When Rest Isn’t Enough for Your Injured Hand

One of the most common guidelines for sports-related injuries is to let your body rest for a few days and see if it gets better. That doesn’t always work.

Hand injuries can be particularly challenging, considering the number of bones, ligaments, tendons and joints found in these complex extremities. They also tend to be more vulnerable.

Even in sports that use protective padding, there’s generally not much protection offered for hands. Yet they are the way athletes interact with other competitors and the ball.

Hands are also the first line of defense to protect your body. If something is hurtling your way, you reach out with your hands to stop it. If you stumble and fall to the ground, you extend your hands to soften the landing.

Hurting Hands

Pick any sport and there is probably a way to hurt your hand while playing it. Among the more recent culprits has been the wildly popular pickleball. It may not seem like a particularly violent sport, but participants frequently suffer wrist fractures, broken fingers and cartilage tears from unexpected falls on the court.

Some sports are more likely to cause certain types of injuries, but among the possibilities:

• Jammed finger: A common injury in football, where sudden force strikes an extended finger
• Fractured finger: More common with high impact sports
• Nail bed injury: Caused by impact or crushing force on the tip of your finger
• Fractured wrist: Can occur when falling on an outstretched hand
• Torn ligament: Sudden force causes a tear in the tissue that connects bones and holds joints together
• Stress fracture: Tiny fractures in the bone caused by repetitive motions

Rest Is Not Enough

The first thing to keep in mind is that if you are experiencing unusual pain in your hand, you need to listen to your body. It will be more noticeable if your pain is related to some sort of trauma experienced on the field or court. Overuse injuries (causing inflammation or nerve irritation) are slower to develop, but they still require attention if you want to get back to enjoying your sport free of pain.

Assuming the injury isn’t an obvious break or other severe trauma, the best advice is to take anti-inflammatory medication (over-the-counter is fine) and give yourself a few days of rest to see if your body recovers on its own.

But if several days have passed and the pain/discomfort is lingering or getting worse, it’s time to see your doctor, who can order X-rays to see what’s happening inside your hand.

Often, treatment will involve short-term immobilization of your hand with a brace, followed by a home exercise program to gradually restore strength and range of motion. Some injuries may require the assistance of a specialized hand therapist. And in extreme cases, surgery may be necessary.

Keeping Your Hands Safe

Unfortunately, there’s no way to guaranteed the safety of your hands while playing sports. But there are steps you can take to reduce risk of injury.

Start with stretching your fingers and wrists before starting your athletic activity. Ideally, you would use a 10- to 15-minute stretching routine to get your fingers, wrists, arms and shoulders ready for action.

But also, unless you are a professional athlete, remember that you are playing for exercise and to have a good time. It’s impressive to see a pro athlete diving on the ground to catch a ball. But it’s also dangerous. So keep in mind that there are times when you may need to hold back, just a little, to avoid adding that extra risk.

This content is not AI generated.