1. Understanding Flexor Tendons
Flexor tendons appear in the forearm and the hand. They attach the muscle to the bone and let the fingers move with ease. The flexor muscles hold fast when the muscle contracts and pull the bone with it. The tendons look a bit like rope and attach to the flexor muscles in the forearms and travel through the wrist back to the fingers and thumb. Each finger has two flexor tendons. One attaches to the tip, the flexor digitorum profundus (FDP) and the second to the middle joint, the flexor digitorum sublimis (FDS). The thumb only has one tendon.
2. Injuries Occur
Cuts to the hand and even blunt trauma can cause flexor tendon damage. The area that folds when you close your hand in the fist is the closest that the tendons lay to the surface of the skin. These areas are ripe for injuries from cuts. You can tear a tendon with overextension and tearing. These types of injuries, known as "jersey fingers," occur most commonly when a player grabs hold of another's jersey and the other player pulls away and tows the finger with it. The tendons rupture from blunt force or even spontaneously as in rheumatoid arthritis. Tendon cuts may be complete or partial.
3. Symptoms of Flexor Tendon Damage
When you feel pain in your finger if you bend it, have swelling at the joint near the fingertip or tenderness in the palm along the finger line, or have a cut on the underside of the finger or palm of the hand, you may have a flexor tendon injury. Rupture, partial cuts to the tendon, tearing and complete severance of the tendon can occur. See a doctor if these occur even if the cut is minor, particularly if it is near a joint in the finger.
4. Medical Treatment for Flexor Tendons
The body heals itself with the creation of new cells. In the case of the flexor tendon, the ends are separate and do not allow the tendon to reconnect as one without the aid of surgery. In surgery the doctor uses special types of stitches to hold the two ends of the torn tendon together. It takes four to six weeks before the hand heals enough for mild movement. Physical therapy follows surgery to regain full range of motion. Finger mobility after surgery depends on the severity, location of the tear or cut and general health of the individual.
5. Healing Tendons Takes Time
Tendon injuries take longer to heal after surgery than other places in the body. Even after two to three months mobility may be difficult and full recovery seem a distance away. Don't worry, it could take up to a full year before the damage is repaired, but you're likely to have a full recovery with the right medical care.
