Your wrist may seem like a simple part of the body, but your wrists and hands actually contain a high number of joints, bones, muscles, and ligaments, all of which allow your wrist to move in different directions as well as allowing your hands to function. Without these bones and the muscles, tendons, and cartilage that hold them together, you wouldn’t be able to use your hands properly to perform even the most basic physical tasks.

The Distal Ulna And Radial Bones


The joints in your wrist that allow it to move back and forth where the wrist meets the hand is called the distal radioulnar joint. It’s made up of a membrane, a joint capsule, and a disc made of cartilage. The combination of the bones and the softer parts of the joint allow your wrist to turn up and down.

The other joint in the wrist, called the radiocarpal joint, is composed of similar bones, membranes, and cartilage. This joint allows you to move your hand and wrist in a circle and move your fingers around individually.

Your Fingers And Hands


Just as important and complicated as your wrist joints, your hands and fingers are also composed of a number of joints which all work together to lift something, move objects, open and close bottles, and perform other basic and daily tasks. Your hands are composed of 19 different bones, including the metacarpal bones, phalanges, metacarpophalangeal joints, and interphalangeal joints. These joints consist of both bones and softer cartilage, the combination of which allows you to perform these motions without your bones rubbing together. Your hand also contains ligaments, which are bands of tissue that join the bones and give the complex system some stability and flexibility.

What Are Common Hand And Wrist Injuries?


At Capital Ortho, we help diagnose and treat our patients for a number of common wrist and hand injuries. One of the more commonly known ailments includes carpal tunnel syndrome, a condition that causes pain and numbness in the wrist due to pressure on the median nerve. It can also lead to a loss of strength, sensation in the wrist and hands, and fine motor control. Other common conditions might include nerve compression, fingertip injuries, fractures, arthritis, sprains, and cysts of the wrists.

When Should I Visit Capital Ortho?


One of the benefits of seeing a specialized orthopaedic care center is that our team studies the specifics of the bones and joints throughout the musculoskeletal system. Different doctors in our practice have also spent time furthering their education on very specific parts of the body, making diagnosis and treatment more precise. If you find yourself experiencing wrist and hand pain, lack of range of motion, changing sensations, or pain in your joints, contact us today for an appointment with one of our hand and wrist experts. Based on the injury you’re dealing with, overall health, and our treatment options, we can recommend a range of treatment options as well as a follow-up after treatment has been completed.