Wrist Surgeon in Mumbai

Bones

The wrist comprises eight carpal bones(the main bone forms the wrist and connects hands to the forearm). This wrist joint is connected to two major bones that form the palm: radius and ulna. They are connected to small bones that are further connected to 5 metacarpal bones forming the palm. Each metacarpal bone connects five fingers and five MCP joints or knuckles, respectively. So, altogether, the palm is a network of bones, joints, muscles, and ligaments that help them remain firm and agile to enable corporal movement.

Soft tissues

The soft tissues or articular cartilages are smooth connective tissues that act as shock absorbers, moisturize each palm bone joint, and protect all 27 joints from damage or inflammation. They also enable smooth muscle, bone, or bone joint movements. Apart from this, these soft connective tissues help connect ligaments( tough rope-like tissues)to hand bones for smooth and strong adhesion and stabilize joints.

Each finger joint has two collateral ligaments that prevent abnormal sideways curvature in bones. The soft tissue rupture due to an accident or degeneration is felt with sharp pain, inflammation, and deformity of fingers, requiring consultation from a wrist surgeon in Mumbai.

Muscles

There are about 600 muscles in the human body. Muscles contract and relax to perform a range of functions, for example, pumping blood, supporting the movement lifting heavy weights, or giving birth. Muscles are fibrous tissues that provide it shape and enable hand movements. There are two types of muscles involved in hand movement that is intrinsic and extrinsic. The intrinsic muscles are directly associated with palm and wrist movements, whereas extrinsic muscles of arms and forearms support the fist by redistributing pressure to perform activities.

Tendons

Tendons are soft fibrous tissues that connect muscles to bones. When muscles contract, the tendons pull bones to move fingers.

The palm has eight different types of bones with respective joints. And the different types of tendons help them flex accordingly. For example, tendons on the palm called flexor tendons enable the palm and fingers to bend for forming a clenched fist. In contrast, tendons in fingers are flexible to ease the finger movement and provide both strength and flexibility to fingers muscles while moving.

Bursae

Bursae are small fluid-filled sacs, part of connective tissues. They are present at the shoulder, elbow, and wrist joints. Bursae decrease friction in between bone-muscle conjunction, protect joints, and enable smooth gliding movements. They contain synovial cells一special cells that secrete a lubricating fluid.

Nerves

There are three types of nerves: motor nerves, sensory nerves, and autonomic nerves. The nerves carry electrical impulses from organ to brain and from brain-to-body to responding organs. When an activity is done consciously, for example, writing or throwing a football, the brain signals the motor nerves to act accordingly.

Typically, the hand nerves carry electrical impulses from the brain to muscles, allowing forearm and wrist muscles to contract or relax to maneuver movements. In addition, the sensory nerves are responsible for creating sensations of touch, pain, and temperature. And the autonomous nerves are involved in performing reflex actions or involuntary muscle movement.

The wrist comprises three types of nerves present in the hands- the ulnar nerve, the radial nerve, and the median nerve, present by corresponding types of palm bones. However, all three nerves originate at the shoulder, traveling down the arms and terminating in the hand's forefingers.

Ulnar Nerve: The ulnar nerve surpasses Guyon’s canal across the wrist and branches further in the palm to provide detailed sensations from the little finger up to half of the ring finger.

Median Nerve: The median nerve passes across the wrist through a tunnel called the carpal tunnel. The median nerves cause sensation to, thumb, index finger, middle finger, half of the ring finger, and palm.

Radial Nerve: The radial nerve extends from the thumb side of the forearm via radial bone, providing sensation to the back of hands 一from the thumb to the middle finger.

Blood Vessels

Blood vessels are the network of blood flow pathway comprising arteries and veins, that supplies blood to different body parts. Likewise, a closely-knit network of blood vessels transverse the hands also.

The ulnar and radial arteries supply blood to the front part of the hand, fingers, and thumb. However, the blood vessels are thoroughly distributed in the hands up to the fingertips which is the periphery of the entire system.

The radial artery is the longest in hand, traveling from thumb to wrist. Pulse is measured at the radial artery.

How Do Wrist Joints Move?

The wrist comprises an ellipsoidal (condyloid) synovial joint, bursae, to ease joint movements along the two major axes on the wrist joint, palm, and hand. The muscles, tendons, and ligaments that cover adjacent wrist bones contact or relax to perform movements. The wrist joint is a modified ball-socket joint capable of performing the latitudinal and longitudinal motion, which includes:

Flexion - When the palm along the forearm axis is bent and moved towards the forearm in a downward direction, that extension movement is called flexion. It involves flexor carpi ulnaris and flexor carpi radialis.

Extension - When the palm is moved upwards in the opposite direction to flexion move, it is called extension motion. It involves extensor carpi radialis longus and brevis, and extensor carpi ulnaris.

Adduction - When the palm is bent on the opposite side of the thumb laterally, then it is adduction. The adduction is ular deviation

Abduction -When the lateral palm motion is performed in the thumb's direction, it is called abduction.