Sports injuries

Various professional athletes and amateurs can suffer a sports injury to the shoulder, elbow, wrist, hand and fingers. Sports injuries include both traumatic dislocations, fractures, strains, sprains, tendon and ligament tears as well as nagging overuse injuries such as tendonitis, tenosynovitis and compressive neuropathies and nerve conditions.

The specialists at the Garden Route Hand Unit see many patients with sports injuries affecting the hand, wrist and , from a variety of sporting niches and ages. Treatment often involves bracing, splinting, medication and hand therapy, but may also require surgery followed by rehabilitation. With orthopaedic surgeons specialised in the treatment of the hand the following sporting injuries can be treated with their expertise:
  • Fingers – including dislocations, fractures, sprains or strains, trigger finger, stenosing tenosynovitis, flexor tendinitis, capsulitis, skier's thumb, injuries to the nail and amputations.
  • Hand – such as crush injuries, blunt trauma and cyclist's palsy.
  • Wrist – including sprains or strains, flexor tendinopathy, extensor tendinopathy, flexor tenosynovitis, extensor tenosynovitis and De Quervain's tenosynovitis.
  • Elbow –lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow), medial epicondylitis (golfer's elbow), ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) injury or tear.