Lloyd P. Champagne, MD

Interactive anatomy

Explore the hand.

Start from where the problem is, or from the kind of structure involved. Both lead to the same plain-English education.

Where is the problem?

Select where you’re experiencing a problem. We’ll show conditions that can affect that area - with plain-English explanations of each.

Where is the problem?

Choose an area above to see the conditions that can affect it.

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Advanced anatomy

What structure is affected?

Turn layers on and off to see how the systems of the hand relate to one another. Select a structure to read what it does, what happens when it is affected, and how a hand surgeon evaluates it.
Select a tissue system
Structures in this system

What it does

Carries sensation from the thumb, index, middle and half of the ring finger, and controls several of the muscles that move the thumb.

General symptoms when it is affected

  • Numbness or tingling in the thumb, index and middle fingers
  • Symptoms that are worse at night
  • Weakness of the thumb, particularly moving it away from the palm
  • In long-standing cases, thinning of the muscle at the base of the thumb

How a hand surgeon evaluates it

A hand surgeon maps sensation in the median territory, tests the specific thumb muscles the nerve supplies, and examines the whole course of the nerve from the neck to the hand - because compression can occur at more than one level. Nerve conduction studies are used where they will change the plan.

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A different approach to reconstruction

The hand is more than bone.

Complex upper-extremity problems can involve skin, soft tissue, tendon, nerve, blood vessels and bone - often all at once. Treating one layer well is not the same as restoring a working hand.

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    01

    Surface

    What you can see is the outer covering. Palm skin is thick and anchored for grip; the skin on the back of the hand is thin and mobile so a fist can close. Both matter to how a hand works.

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    02

    Structure

    Twenty-seven bones give the hand its frame - eight in the wrist, five in the palm, and fourteen in the fingers and thumb. Their alignment matters more here than almost anywhere else in the body.

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    Movement

    The muscles that move the fingers largely sit in the forearm. Tendons transmit their power across the wrist and into each digit - and they have to glide freely to do it.

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    Sensation & control

    Three nerves serve the hand. They carry sensation back to the brain and instructions out to the muscles. Each supplies a distinct territory, which is why the pattern of numbness tells a surgeon a great deal.

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    Reconstruction

    A serious injury rarely respects these boundaries. It damages several systems along the same line - and putting a hand back together means addressing all of them, in the right order.

Complex problems can involve skin, soft tissue, tendon, nerve, blood vessels and bone.

Dr. Champagne’s background spans plastic surgery, hand surgery and microsurgical reconstruction. That combination shapes how a problem is assessed: not as one damaged structure, but as a system that has to work together again.

Hand surgery is practised by surgeons from several backgrounds, each bringing a different emphasis. This describes Dr. Champagne’s, not a comparison with anyone else’s.

Lloyd P. Champagne, MD

Plastic, Hand & Reconstructive Surgeon

Reconstruction

Discuss your symptoms and options

Consultations begin with understanding your symptoms, what you can no longer do comfortably, and what has already been tried.

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