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Most people don’t think about how important their hands are until tragedy strikes. Hand injuries are very common. Some kinds of hand injuries can be serious, requiring immediate medical treatment.

High-profile hand injuries

One recent example is Jimmy Fallon. Jimmy suffered from a rare, but serious injury known as a Ring Avulsion injury. (Click the link to hear Jimmy Fallon explain his injury — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CztT_pBFQv8). A ring avulsion happens when someone falls and reaches out to grab an object to stop them from falling. When the person reaches out, their ring can get caught and all of the weight is transferred to the finger. This results in a degloving or amputation/dislocation injury, both of which typically require extensive surgery and, often times, microsurgery reconstruction. In Jimmy’s case, he was transferred to a local hospital where he could be treated properly and underwent microsurgery to have his finger reattached.  If Jimmy hadn’t been transferred to a hospital where skilled, microvascular hand surgeon was on call, his outcome would have been quite different.

Hand injuries are common

The hand is an intricate, functional feat of anatomic engineering.  The inter-workings of the hand are so precise that small injuries can lead to severe deficits.  There are 27 bones in the hand, with numerous muscles, ligaments, tendons, nerves, arteries and veins.  Don’t forget cartilaginous surfaces of the joints and fingernails. All these features of the hand are prone to injury in our daily lives. Hand injuries are extremely common since we use our hands for nearly everything we do. Hand injuries consist of lacerations, fractures and dislocations, amputations and tendon injuries, infections, burns, and high pressure injuries.

Seek treatment from an expert

To ensure proper treatment, patients should have their injuries evaluated by a fellowship trained hand surgeon. Dr. Hendrick at the New Orleans Center for Aesthetics and Plastic Surgery is a plastic surgeon who completed a  fellowship in hand surgery.  If you or someone you know has had an unfortunate injury, call 504-533-8848 today to schedule an appointment with Dr. Hendrick.