Chronic hand and wrist pain alone is miserable, but it’s even worse when the problem extends beyond your wrist. Wrist pain affects the use of your hand and fingers, a challenge that dramatically affects every aspect of daily life and could lead to the progressive loss of strength and function.
Our Florida Pain Medicine team provides comprehensive care that relieves your pain and helps restore optimal function. Since we begin by getting to the source of your chronic wrist pain, we’re devoting this blog to the most common causes.
Chronic pain can arise from problems in the bones, nerves, ligaments, and tendons that make up your wrist. We often help people with the following conditions:
Osteoarthritis develops as you age and wrist movement breaks down the protective cartilage between bones. The bones grate together as more cartilage wears away, causing progressive stiffness and chronic pain.
The wrist is also among the most common areas affected by rheumatoid arthritis. This type of arthritis develops when your immune system attacks the tissue, causing chronic inflammation and pain.
Instability begins after an injury that pulls the ligament or partially or completely tears the tissue.
No matter the severity of the injury, instability develops if the ligament doesn’t heal properly. As a result, it doesn’t return to its pre-injury strength, making it too loose to support your wrist.
Ligament instability may cause weakness, stiffness, and chronic pain. Without treatment, instability can contribute to arthritis.
This condition develops in the carpal tunnel, when swollen tendons pinch the median nerve. Repetitive hand and finger movements often cause tendon swelling.
Hormonal changes, a naturally small wrist, and health conditions like diabetes and thyroid disease could also cause the problem.
Carpal tunnel symptoms are mild initially and slowly progress to cause tingling and pain. Without treatment, the nerve can become permanently damaged, leading to numbness and limiting hand function.
The tendons in your wrist become inflamed and swollen (tendonitis) if you repeat the same hand and finger motions like texting, typing, and playing video games. Your risk also rises if you play sports that strain your wrists, such as tennis, basketball, and gymnastics.
Pain is the most common symptom, but you may also have hand and wrist weakness.
The first line of treatment might include:
You may need to learn new habits that improve ergonomics or schedule physical therapy to restore strength and mobility.
Some conditions, like a ruptured tendon or ligament, need prompt surgery. Reconnecting or reconstructing the tissue is the best way to ensure you regain optimal strength.
We specialize in additional treatments that have helped many patients overcome severe wrist pain or chronic pain that doesn’t improve with other medical treatments. Two treatments we may recommend include:
Regenerative medicine treats soft tissue injuries using the body’s natural healing cells: stem cells and platelets. We isolate stem cells from bone marrow or body fat and inject them into injured tissues. Then, the stem cells regenerate new tissues to heal the injury.
We also offer platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections. After drawing a blood sample, we separate the platelets and plasma and inject the mixture. Platelets decrease pain by activating healing, promoting tissue regeneration, and regulating inflammation.
During a brachial plexus block, we use real-time imaging to inject a local anesthetic into the nerves that carry pain messages from your hand and wrist to your brain. The medicine blocks the nerve signals, providing relief from chronic wrist pain.
Whether you need your first wrist evaluation or help with chronic pain that persists despite medical care, our Florida Pain Medicine team can help you get the relief you need.
Call the nearest office, or request a wrist evaluation online today to begin your journey toward better health.
