Click here to book an appoinment online with Dr Tomlinson via HotDoc*. We require a referral prior to booking an appointment. This assists us to:

- Triage urgent or emergency conditions promptly
- Assess whether a telehealth consultation is suitable
- Identify any tests or additional information needed before your appointment

If our surgeons believe that your condition is best managed with hand therapy rather than surgery, we may recommend that you see an accredited hand therapist (qualified physiotherapist or occupational therapist) instead of proceeding with a surgical consultation. Telehealth consultations are conducted via our dedicated virtual clinic.

*Please note: Appointment types that are fully booked over the next three months will not appear as available on HotDoc. The HotDoc system only displays appointments for the next three months. If you wish to book an appointment more than three months in advance, please contact us via email or phone.

Hand and wrist arthritis

Created 06 January 2013, last modified 08 January 2015

Dr Jill Tomlinson offers a full range of hand and wrist surgery services. In the management of arthritis this includes treating:

Arthritis after injury (termed "post traumatic arthritis")
Inflammatory arthritis
Osteoarthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis (read about rheumatoid arthritis medications and surgery here)

Treatments can include non-surgical management (including corticosteroid injections) as well as surgical treatments such as:

Joint fusion (called "arthrodesis")
Joint replacement (also called "joint arthroplasty")
Removal of bones (such as "trapeziectomy", and "proximal row carpectomy" procedures)
Tendon interposition and realignment ("suspension arthroplasty")
Wrist arthroscopy (looking inside the wrist joints with a small telescope)

elderly hands

If you're looking for information about specific joints of the hand or wrist, try these pages:

Basal joint arthritis (= arthritis affecting the base of thumb, in the 1st carpometacarpophalangeal joint)
Distal interphalangeal joint arthritis
Partial wrist fusion
Proximal interphalangeal joint arthritis
Total wrist fusion

We appreciate that the anatomical terms and medical words are confusing. The following image may help you sort out which is which:

jointexplanation

And if you're still not sure, please be sure to ask your surgeon!

If you cannot find the information that you are searching for please use the "search" function on this website - with so many different categories of hand conditions the search box may be the best way to find what you are looking for! If we don't have information on what you are interested in please let us know, so we can develop new content that will assist you and future visitors.