This book exhibits the breadth of hand pathology and injury. In its pages you will find a small selection of the countless hand operations performed every year. With specialist rehabilitation by hand therapists, health and dexterity are restored to this most important of human tools.
The inspiration for this book was appropriately born on the operating table, as a hand surgeon discussed with their awake patient the perception of hand surgery in the public eye, and the relevance of this to a hand charity. This alchemy of the patient – a journalist – and the hand surgeon fuelled the idea that would become
HANDS REWORKED.
The hand is perhaps the most valuable human tool and is highly specialised in its ability to perform the functions that we rely upon every day. The treatment of problems in the hand requires specialist knowledge
and skills from both surgeons and therapists alike. These skills are crucial in understanding why the hand develops problems, and more importantly, how best to solve them.
HANDS REWORKED demonstrates some of the results of hand surgery in patients who have experienced anything from a simple trapped nerve through to life changing injuries. It celebrates the restoration of hand
function through the fantastic efforts of our patients, the therapists who guide them through their recovery, and the surgeons and their surgical teams. None of the outcomes so beautifully illustrated here would have been possible without the whole team.
Approximately 1% of the UK population will present to a hand surgeon every year. Arthritis of the hand or fingers will affect almost 40% of us over our lifetimes, and approximately 20% of attendances to the Accident and Emergency Departments involve hand trauma. Despite these staggering numbers, many people do not know that hand surgeons exist, or that treatment for many conditions affecting the hand is possible and commonplace.
HANDS REWORKED showcases some of the wonderful outcomes achieved by hand surgery. We hope that it will raise awareness of hand disorders and their treatment. Patients with hand problems should know that they can ask to see a hand surgeon to receive the best possible care.
We use our hands to feed and clothe ourselves, to express
our feelings and emphasise our words, to touch and comfort, to write and create, to play and work. Inability to use our hands threatens our independence, well-being and livelihoods. Hand surgeons and hand therapists are dedicated to helping their patients maintain hand function and quality of life.
The British Society for Surgery of the Hand (BSSH) is a medical charity, supporting education, training and research in hand surgery, both in the UK and globally. The organisation has ambitious goals; ultimately, all patients with hand problems deserve the best available treatment, and all major hospitals in the world need specialist Hand Units.
The making of HANDS REWORKED has been financed by our generous supporters
via crowdfunding, so that any profit from its sales can be used to support our work of improving treatments and outcomes for hand patients.
We are privileged to introduce
you to our patients – from Olympic athletes to carpenters, Archbishops to survivors of terrorist attacks – and we are proud to acknowledge our amazing surgeons. Thank you for supporting our important work. We hope you enjoy this book and are inspired by it.
