A flexor tendon injury is characterized by trauma to one of the long tendons that extend from the wrist and attach to the bones on your palm. Often caused by a pulling injury or a cut that nicks or severs the flexor tendon, this type of injury impacts your ability to bend your fingers. The flexor tendons are particularly susceptible to cut injuries because they are positioned very close to the surface of the skin.

At Mirza Orthopedics on Long Island, we specialize in diagnosing and treating flexor tendon injuries in order to relieve your pain and restore proper function to your hands. Whether you have suffered a mild injury, a partial tear, or a complete tear, our orthopedic hand specialists will provide compassionate, personalized, and expert flexor tendon injury treatment, utilizing both surgical and nonsurgical advanced treatment procedures. The first step to finding relief for your flexor tendon injury is to schedule a consultation with our Smithtown orthopedic practice. You can book an appointment for flexor tendon injury repair by filling out the form on this page.

What causes flexor tendon injuries?

Flexor tendon injuries can be caused by a number of traumatic events. A cut to the skin’s surface can hit a flexor tendon that runs beneath, resulting in a partial or complete severing of the tendon.

In addition, flexor tendon injuries can result from sports-related events. One common type of flexor tendon injury is “jersey finger,” a type of sports injury that results when an athlete grabs the jersey of another player and a finger gets caught, pulling the flexor tendon off of the bone. Sports or activities that involve repetitive use of the fingers, hand, wrist or forearm can also result in stretching and eventual tearing of the flexor tendon.

You may be more likely to develop a flexor tendon injury if:

• You regularly work with sharp tools that increase your odds of sustaining a cut along the palm side of your fingers, hand, wrist or forearm
• You participate in sports or other activities that make it likely that your finger may get caught and pulled suddenly
• You participate in sports or other activities that require a lot of arm and hand strength (e.g. rock climbing), which increases your odds of stretching or tearing the flexor tendons
• You have other medical conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis, that can weaken the flexor tendons

What are the symptoms of flexor tendon injuries?

If you have a flexor tendon injury, you will likely experience:

• Difficulty or inability to bend the affected finger
• Pain when bending the affected finger
• Tenderness and pain along the palm side of the affected finger
• Numbness in your finger

What does flexor tendon injury treatment entail?

For some patients who have suffered a less severe flexor tendon injury, treatment may involve conservative measures, such as:

• Wearing a splint that keeps the affected finger in a bent position to help the tendon heal and limit movement
• Completing a physical therapy or rehabilitation program to restore strength and range of motion to the affected finger

In more severe cases, flexor tendon surgery is required to repair the injury and ensure proper healing. Several different surgery methods are available to repair a torn flexor tendon and our orthopedic surgeons will recommend the proper option based on your needs.

Flexor tendon repair surgery involves suturing the ends of the torn flexor tendon so that they heal back together. Splinting and physical therapy are essential aspects of the recovery process in order to protect the tendon as it heals and restore your finger’s full range of motion after the initial healing period.