What to do if the hand nerve is damaged

Hand nerve damage is a mental disorder. As we all know, our nervous system is the main part for us to issue commands. Some life activities rely on the transmission of commands by the nervous system. If the nerve is damaged, it will cause damage to that part. Hand nerve damage will cause movement disorders of the hand and can easily lead to atrophy.

There are many causes of nerve damage in the hands, which can be mainly divided into traumatic nerve damage and compression nerve damage. Traumatic nerve injury is mainly caused by trauma, while compression nerve injury is often caused by long-term compression of nerves by ligaments or local tumors.

Once the interruption of nerve continuity is confirmed in traumatic hand nerve injury, in principle, the earlier the repair, the better the functional recovery. If the nerve is severed and there is no defect, direct end-to-end suture can be performed. If the nerve has a defect due to severe contamination or old injury, nerve transplantation is generally required. Currently, for small digital nerve defects, nerve sheath bridging can be used to avoid nerve transplantation. After nerve suture, plaster fixation is required for about 4 weeks.

If the continuity of the nerve exists, conservative treatment can be given for a period of time, and a decision can be made based on the recovery of the nerve whether to continue conservative treatment or to perform nerve exploration and release surgery.

For compression nerve injury, it is necessary to distinguish whether the compression is caused by pathological factors (such as local tumors) or by physiological factors (ligaments). If it is the former, timely surgical treatment is required to remove the pathological factors and release the nerves. If it is the latter, conservative treatment can be performed for a period of time. If conservative treatment is ineffective, surgery can be performed to release the nerves.

It should be noted that the treatment effect of nerve injury has a certain degree of uncertainty, because even if the doctor performs nerve suture or nerve release well, whether the nerve can fully recover its function depends on the growth of the nerve and the atrophy of the target muscles in the hand.

Most of the damage to the hand nerves is caused by trauma, so it is recommended that you protect your hands when working. If the hand nerves are damaged, you should receive timely treatment to avoid muscle atrophy in the hand. You should also go to the hospital for regular check-ups to prevent complications. Be careful not to lift heavy objects with your hands.