Disorders of the Hand, Wrist, Elbow, and Shoulder
Disorders could be genetic, acquired through many years of strain on certain areas of the joints, hands or arm or possibly brought about by an occurrence through daily life. Below are some of the areas that we treat.
Bursitis/Olecranon Bursa
The olecranon (oh-LEH-cruh-nahn) is the “pointy” bone at the tip of the elbow. A “bursa”—a small sac of fluid—covers the tip of this bone, allowing soft tissues…
www.assh.org/Public/HandConditions/Pages/Olecranon-Bursitis.aspx
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a condition brought on by increased pressure on the median nerve at the wrist. In effect, it is a pinched…
www.assh.org/Public/HandConditions/Pages/CarpalTunnelSyndrome.aspx
Children’s Congenital Conditions of the shoulder, elbow, wrist, and hand
The upper limb is formed between four and eight weeks after the sperm and egg unite to form an embryo. The embryo develops an arm bud at four weeks...
• Syndactyly
• Thumb duplication
• Failure of formation
• Hypoplastic thumb
• Radial club hand
• Constriction bands
• Vascular anomalies
www.assh.org/Public/HandConditions/Pages/CongenitalHandDifferences.aspx
www.assh.org/Professionals/ProdsSvcs/journalclub/Pages/Modified-Dorsal-Metacarpal-Flap.aspx
Cold Hand/Reynaud’s
Have you noticed that you have cold hands even in mild weather when others around you do not? Do you experience pain in your fingers at cold…
www.assh.org/Public/HandConditions/Pages/Cold-Hand.aspx
Complex Regional Pain Syndrome
Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a chronic pain condition that is believed to be the result of dysfunction in the central or peripheral nervous systems…
www.assh.org/Public/HandConditions/Pages/Complex-Regional-Pain-Syndrome.aspx
Cubital Tunnel Syndrome
Cubital tunnel syndrome is a condition brought on by increased pressure on the ulnar nerve at the elbow. There is a bump of bone on the inner portion…
www.assh.org/Public/HandConditions/Pages/CubitalTunnelSyndrome.aspx
Connective Tissue Diseases
Local pressure on a nerve (“compression neuropathy”) causes numbness in distinct patterns that follow the area supplied by that nerve. Also, the…
www.assh.org/Public/HandConditions/Pages/Numbness.aspx
deQuervains Tendonities
First dorsal compartment tendonitis, more commonly known as deQuervain’s tendonitis or tenosynovitis after the Swiss surgeon Fritz de Quervain, is a condition brought…
www.assh.org/Public/HandConditions/Pages/deQuervainsTendonitis.aspx
Dupuytren's Contracture
Dupuytren’s disease is an abnormal thickening of the tissue just beneath the skin known as fascia. This thickening occurs in the palm and can extend…
www.assh.org/Public/HandConditions/Pages/DupuytrensDisease.aspx
Frost Bite
Thermal injuries and frostbite…
www.assh.org/Professionals/Education/Courses/Documents/2011%20Comp%20Review%20-%20Sunday/0815_Pederson_Thermal%20Injuries%20and%20Frostbite.pdf
Frozen Shoulder
The shoulder is a joint suspended by many muscles surrounding the upper extremity. Many conditions and injury cause the shoulder to experience pain and…
www.assh.org/Public/HandConditions/Pages/Shoulder-Pain.aspx
Ganglions
Ganglion cysts are very common lumps within the hand and wrist that occur adjacent to joints or tendons. The most common locations are the top of the wrist…
www.assh.org/Public/HandConditions/Pages/GanglionCysts.aspx
Giant Cell Tumors in Children
Giant cell tumors of tendon sheath are rare in children. The most common site is the hand and the second frequent site is the ankle-foot complex. No study has…
www.assh.org/Professionals/ProdsSvcs/journalclub/Pages/GiantCellTumorofTendonSheath–LargestSingleSeriesinChildren.aspx
Golfer’s Elbow (also known as Tennis Elbow)
For most golfers, the hand and/or wrist is the third most common body region injured, after the back and elbow. The wrist is injured 3 times more frequently than… www.assh.org/Public/HandConditions/Pages/Golf.aspx
www.assh.org/Public/HandConditions/Pages/Golf.aspx
www.assh.org/Public/HandConditions/Pages/Elbow-Arthroscopy.aspx
Hand and Wrist Tumors
Any abnormal lump or bump, or “mass”, is considered a tumor. The term “tumor” does not necessarily mean it is malignant or that it is a cancer…
www.assh.org/Public/HandConditions/Pages/HandTumors.aspx
Infections/Inflammation (Felons, Paranychias, Tendon Sheath Infections)
Hand infections can cause severe problems that persist even after the infection has resolved, such as stiffness, loss of strength, and even loss of tissues such as…
www.assh.org/Public/HandConditions/Pages/HandInfections.aspx
Malignant Tumors of the Hand and Upper Extremity
Skin cancer is a change in some of the cells of your skin such that they grow abnormally to form a malignant tumor. These abnormal cells can invade through the skin…
www.assh.org/Public/HandConditions/Pages/Skin-Cancer-of-the-Hand.aspx
Mucous Cyst
Ganglion cysts are very common lumps within the hand and wrist that occur adjacent to joints or tendons. The most common locations are the top of the…
http://www.assh.org/Public/HandConditions/Pages/GanglionCysts.aspx
Numbness and Tingling
Although carpal tunnel syndrome is common, it is not the only cause of numbness, tingling, and pain in the forearm and hand. Most of the lay public and some…
www.assh.org/Public/HandConditions/Pages/Numbness.aspx
Osteoarthritis of the finger, hand, wrist, elbow, and shoulder
Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease in which the cushioning cartilage that covers the bone surfaces at the joints begins to wear out. It may be caused…
www.assh.org/Public/HandConditions/Pages/ArthritisOsteoarthritis.aspx
Rheumatoid arthritis of the finger, hand, wrist, elbow, and shoulder
Arthritis means an inflamed joint. A joint normally consists of two cartilage-covered bone surfaces that glide smoothly against one another. When joints become…
www.assh.org/Public/HandConditions/Pages/ArthritisRheumatoidArthritis.aspx
Shoulder Impingement
Thickening of the rotator cuff and its bursa can lead to an impingement syndrome where these tissues impinge against the bones around the shoulder. This can…
www.assh.org/Public/HandConditions/Pages/RotatorCuffPathology.aspx
Shoulder Pain and Instabilities
The shoulder is a joint suspended by many muscles surrounding the upper extremity. Many conditions and injury cause the shoulder to experience pain and discomfort…
www.assh.org/Public/HandConditions/Pages/Shoulder-Pain.aspx
Steroid injections
Steroid injections typically contain a mixture of synthetic cortisone and a local anesthetic such as lidocaine or bupivacaine. Cortisone is a steroid…
www.assh.org/Public/HandConditions/Pages/Steroid-Injections.aspx
Stiffness in the Hand
The hand and fingers seem to work effortlessly when healthy. Normal joints have considerable motion, enabling us to perform many different activities with our…
www.assh.org/Public/HandConditions/Pages/StiffnessintheHand.aspx
Tendonitis
The cause of deQuervain’s tendonitis is an irritation of the tendons at the base of the thumb, usually caused by taking up a new, repetitive activity..
www.assh.org/Public/HandConditions/Pages/deQuervainsTendonitis.aspx
Tenosynovitis
Stenosing tenosynovitis, commonly known as “trigger finger” or “trigger thumb”, involves the pulleys and tendons in the hand that bend the fingers…
http://www.assh.org/Public/HandConditions/Pages/TriggerFinger.aspx
Thoracic Outlet Syndrome
Thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) is a syndrome involving compression at the superior thoracic outlet involving compression of a neurovascular bundle…
http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=a00336
Trigger finger
Stenosing tenosynovitis, commonly known as “trigger finger” or “trigger thumb”, involves the pulleys and tendons in the hand that bend the fingers…
www.assh.org/Public/HandConditions/Pages/TriggerFinger.aspx
Ulnar Nerve Entrapment
Ulnar nerve entrapment (Cubital tunnel syndrome) symptoms usually include pain, numbness, and/or tingling. The numbness or tingling most often occurs…
www.assh.org/Public/HandConditions/Pages/CubitalTunnelSyndrome.aspx
Xiaflex injection for Dupuytren’s Contracture
XIAFLEX® (collagenase clostridium histolyticum) is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with Dupuytren’s contracture when a “cord” can…
http://www.aaos.org/news/aaosnow/oct10/clinical2.asp
**INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE
AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR SURGERY OF THE HAND AND
AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ORTHOPAEDIC SURGEONS
Hand and Upper Extremity Center of Northeast Wisconsin, Ltd., has partnered with the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH) and American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) to provide expert knowledge to our patients with defined explanations of common disorders and injuries of the finger, hand, wrist, elbow, and shoulder.
