There are many injuries that can affect the upper limbs.
These injuries have been classified according to the anatomical areas they usually appear in:
Traumatic injuries in the upper arm
Injuries to the upper arm area usually include various contusions (sometimes with acute bruising) of the biceps or triceps. Repetitive traumatic injury of such nature at similar injury site is often leading to certain muscular and tissue complications. One of the most severe conditions is myositis ossificans, where intramuscular bruising can harden rapidly and even form shards of bone-like substance. These are to be removed surgically. Other complications incl. ruptures (tearing) of the bicep.
Traumatic injuries in the elbow
Injuries to the elbow area include:
• contusions of the elbow joint
• bursitis of the elbow
• strains of the elbow
• sprains of the elbow
• dislocation of the elbow fractures of the elbow
Traumatic injuries in the forearm and wrist
Injuries to this forearm and wrist area include contusions to the forearm, nerve compression in the wrist, dislocation of the wrist and fractures of the wrist, forearm fractures, sprains and strains of the wrist and others.
Traumatic injuries in the hand
Injuries to this area include contusions and pressure injuries to the hand, sprains, dislocations and fractures of the hand as well as the phalanges (fingers) of the hand.
Fractures of the upper limbs
Fractures (breaks) of the fingers are common. Fractures occur when one of the bones of the finger is cracked or broken due to an external crushing, twisting, applying force or as a result from direct trauma and injury. Symptoms include severe pain, swelling, discoloration of the skin, excessive bruising. Surgery may be required in certain cases.
Upper limbs injuries in sports medicine
The following paragraph is cited from prof. B.B. Putty’s Abstract published in the British Journal of Sports medicine:
“Injuries, either to the athletes, amateurs, trainees or professional players, are common in any sporting event. Injuries can be to the limbs or to the trunk; acute, chronic or repetitive, from mild to severely disabling in severity. The most commonly injured regions are knee (28%) followed by the upper limb (23%). The common upper extremity injuries are the shoulder, followed by elbow and wrist. The type, biomechanics and frequencies of the use of the body parts determine the injury patterns.
Shoulder injuries are more common in cricket players, during delivery or follow through of the bowler or throw of the fielder, either acute or chronic. Pain in the upper extremity, to shoulder and elbow are common in throwing sports, racquet sports and swimming while wrist pain is common in young gymnasts.
Elbow injuries are common in athletes with over the head and arm motions. In chronic conditions, either lateral or medial epicondylitis (50%), popularly known as tennis elbow or golfers elbow are due to repetitive valgus or varus stress impacts. This repetitive stress pathology from mild to severely disabling to the sportsman is a common challenge to clinicians or physiotherapists in management.
The musculoskeletal disorders, general or related to tendons, muscular, joints nerves or vascular, need a variety of management skills involving clinicians, physiotherapists and rehabilitation specialists.”
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