You’ve got to hand it to internationally known docs A. Lee Osterman and Randall Culp, who pioneered hand surgery in Philadelphia and continue to develop techniques copied worldwide at the Philadelphia Hand Center at Methodist Hospital. Using astonishing microsurgical skills, they correct birth defects, fix accident injuries, and treat degenerative wear and tear to restore function to hands, wrists, arms, elbows and shoulders. They’ve done wrist replacements on teenagers as well as seniors, and when osteoarthritis destroys the base of the thumb, they’ve perfected a way to relieve the pain with minimal bone removal. Try doing most simple tasks without using your hands and you’ll realize how much this can affect one’s quality of life (Benjamin Franklin House, 834 Chestnut Street, suite G114, 800-JEFF-NOW, jeffersonhospital.org/orthopedic).

Whether it’s a nasty fracture, tennis elbow, a ganglion cyst, a trigger finger, carpal tunnel syndrome or a hand severed in an industrial catastrophe, the three experienced surgeons at Temple Hand Surgery handle any problem, from the simplest to the most complex cases (3401 North Broad Street, fifth floor, zone B, 215-707-2111, tuh.templehealth.org).