This is an exciting time of year in New England. The cold, dark winter is very much behind us and the wet cool spring is in the background as well leaving us with beautiful clear skies with flowers blooming and lawns in peak growth. We love our gardening and yard work, but it can come at a cost. Our hands take a beating from all that repetitive weeding, clipping, trimming, mowing, and planting care that we do around our homes. Why do our hands hurt? There are a lot of possible reasons but a very common issue we all have is hand arthritis.

Arthritis in the thumb is the most common site of arthritis in the human body, which certainly makes sense when we realize how crucial our thumbs are to our lives. In a real sense, every human uses their thumbs regardless of lifestyle, occupation, or hobbies.

Football, basketball, volleyball, baseball, even making your bed! One of the most common injuries of the fingers is the “jammed” finger. The “jammed finger” is a description of an injury that can produce a wide variety of damage to your finger. Typically, the finger is impacted by an object or the finger impacts something else while it is moving. The contact can be from a ball, hitting another player, or hitting a stationary object. It only takes a split second and you will know it right away!

Hand injuries are common, especially in children. Curious fingers may get pinched or crushed, and active children are at risk for sports related trauma, whether individual, such as biking, skateboarding and snowboarding, or team sports like football and soccer. Many of these injuries are very similar to those sustained by adults, but the structure of immature, growing bone is different from that of mature bone, and this is reflected in the injury sustained.

Bump on your hand? Before you get too worried, know that most bumps in the hand are benign. Below is a brief review of the most common hand “bumps,” followed by reasons to seek surgical expertise.

Shoulder pain is a very common issue among adults spanning all types of work activities, hobbies, and accidents alike. There are countless issues that can show up as shoulder pain, but we will focus on three of the most common: Rotator cuff issues, frozen shoulder, and shoulder arthritis. Of course, big injuries happen as well, including falls from ladders and car accidents, which can cause fractures of the shoulder.