Getting Your Grip Back: How Tendon Laceration Repair Can Help Restore Hand Function After Injury

The body is a complex bio-machine that uses various systems to help you function as well as you do. One of these systems so critical to movement is the tendon system spread out through your body, especially in your joints. You require these to work correctly to be able to walk, reach for something, turn your head, and grip something. In the hand, these tendons are critical to long-range hand movement and strength; when they are damaged, you may not even be able to move your fingers. 

What Are the Different Types of Tendons in the Hand?

The hand requires two main tendons to extend and straighten, both critical in performing movement. 
 

• Flexor Tendons

Flexor tendons are tough structures that resemble cords connecting your fingers to your forearm through your wrist and palm. They are the most critical in grip as they help you bend and contract your thumbs and fingers. When these tendons are injured, you will have trouble bending or folding one of your fingers. 
 

• Extensor Tendons

These tendons connect your fingers to the forearm through your wrist but on the backside. The opposite of flexor tendons, extensor tendons are responsible for straightening your fingers and thumb. Damage to these tendons means you cannot straighten your fingers to grasp something. 

Common Causes of Hand Tendon Laceration

Injury to the flexor tendons usually happens when you have a cut on the front side of the palm. Extensor injuries happen when a cut or shearing force impacts the back side of the wrist. Damage to the flexor tendons can also occur when a thumb or finger is pulled away while trying to grip something or bend them. 
 

Some of the common causes of hand tendon laceration or injury include:
 

• Cuts across the palm or the back of the hand

• Strenuous gripping often during a sport

• Getting bitten by someone or an animal or punching someone in the teeth

• Rheumatoid arthritis can cause tendon inflammation, which may result in the tendons rupturing in several places

Hand Tendon Repair Surgery

Repairing the tendons in your hand usually involves the surgeon making incisions into your fingers, hand, or wrist. They do this to determine the specific tendons that have been lacerated and rejoin them. Of the two tendons in the hand, the extensor tendons are more accessible to fix than the flexor tendons. 
 

You will usually only need local anesthesia for extensor tendon repair. But flexor tendon repair is much more complex, often requiring you to be under general anesthesia. 

Recovery

Recovering from hand surgery to repair tendons may take a considerable amount of time, and the tendons will be weak until they heal completely. The recovery to initial strength usually takes at least three months—and is only possible if you wear a hand splint for several weeks. During recovery, you will need to do several exercises to help your hand heal and prevent the tendons from sticking to other tissues.

For more on how tendon laceration repair can help restore hand function after injury, visit Clark Plastic & Hand Surgery at our office in McKinney, Texas. Call (469) 675-3659​​​​​​​ to book an appointment today.