A Helping Hand: When to See a Doctor For Hand Pain

Typing, tying your shoelaces, and throwing a baseball are all things people tend to take for granted until hand pain strikes. Your hands are made up of complex structures, and pain can happen for many reasons, from injury to overuse. When you’re dealing with hand pain, there’s no substitute for professional evaluation and effective treatment.

Here’s a quick guide to help you recognize the warning signs and determine when to make an appointment with one of our orthopedic specialists about your hand pain.

Persistent pain

Not all hand pain is chronic. Sometimes pain from carpal tunnel syndrome goes away on its own after a couple of weeks, or it may come and go intermittently. In other cases, you may have injured your hand, and the pain subsides within a few days as it heals.

However, pain lasting more than a couple of weeks is a red flag that a doctor needs to investigate. A thorough evaluation can help uncover the underlying cause so that you get on the path to pain relief.

Your daily life is impacted

Mild hand pain that doesn’t disrupt your life usually isn’t cause for concern. However, moderate-to-severe hand pain can cause significant problems in your daily life. From trouble completing day-to-day tasks to swelling and stiffness that reduces productivity, chronic hand pain can make life seem miserable.

Hand pain can prevent you from doing things you enjoy with your hands, such as painting or knitting, and it can impact your quality of life. It’s time to see an orthopedic specialist if hand pain is disrupting your livelihood.

Conservative therapy fails

The best place to start when you experience hand pain from conditions like carpal tunnel and osteoarthritis is with conservative therapy. This includes resting your hand, using a brace, and implementing occupational therapy exercises. Sometimes this approach is enough to ease hand pain, but in other cases, patients continue to experience daily pain.

At Barrington Orthopedic Specialists, we have extensive experience treating hand pain resulting from a variety of conditions. If you’ve tried conservative options without satisfactory results, our team can evaluate you and design a treatment plan to ease your pain.

You have coexisting conditions

Many patients living with hand pain also have other conditions. If this is your situation, you may need an individualized treatment approach. Medications commonly used to treat inflammation and pain may interfere with the treatment of other conditions. For example, certain anti-inflammatory medications can make acid reflux worse.

Our providers can work with you, taking any existing conditions into consideration to find the best solution. Orthopedic specialists work with other members of your healthcare team to provide comprehensive care, so you can get relief from chronic hand pain.

Our doctors at Barrington Orthopedic Specialists are dedicated to improving lives, one hand at a time. Stop in to see us if you’re living with hand pain. Call the office nearest to you or schedule your appointment online using our booking form with our hand specialists Dr. Matthew Bernstein or Dr. Mark Yaffe.