Wrist Injury

To prevent injuries related to falls be careful in wet and slippery areas. As they also occur during sports such as skiing, skateboarding, inline skating, and ice skating wearing wrist guards or protective tape is recommended. These interventions can keep your wrist from bending too far back if you fall.

What can you do if you have wrist pain?

The Physiotherapists at Pillars of Wellness have extensive training and expertise in assessing and treating wrist pain. They will complete a full assessment and provide you with a recommended treatment plan and course of action to facilitate treatment of your symptoms and underlying root cause.

How will my wrist pain be treated?

Treatments will vary depending on the concerns you present with as will as the diagnosis and root cause. At Pillars of Wellness your physiotherapist will always prescribe an at home exercise plan. These will be demonstrated and practiced during your private appointment and will be reviewed and modified as required.

Your program may also include:

• Modalities for pain management and relief through the use of TENS, ultrasound, acupuncture, heat, ice
• Massage to break up scar tissue and to promote soft tissue healing
• Exercise to stretch and strengthen
• Education to prevent and avoid future or recurrent injury as well as plan to improve functioning day to day
• Manual therapy to improve joint movement in the hand and wrist

A wrist sprain occurs when the strong ligaments that support the wrist stretch beyond their limits or tear. This occurs when the wrist is bent or twisted forcefully, such as caused by a fall onto an outstretched hand. Wrist sprains are common injuries. They can range from mild to severe, depending on how much damage there is to the ligaments.

Grade 1 (mild) = a ligament stretched beyond limit with no tear

Grade 2 (moderate) = partial tear of ligament(s)- may result in some loss of function

Grade 3= full tear across the thickness of the ligament(s), this can require surgery and can also take small piece of bone with it (avulsion fracture)

Symptoms may include tenderness to the touch, pain (especially with wrist movement), swelling, a warm feeling inside the wrist, popping/tearing feeling during a fall/activity.

It is important to keep in mind that the symptoms may not always be indicative of the severity of the injury. For example, one may have no swelling but have a tear that requires surgical intervention. Conversely, you can have a fracture that can feel like it is a mild sprain. Having a professional assessment by a physiotherapist or MD to assess your sprain is important to ensure appropriate early treatment and avoid potential long-term difficulties such as chronic pain, arthritis and stiffness. This is especially true if you are finding your injury does not heal as quickly as anticipated and or you are experiencing persistent and frequent pain.

Carpal tunnel syndrome

Symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome can include pain in the wrist area as well as numbness or tingling in the thumb, index, middle and half of the ring fingers. Typically, the pain will worsen at night as well as during repetitive activities with bent fingers and or wrists. (often seen in keyboarding and those working with tools)

Carpal Tunnel is an injury caused by increased pressure in the carpal tunnel that compresses the median nerve as is moves through the carpal tunnel at the wrist. Most commonly, carpal tunnel syndrome is a result of repetitive movement or flexion of the fingers and or wrist. The movement causes swelling of the tendons that flex fingers and or wrist which cause compression and pressure on the median nerve.

Some woman suffers from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in pregnancy due to fluid retention increasing the pressure in the carpal tunnel and putting pressure on the median nerve.

De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis (Tendonitis)

When the tendons are inflamed and painful at the base of the thumb it is De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis. The synovium (pully system for the tendon) is irritated and therefore it cannot glide resulting in a catching or snapping sensation.

On the thumb side of the wrist there may be swelling or cyst with fluid. Key indicators are pain when grasping and/or gripping objects, difficulty moving thumb and wrist, and pain when making a fist and or turning the wrist.

Arthritis

There are two types of arthritis that can affect the joints in the wrist and fingers; osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Both types cause inflammation and if left untreated can

cause deformities of the joints hand and wrist. Your Pillars of Wellness Physiotherapist will provide you with individual treatment plans to help you improve the function, reduce inflammation and maintain/improve function and movement.

Gamekeeper’s thumb / Skier’s thumb

Gamekeeper’s or Skier’s Thumb is most commonly the result of a fall with an outstretched arm that causes injury to the ligament that attaches from the side of the index finger to the bones at the base of the thumb. This is the ulnar collateral ligament of the thumb. In most cases the ligament detaches from where it joins the bone however in some cases it may tear. The thumb will be painful and weak when grasping or pinching and it is unstable. There may or may not be bruising and swelling at the thumb base.

Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI)

RSI can cause damage to the muscles, tendons, and nerves from repeated small traumas. Typically related to an occupation or task it can also be caused by leisure activities. RSI’s typically persist beyond the time that a strain would take to ease. The good news is that RSI’s typically respond well to treatment especially with early treatment and prevention. Left untreated, RSI’s run the risk of causing chronic pain syndrome.

Symptoms of RSI can include; tightness, dull ache, pain, throbbing, tingling, numbness with most symptoms developing gradually. Most often symptoms are during activity and then ease with rest or breaks. This will progress to always being present and worsening with a repetitive task. Symptoms can range from severe to mild.