Your hands deserve the very best care, so of course you must seek out the best hand surgery specialists available in northern NJ when contemplating hand surgery. Whether you’re looking to repair damage from an injury, ease the pain of arthritis or repetitive stress syndromes (like carpal tunnel), increase the pain-free motion of your hands and/or restore dexterity—research is your best friend. The time you are putting in now, to learn about your condition and find the right hand surgeon, will pay valuable dividends. Here we’ll discuss some excellent strategies for finding the perfect hand surgery specialist for you.
Expert Hand Surgery Specialists in NJ
As you are likely aware, there can be a difference between the best hand surgeon and the right one. To locate the best, you’re certainly in a plentiful geographic area. Here in New Jersey, you will find some of the best plastic and reconstructive hand surgeons in the business.
But for a completely successful surgery, however, you must go a bit further than just finding the best—you must locate the best hand surgeon for you. That last part of your search, the last bit of narrowing down to your chosen surgeon is most important. You don’t want just any best, you want your best hand surgeon: the perfect hand surgeon for you.
Extremely Well Qualified… is just the Point of Entry
Your first step is to find eminently qualified and experienced hand surgery experts from which to choose. We are hoping to demystify the process for you with some insider information on locating the best hand surgeon in the NJ or Bergen County areas. Your hand surgeon will partner with you to plan and bring about the best possible outcome from your hand surgery, but he or she must meet some very high basic standards to even warrant your consideration.
What Hand Surgery Specialists Know: Hand Surgery is Delicate, Complex and Unique
There can be no “cookie cutter” approach to any type of hand surgery. The hands, wrists, palm, fingers and thumb (and all their minute component parts) work together precisely. There are certain mechanics, such as a pulley-like system that are common to all properly functioning hands.
Yet the tiny, irregularly shaped parts of the hand (bones, tendons, cartilage, muscles, blood vessels, nerves and more) must all mesh seamlessly as you move. There is no one-size-fits all hand surgery. That’s why your expert Bergen County hand surgeon must have years of quality education and training, followed by years of experience, to handle delicate microsurgery of the hand with consistently good results.
The Crucial Roles of the Hand
Our hands help us take in crucial sensory information as well as enabling us to reach out, communicate easily with others and impact the world. It is our hands that help us “see” and make and do. The design of our hands has helped humans thrive and develop the world around them. Hands are not very tough, however. If hands are unprotected and injured or suffer with arthritis or other potentially disfiguring conditions, the consequences are instantly noticeable and can be devastating.
The architecture of the hand is intricate and requires meticulous surgical technique to repair and/or rebuild certain areas. Think of all the directions your fingers can (and must) move to pick up and hold various objects, write, use a keyboard, make art or hug your children. Envision for a moment the complex motion of the palm and the elegant functionality of the wrist.
If you study the hands for a living, as we surgeons do, you are continually impressed and often astounded at what they can do: both to bring information into the brain and carry out its wishes. Helping patients gain or regain use of their hands and fingers is a very gratifying profession—in fact at Cohen/Winters’ NJ practice, we see it as more of a calling. For us, this blog is just another way to reach out and provide a different type of help, outside the operating room. We hope to help you understand hand surgery and learn how to find an expert hand surgeon who is also dedicated to your wellbeing.
Choosing a Dedicated Hand Surgeon who has Won Your Confidence
Confidence is key to successful surgery. You of course are seeking decisive, confident hand surgery specialists and experts in the field of hand microsurgery, to plan and perform your procedure. But you need confidence too. When you work with a surgeon that you trust, that very fact will improve your surgical outcome. That’s because expecting success if half the battle. Assuming you’re only considering top hand surgeons and choosing your trusted partner from among that group, you are on your way to improving your life.
Having confidence in your Bergen County hand surgeon, which comes with doing your homework as you are now, helps to speed your recovery. It lessens the chance of complications and may even ease pain. The reason: confidence eases stress. When you go into surgery confident in the best outcome, trusting the plan your surgeon has outlined for you, your stress level is low. Low stress is the best prescription for healing from surgery. So choose a hand surgeon that you trust as a partner (an expert partner) to help you improve your quality of life.
Honesty and Clear Communication: The Hallmarks of a Top Hand Surgeon
One good way to identify the best hand surgery specialists for you is to evaluate your mutual communication. (That comes after evaluating their qualifications, of course. Check your hand surgery specialists record with the State of New Jersey Dept. of Consumer Affairs online.) A top surgeon in any discipline will explain the surgical strategy and any options clearly to the patient.
You should be able to sense whether it is important to the surgeon that you understand. You can tell if the surgeon patiently explains details and answers all your questions, rather than being vague, rushing you or ignoring your concerns. Your surgeon must be honest to set the proper expectations for the outcome of your surgery.
A top surgeon recognizes that you will be happy with your outcome, only provided that your expectations match what occurs. By clearly explaining the procedure, along with the expected and possible outcome, your surgeon allows you to intelligently agree to the surgery. You can’t really give informed consent to a surgery until you understand the goals and when those goals match your own.
Understanding Surgical Risks and Complications
It’s crucial that you understand any risks clearly before agreeing to any kind of surgery, so never choose a surgeon who glosses over these important details. The best hand surgeons will want to ensure your understanding, so beware of vague explanations/answers. Continue asking questions until you feel completely comfortable—use the questions below as a guideline and add your own to the list before meeting with a surgeon. By choosing an experienced surgeon here in Bergen County, you are helping to minimize surgical risks and also ensuring that your surgeon knows how to properly handle any complications, should they occur.
Questions to Ask your NJ Hand Surgeon
So how do you find the hand surgery specialist here in the NJ area who fulfills all your high expectations? (We hope that your expectations are very high by now, after reading about the crucial elements of a great hand surgeon.) When meeting your plastic and reconstructive surgeon, your goals are to verify what you found in your online research and to determine if you and the hand surgery specialist are will make a good team. Ask your NJ hand surgery specialists:
- How often do you perform hand surgery? How many with my specific condition have you treated recently?
- What is wrong with my hand?
- Are there options to correct the problem? What path do you recommend?
- Will I have pain-free movement after the hand surgery? Will I have greater strength to grip, pick up and hold items? Will I have dexterity to do fine detailed work or tasks?
- What improvement percentage of should I expect?
- How can I avoid hand surgery? Have I tried all the other options?
- How long will it take to heal after hand surgery?
- What risks and complications are most common with this type of hand surgery? Will I require another hand surgery in future to correct this problem?
- Where is the surgery to be performed? Is your surgery center safety accredited?
- What type of anesthesia is needed?
- Will I have visible scarring?
- When can I return to work and my usual leisure activities?
- Add your hand surgery questions here.
Scheduling a Consultation with a Leading NJ Hand Surgeon
When you are ready to learn more about your specific condition and the hand surgery to correct it, contact our offices at Cohen/Winters Aesthetic & Reconstructive Surgery in Bergen County. As hand surgery specialists, we’re dedicated to restoring your hand movement and dexterity to provide you with an improved quality of life and continued independence. Please contact us for an in-person consultation.
