10 Essential Facts About Tenosynovitis

Tenosynovitis is a health condition that causes bacterial inflammation of the tendons in the fingers or hands; it’s a more common condition than you might have thought before, and it can occur in as many as 9.4% of overall infections that occur in the hand.

It’s a form of bacterial arthritis, and it can sometimes be spread through a bacterial infection entering the skin at the same time as an injury to the finger or hand; it can also be caused by infections elsewhere in the body that make their way through to the hands and start to cause the first symptoms of tenosynovitis, which can include severe pain and swelling.

Usually, the condition is easy to treat with a strict round of antibiotics, though more extreme cases require surgery, and might even sometimes require amputation of necrotic tissue.

Here are 8 essential facts that you should know about tenosynovitis.

1. It’s a Common Condition

Even though you might never have heard of tenosynovitis before, it’s a common type of bacterial inflammation in the tendons of the hand, and statistics say that it might occur in as much as 9.4% of all hand infections; sometimes this can be an infection that starts somewhere else in the body and then makes its way through to the hand, and other times it can be because of an infection that enters the hand through other means.

Pain and swelling are the first symptoms of tenosynovitis, although other symptoms might also be experienced together with these – and further symptoms can include a high fever and necrosis of surrounding tissue in very extreme, usually untreated long-term cases.

Any injuries or infections can put you at an increased risk of developing the condition, and any sudden changes in your health should be reported to your doctor as soon as they occur.