Your hands are of prime importance in your life, serving a multitude of functions throughout almost every moment of consciousness. Because of this, there’s no doubting you need to consult top NJ hand surgery specialists. Disease of (or injury to) the digits or palm can have far reaching effects on your general health.
Problems in the hand may be connected to pain in the arms and shoulders. So, solving any problem with your hand can make your whole body feel and function better. Make sure to take your time and find the best hand surgeon to correct any problems with the form or function of your hands, fingers, thumbs and wrists.
How The Best Hand Surgeons Can Help You
Cure Your Hands to Improve Your Life
Functional and/or aesthetic issues with the hands can have psychological effects in addition to the more obvious physical ones. Unaddressed hand pain or movement restrictions can lead to depression, wreaking havoc with your emotional health as well as your body.
Hand problems can make it difficult to communicate and to handle routine daily tasks. This can slow you down or make you more dependent upon others than you might like.
Hand disfigurement and aesthetic concerns about your hands can cause you to avoid friends and social situations, which robs you of an important support system that everyone needs for a productive, happy life.
Because so much is at stake, you need to have the most options for relief of your hand pain and a skilled hand surgeon can provide the best solutions. That’s why only a true northern NJ hand specialist will do.
Return to Activities You Enjoy with Healthy Hands
When you choose a top hand surgeon, you can expect to improve your quality of life in a number of important ways. Improved motor function can help you be more effective at work and advance your career. Better grip strength will allow you to enjoy sports and hobbies once again.
Expert hand surgeons, top hand surgery specialists, can help improve your manual dexterity for fine precise movements, banish crippling pain or even diminish any numbness that makes lifting or moving things difficult.
If you miss playing the piano or guitar, painting, driving your car or picking up your grandkids, you should find out what dedicated NJ area hand surgery specialists can offer you.
Get the Most Treatment Options
The best hand surgeons are familiar with non-invasive treatments for hand pain and dexterity problems. So, they won’t default to recommending surgery if other treatments might help. If other treatments have not been successful, have not relieved pain or improved dexterity, or have only worked temporarily, your
Bergen County hand surgeon will suggest the least invasive and most effective options. Many hand surgeries are minimally invasive and offer quick recovery—so make sure you have access to all the options by choosing the best hand surgeon. Top hand surgeons are skilled in the latest techniques and have the experience to tailor your treatment to your specific diagnosis and your goals.
Conditions Treated by Hand Surgeons:
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Compression neuropathy of the median, ulnar and radial nerves (compressed nerves)
- Congenital problems present at birth
- Ganglion cysts
- DeQuervain’s disease
- Dupuytren’s contracture
- Flexor tendon injury
- Fractures of the hand and fingers
- Inflammatory arthritis (rheumatoid arthritis)
- Mallet finger
- Microvascular reconstruction or finger replantation
- Missing fingers or thumb
- Osteoarthritis and other degenerative diseases affecting the hands
- Polydactyly (extra digits)
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Syndactyly (webbed fingers)
- Sports injuries, including skier’s thumb
- Tendonitis
- Thumb arthritis (basal joint arthritis)
- Torn cartilage or ligaments
- Trauma or injury
- Trigger finger (flexor tenosynovitis)
- And more
Symptoms Treated by Hand Surgeons
- Abnormally bent joints
- Bumps or deformities of the hand, thumb or fingers
- Inability to pinch, grasp or hold things
- Inflammation of joints or tendons
- Joint deformity
- Loss of strength, tendency to drop things
- Numbness or stiffness
- Pain/tenderness of joints
- Restricted range of motion
- And more
Qualities of Top Hand Surgery Specialists
Here’s what to look for:
- Your ideal hand surgeon should be well-trained at the best medical schools, board certified and properly state licensed, with specialization in hand surgery.
- Your hand surgeon should have years of experience in hand surgery, so that he or she can handle any complications with ease and flawless surgical technique.
- Seek out a hand surgeon with plastic surgery skills to ensure the best aesthetic outcome (with little or no scarring) from your hand surgery.
- Choose a hand surgery specialist from a reconstructive practice, to ensure the deepest knowledge of the complicated hand anatomy.
- Your hand surgeon should have a scientific, as well as an engineering, mindset to restore the mechanical functions of the hand, wrist and fingers, which can be compared to a rope and pulley system.
- Hand surgery specialists should also have microsurgery experience to ensure preservation or repair/grafting of nerves that bring sensation to the hands and send messages from brain to muscles.
- Meticulous surgical skills also enable your surgeon to restore and maintain proper blood supply to the hands to ensure long-term tissue health.
- In addition to technical and aesthetic skills, look for a surgeon who is an excellent communicator. Hand surgery specialists must be able to explain what can be accomplished with surgery. They should be able to express their thoughts in a clear manner that you can understand.
- Your surgeon must also explain surgical risks and how he or she will work to minimize them. The best hand surgeons are honest and very specific about what you can expect as your result from hand surgery. You should get the sense, after meeting with your surgeon, that he or she will work to meet those expectations.
- Look for dedication in hand surgery specialists. Make sure you get the feeling that your hand surgeon is interested in your needs and makes time to answer all your questions. Choose a hand surgeon you trust to look out for your well-being.
Traveling for Hand Surgery: It’s Worthwhile for the Best Care
Hand surgery lends itself well to travel, provided a friend or family member can drive you. If you fly in for surgery, it’s ideal to have someone to accompany you on your trip, but not absolutely necessary. When you contact Cohen/Winters in Bergen County, we can help you understand all your options for hand surgery travel.
If you are not within driving distance, we can assist you in making arrangements for a private duty nurse and an overnight stay at the nearby Hilton. For very minor hand surgery procedures, you may be cleared to fly home the same day, but be sure to discuss this in your consultation with our specialized hand surgeons.
Hand surgery is typically an outpatient procedure. Very minor surgical treatment on your hand or finger joints may be done as an office procedure. Most hand surgery takes place at our adjacent, fully accredited Vanguard Surgical Center. Our surgeons also maintain privileges at the nearby Hackensack University Medical Center.
How to Find the Hand Surgeon for You
The best way to choose a hand surgeon is though a consultation and personal meeting. At this meeting, you can assess whether the surgeon makes time to talk with you or rushes you through the office. You can assess whether he or she seems dedicated to helping you.
You can also get a sense of whether the surgeon is skilled and experienced by the way he or she talks with you about hand surgery. (Of course, you should first conduct online research about top hand surgeons in your area and check the licensure and board certification of your prospective hand surgery specialists with the State of NJ.)
You should also evaluate the hand surgeon’s CV or resume, including things like education at a top medical school and years of experience. To make your final decision about surgery and your surgeon, think about whether you feel comfortable with and confident in the surgeon. If so, you have found the hand surgery specialist for you.
Cohen/Winters for Hand Surgery
When you suffer from pain, numbness, restricted movement, weakness or disfigurement of the hands, you deserve the best treatment. Don’t assume the problem will go away or feel better next week or next month.
Don’t assume your hands are failing due to “normal aging.” With today’s modern, minimally invasive hand surgery techniques, you don’t have to accept limitations or pain or numbness in your hands. In fact, putting off treatment only makes things worse.
Take time today to learn more about what New Jersey hand specialists can do for you.
Now that you have basic, general information about hand surgery, it’s time to think about specifics as they apply to your situation. At Cohen/Winters Aesthetic & Reconstructive Surgery in Bergen County, we offer a hand surgery consultation to assist you. As hand surgery specialists, we can help you determine if hand surgery is right for you. We urge you to contact us today.
