What Are Tendon Injuries?
Tendons link muscles and bones together. The hand is unique because many of the muscles that control the bones in your fingers and wrists are located in your forearm. The tendons and muscles in your forearm control how your wrist and fingers move.
Tendons can become injured after trauma or sharp injuries (cuts). A common sharp injury is an 鈥渁vocado hand." An avocado hand happens when someone cuts their palm or finger while trying to remove the seed from an avocado. These injuries can result in a cut to the tendon which means you can no longer move the finger.
Tendon Surgery
Our hand surgeons in the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery specialize in tendon repairs. Because scar tissue can form quickly, our surgical team works to repair tendons as soon as possible after injury.
To repair an injured tendon, your surgeon finds the ends of the cut tendon and repairs them using a strong suture (stitches) technique. We take care to make sure the repair is strong but not bulky so it can glide properly. We also work closely with certified hand therapists to restore motion after injury.
Tendon Transfers in Hands & Arms
Many types of procedures can help our tendons work normally again after injury. But some tendons cannot be repaired to restore function. If a whole section of a tendon is lost, the tendon can't be stitch to itself and repaired. However, we sometimes have multiple muscles that do the same or similar tasks. We can take advantage of this in a tendon transfer operation.
Tendon transfers are useful when tendons are lost or are part of a large injury. We move a less important or duplicated muscle and tendon to help restore function. Tendon transfers are also commonly used in nerve injuries. If we cannot repair the nerve because of the nature of the injury or the amount of time that has passed since the injury, tendon transfers are often used to restore function.
Our hand surgeons focus on restoring your function. We look at all possible options to get you back to doing all the things you love with your hands.
Rehabilitation After Surgery
After surgery, you will get care with our certified hand therapists at the 亚洲自慰视频 of Utah Orthopaedic Center. We work closely with them to develop a rehab plan that works for your injury. Our goal is to restore as much function as possible.
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How to Prevent Kitchen Knife Injuries
Preventing Kitchen Knife Injuries - Avocado Hand
Dr. Christopher Goodenough and Dr. Robert Teixeira talk with the Studio 5 team about how to safely cut an avocado to avoid hand injuries.
