By symptom
A recent injury
A fall, a cut, a crush or a blow to the hand
Get seen urgently if
a finger or hand is cold, pale, blue or numb after an injury; there is a deep cut with loss of movement or feeling; the hand is increasingly painful, swollen and tight; or a wound was caused by a bite or a high-pressure injection, however small it looks. These need same-day assessment.
What can cause this
More than one condition can produce a recent injury, and the pattern matters as much as the symptom itself — when it happens, what brings it on, and what makes it settle. The conditions below are the ones most often responsible. This page is not a diagnosis.
Boutonnière Deformity
The middle knuckle of the finger droops into flexion while the fingertip hyperextends, with pain and swelling over the middle joint, especially…
Read articleComplex Hand Trauma
Severe pain, deformity, open wounds, bleeding, and loss of function following significant hand trauma, which may involve multiple fingers or structures.
Read articleDistal Biceps Tendon Tear
Sudden pain in the front of the elbow, often with a pop, followed by bruising, swelling, weakness with forearm rotation and elbow…
Read articleDistal Radius Fracture
Pain, swelling, deformity, and inability to move or bear weight through the wrist following an injury.
Read articleFinger Fractures
Pain, swelling, bruising, deformity, and difficulty moving the injured finger following trauma.
Read articleLigament Injuries
Pain, swelling, and instability of the affected joint, with difficulty gripping or bearing weight through the hand or wrist.
Read articleMallet Finger
The fingertip droops and cannot be actively straightened, often with pain and swelling at the joint following an injury such as a…
Read articleMicrosurgical Reconstruction
Presentations vary widely depending on the underlying injury, ranging from tissue loss and exposed structures to absent blood supply in an injured…
Read articlePeripheral Nerve Injury
Numbness, tingling, weakness, or pain in the distribution of the affected nerve, ranging from mild sensory changes to complete loss of function.
Read articleScaphoid Fracture
Pain and swelling on the thumb side of the wrist, tenderness in the "anatomical snuffbox," and pain with gripping or wrist movement…
Read articleSoft Tissue Injuries
Wounds, skin loss, bruising, swelling, and pain, with severity ranging from minor cuts to significant tissue defects.
Read articleTendon Lacerations
Inability to bend or straighten the affected finger or wrist, a visible wound, and often bleeding at the injury site.
Read articleTFCC Injury
Pain on the small-finger side of the wrist, worsened by gripping, twisting the forearm, or bearing weight through the wrist. A clicking…
Read articleUCL Injury (Skier’s Thumb)
Pain and swelling at the base of the thumb, weakness or instability with pinching and gripping following an injury such as a…
Read article
Other symptoms
- Numbness & tinglingPins and needles, or a hand that feels dead or asleep
- Pain & achingAching, sharp pain, or pain that wakes you at night
- WeaknessA weak grip, or dropping things without meaning to
- Locking or catchingA finger that clicks, catches, or locks bent
- SwellingA swollen hand, wrist or finger
- StiffnessA joint that will not move as far as it used to
- A lump or massA new lump on the hand or wrist
- Difficulty moving a fingerTrouble straightening or bending a finger
- Change in shapeA finger or wrist that looks bent or out of line
- A recent injuryA fall, a cut, a crush or a blow to the hand
- Cold, pale or blue fingersColour change, or fingers that go white in the cold
Working out which of these it is usually takes a history and an examination rather than a test.
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