You might not think much about yor hands, but they're among the body's most complex structure. As the home to 29 bones and 34 muscles, even minor hand injuries can be crippling and painful. Hand surgeons must be patient and skillful, since many complex structures in the hand are highly delicate.
Brain and spinal cord injuries can affect your hands in a number of ways. They may interfere with your body's ability to send or receive signals to or from yor hands. In some cases, surgeons can find a way to work around these injuries. Disuse may also impede hand function, and in the early months of recovery, you might find that you can't or don't use your hands.
Before choosing a hand surgeon, consider asking the following:
- How many surgeries have you performed, and what were the outcomes?
- Do you specialize in treating injury like mine?
- Do you partner with other specialists?
- Will I need physical therapy?
