Athletes’ Hand Injuries
The hands take a meaningful share of the injury load in nearly every sport — from impact-driven finger and wrist injuries in football, basketball, and combat sports to repetitive-use injuries in tennis, golf, and rowing. Treating athletic hand injuries also requires distinct decision-making around return-to-play timelines, grip-preserving splinting, and fine motor recovery. Dr. Anastasatos at Los Angeles Plastic Surgery in Beverly Hills treats the most frequent sports-related hand injuries with the depth of subspecialty training this athletic patient population specifically rewards.
Dr. Anastasatos performs athletic hand injury treatment with the most directly relevant academic credential possible: he completed a fellowship in Hand and Upper Extremity Surgery and Microsurgery at the University of Alabama at Birmingham — formal subspecialty training that few cosmetic plastic surgeons possess. He trained in plastic surgery under Dr. Luis Vasconez at UAB and has presented at UAB Grand Rounds on “The Microsurgical Repair of Peripheral Nerves,” directly relevant to the fine surgical technique athletic hand injury repair requires. With over two decades of facial and hand surgical expertise in Beverly Hills since 2007, he is board certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS), a member of ASPS and ASAPS, and named by The Luxe Insider as one of the Top 10 Plastic Surgeons in the World.
The following sections cover the more frequent sports injuries Dr. Anastasatos treats in athletes — though the conditions presented here are not exhaustive, and many other sport-specific hand injuries are evaluated and managed at the practice on an individualized basis.
Fractures of the Scaphoid bone of the wrist are the more frequent. They can result from falling down, contact with other players, the ball hitting the hand etc.
They can often be unrecognized. Treatment must be aggressive, as even after surgery scaphoid fractures may not heal well. (Scaphoid nonunion)
Avulsion of the profundus tendons. Our fingers receive two tendons that allow us to flex and hold things. One tendon is the profundus which means deep and the other tendon is the superficialis which means superficial. Avulsion of the profundus tendons is common in football players.
Fracture of the hook of the hamate bone is common injuries. The diagnosis can often be missed. Treatment is simple and entails surgical removal of the fractured piece. If left untreated the patient will experience continuous chronic pain at the base of the wrist.
Detachment of the lunar collateral ligament of metacarpal phalangeal joint of the thumb.
A classic injury in Skiers. Treatment may be by splinting if addressed very early or by surgery.
Fracture of the neck of the 5th metacarpal. Is often described as Boxers fracture. Treatment may be either splinting or surgery.
Damage to the flexor tendon sheaths and trigger finger. Treatment is either steroid injections or surgery.
Nerve injury and tendinitis of the ulnar aspect of the thumb. Treatment is by rest and splinting.
Racing cyclists distribute much of their total body weight on their handlebars. This places much pressure on the hypothenar muscles of the hand and the ulnar nerve that is underneath. This may cause nerve paresthesias and muscle weakness. Treatment is usually rest and splinting.
Intersection syndrome. In this condition the thumb extensor tendons rub over the wrist extensor tendons and inflammation is caused. Treatment is usually by rest. If it does not resolve simple surgical treatment can correct this condition.
The more common injury is a tear of a ligament between the triquentrum bone of the wrist and the end of the ulnar bone of the forearm. Treatment varies per individual patient. It may range from rest and splinting to endoscopy and fibrocartilage debridement or to ulnar shortening.
Fracture dislocation of the proximal interphalangeal joints. These injuries result from excessive hand/finger extension.
These are the more common injuries I see and their treatment varies by patient:
- Facial injuries
- Swimmer’s ear (otitis externa)
- Thrower’s elbow (elbow pain)
- De Quervain’s syndrome ( first dorsal compartment tendinitis)
- Groin pain-athletic pubalgia