Sore Wrist: Concerns, Causes, and Care Tips

Amongst all the joints in our body, the wrist is probably the most useful and the most complex of them all. For one thing, your daily activities most often depend on the dexterity and strength of your wrist. For another thing, your wrist is made up of an intricate network of eight carpal bones, five metacarpal bones and two forearm bones, all tightly packed and connected with nerves, blood vessels, and ligaments. As such, whenever you experience a sore wrist, you had better hop on to its treatments pronto.

Concerns

You might ask why the urgent emphasis on seeking treatment, either in the doctor’s office or in the home or both, for a painful wrist. It’s simple, really. When you fail to seek treatment as soon as possible, your concerns will be magnified three-fold due to more serious complications, which will have significant bearing on your quality of life. Think lose of feelings and dexterity on the injured, infected and inflamed wrist.

Also, common activities like working at your desk for hours, engaging in sports like golf and tennis, playing musical instruments and even washing the dishes can aggravate the pain of a sore wrist that you have previously overlooked. Ultimately, you will have to deal with more complicated, more expensive, and more painful consequences for your indifference. So, as early as possible, listen to your wrist. You will be amply rewarded with longer, better and healthier service from one of the most important external body parts we can possibly have.

Common Causes

Pain in your wrist can be brought on by many different things, such as an injury to the location, constantly performing the same motion or trauma. To determine the possible cause of your pain your physician will ask you a series of questions about the frequency and location of the pain as well as your history and any medicines you might currently be taking. Your doctor should be thorough and ask many questions to find the right diagnosis.

There are several medical conditions that result in a sore wrist. Things like ganglion cysts, arthritis, carpal tunnel and tendonitis can all cause pain and inflammation of your wrist joint. You can also bring on the pain by typing at your keyboard for long hours or playing certain sports. Any time you are engaging in repetitive motion you need proper form and support to prevent pain or injury. Another possibility is a sprain or cracked bone in one of the 15 bones of the wrist.

Keep in mind, however, that these causes can be strongly interconnected. For example, carpal tunnel syndrome often results from repetitive motions like typing at a keyboard for long periods of time without the benefit of simple hand exercises.

Treatment Options

A correct diagnosis is crucial to getting the right treatment for your sore wrist. Each cause may call for a different treatment method, such as RICE treatment for sprains or surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome.

The best person to advise you on a proper course of treatment is your personal physician. That being said the RICE, (rest, ice, compression and elevation) is nearly universal treatment both for first aid and after care. If it is arthritis you are dealing with you may have to make some lifestyle changes as well. Talk with your doctor about the pros and cons of treatment particularly when it comes to surgery, medications and cortisone shots. These can be quite painful not to mention expensive.

A sore wrist can be truly painful in more ways than one. Nevertheless, if you pursue the correct medical treatment and attend to personal care it is a pain you can leave in the past.

Tom Nicholson has spent years helping sufferers of carpal tunnel syndrome. Please click here to learn more regarding having asore wrist.