. Get up and stretch your wrists as well as the rest of your body.

  1. Keep a Proper Distance

When you work with your hands, you want to keep them a reasonable distance from your body – not too close, but not too far away either. This enables your other muscles (the ones in your back, shoulders and arms) to take on some of the load that you would be otherwise demanding of your wrists. It also encourages good blood flow, and reduces the stress on nerves, tendons and ligaments.

  1. Be Mindful of Your Range of Motion

Your wrists are essentially the same as other joints in your body, in that they are capable of a wide range of motion. Just because you can stretch them to their limit though, that doesnt mean that you should. Make sure that you are not flexing your wrist joints to extremes when you are working. Much of the time, this can cause muscle pulls and hyperextension. Your body is very flexible, but demanding too much can lead to a great deal of stress on nerves and tendons.

  1. Avoid Flexing Upward

Your hand is designed essentially to grip, and a gripping motion is naturally downward. When you are flexing upward, you have less leverage, and your hand has to work considerably harder. This places stress on the leverage points, and can cause damage to the nerves and tendons. Ideally, your fingers and palms should always be somewhere between a gripping position and a flat position – this is why most computer desks have slide-out trays to accommodate a keyboard. If you are reaching upward onto a desktop, your hands are not in a natural position, and it is a recipe for carpal tunnel syndrome.

Keep in mind, too, that using the scroll wheel on your mouse requires upward flexing, so you should use it as little as possible.

Conclusion

Repetitive stress can lead to hand and wrist injuries, and increase your risk of developing carpal tunnel syndrome. You should always try to keep your hands as low as possible, and avoid movements that require flexing your hands upward. If your job requires a lot of repetitive movement, try to change position regularly.

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Dr. Aroras office from my first call to schedule my appointment was friendly. Walking in the first day, I felt like I was in a nice atmosphere. Dr. Arora was EXCELLENT in taking great care of my hand injury. He was gentle and very understanding to the concerns I had about my hand. His expertise was admirable and I would recommend anyone with an injury to their hand to his office to be under his care. Because of him, I have healed faster than expected and will make an 100% recovery! Thank you Dr.

Jackie S.

I first thought I was going to have to have painful injections or surgery, but Dr. Arora suggested physical therapy may do the trick. I was doubtful, but I agreed to do it. Now, my pain is gone, and with the help of an ergonomic keyboard at work to keep my hands in the correct position, I am virtually pain free. The therapy strengthened my wrists and shoulders, and built more flexibility into my wrists.

Jerry T.

My experience with this doctor was positive from the outset. Dr. Arora was kind and spent a great deal of time with me. Staff was friendly. The office was nice and bright.

Ariel G.

Very friendly and helpful Great staff!!! Doctor Arora was very professional and did great work. I was very happy with everything!

L B.