Filter the cards below by name, topic, or common phrases. Education only — not a diagnosis. Press slash (/) anywhere on this page outside a text field to jump to search.
Practice libraries while you read conditions
Sessions, movement vocabulary, and splint articles live in their own hubs — browse with filters cleared unless your team directed a specific drill.
Also hand-adjacent: if the wrist or hand is not your only sore area, read hand therapy when more than the hand hurts — scope, clinician coordination, and what the app does today.
Carpal tunnel syndrome
Pressure on the median nerve at the wrist that often causes numbness, tingling, and night-time symptoms in the thumb, index, and middle fingers.
Common triggers
Sustained wrist flexion (e.g., curled wrist while sleeping)
Long sessions of typing or tool use
Pregnancy, thyroid changes, or other systemic factors
When to seek care
Numbness that wakes you at night
Weakness or thumb muscle wasting
Symptoms that progress despite splinting and ergonomic changes
A finger or thumb that catches or locks when you bend it, often with a tender lump at the base of the finger. The tendon catches as it slides through its sheath.
Common triggers
Repetitive forceful gripping
Diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis
Postmenopausal hormonal changes
When to seek care
Locking that needs the other hand to release the finger
Painful swelling of two thumb-side wrist tendons, especially with lifting babies, pouring jugs, or wringing. The tendons are pinched as they pass through their sheath at the wrist.
Common triggers
Repetitive thumb extension and abduction
Postpartum hand-use patterns
Pinch-heavy work and hobbies
When to seek care
Pain that limits picking things up
Symptoms that don't settle with splinting and rest
A slow thickening of the tissue layer (fascia) under the skin of the palm. Cords can pull one or more fingers in toward the palm over time, making it hard to straighten them fully.
Common triggers
Family history (more common in people of Northern European ancestry)
Older adults, more common in men
Diabetes and some other systemic factors
When to seek care
Fingers that won't lay flat on a table (a 'tabletop' test)
A cord or nodule in the palm that limits hand function
Worsening contracture interfering with daily tasks
The most common lump in the hand. A fluid-filled cyst that often appears on the back of the wrist. It can change size, may be painless, and is not cancer.
Common triggers
Joint or tendon-sheath irritation
More common in women between 15 and 40
Sometimes follows minor wrist trauma
When to seek care
Pain or numbness from the cyst
Rapid changes in size
Cyst that interferes with hand function or appearance
An injury to the tendon that straightens the middle joint of a finger (the PIP joint). The middle joint stays bent while the fingertip bends back. Early treatment matters — it can become permanent if missed.
Common triggers
Forceful bending of a straight finger
Cuts or dislocations at the middle finger joint
Inflammation from rheumatoid arthritis
When to seek care
Inability to straighten the middle finger joint after injury
A finger that is locked in a bent position with the tip flexed back
An autoimmune condition in which the body attacks the lining of joints. In the hand it most often affects the knuckles and middle finger joints, with morning stiffness, swelling, and symmetric symptoms in both hands.
Common triggers
Disease flares — not caused by activity but worsened by overuse
Wear of the small finger joints, especially the end (DIP) joints. Bony bumps called Heberden's nodes can form. Stiffness, occasional aching, and reduced pinch are common, especially in the morning.
Common triggers
Family history; more common in women after menopause
Years of pinch- or grip-heavy use
Previous finger trauma
When to seek care
Pain that limits self-care or work
Sudden swelling or warmth (possible flare or other diagnosis)
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a movement disorder that can affect the hands and wrists along with the rest of the body. People often notice smaller handwriting (micrographia), slower fine-motor tasks (buttons, keys, utensils), stiffness, tremor, or fatigue that makes repeated grips harder — symptoms vary day to day. Hand therapists and neurologists can help tailor exercises, splints, and strategies; this page is education only.
Common triggers
Fatigue, stress, or illness that makes fine motor tasks feel harder
Long stretches of typing, texting, or tool use without breaks
Cold hands or shivering that changes how steady the fingers feel
When to seek care
Sudden new weakness on one side of the body or face droop — emergency care
A rapid drop in hand function over days to weeks compared with your usual
Severe pain, redness, fever, or infection signs in the hand or wrist
Frequent falls or near-falls, or new confusion — tell your clinician promptly
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