Causes and Cures For Wrist Pain

Wrist pain? You are not alone!

From chopping vegetables, to angling for trout, or falling during an athletic activity — there's practically unlimited ways you can hurt your wrists and cause wrist pain. In fact, hand pain and wrist pain are among the most common muscular/skeletal complaints that people bring to doctors.

Causes of wrist pain are as varied as repetitive stress injuries due to sprains, fractures and diseases such as arthritis. Because so many factors can lead to wrist pain, and because the wrist is a complex structure, diagnosing the exact cause of long-standing wrist pain can be difficult.

For most people, wrist pain can be diagnosed and treated. The type of care depends on the cause and severity of the wrist pain.

Repetitive strain injuries
Motion that is repeated can stress and inflame joints and make an existing injury worse, especially when it is done forcefully and for long periods of time with no rest for the joint. Motions can range from working on an assembly line to repeated hitting a golf or tennis ball or typing on a computer.

Some of the symptoms which can be caused by repetitive movement in muscles, joints, tendons and nerves include:

* Pain
* Inflammation
* Dysfunction (sometimes)

Carpal tunnel syndrome
We all have heard the term carpal tunnel syndrome. This occurs when the median nerve is compressed as it passes through a narrow passageway (carpal tunnel) in your wrist. Symptoms may include:

* Tingling or numbness in your hand or fingers, especially when you're holding a cup, driving a car or reading a newspaper
* Pain radiating from or extending from your wrist up through your arm to your shoulder or down into your palm or fingers, particularly after forceful or repetitive use
* A sense of weakness in your hands and a tendency to drop objects
* Chronic loss of feeling in some fingers in advanced cas

Your wrist is a complex joint made up of eight small bones (carpal bones) arranged in two rows between the bones in your forearm (radius and ulna) and the metacarpal bones in your hand. Tough bands of ligament connect the carpal bones to each other and to the forearm bones and metacarpals. Damage to your ligaments, bones or the cartilage that cushions your joints can cause pain and affect your ability to use your wrist and hand.

Some common causes of wrist injury and pain often include:

Repetitive strain injuries including any activity that involves a repetitive motion — from hitting a tennis ball or playing a cello to driving long periods — can seriously inflame the joints in your wrist, especially when you perform the movement for hours on end without a break.

Carpal tunnel syndrome can develop or occur when there is increased pressure on the median nerve, which passes through the carpal tunnel, a passageway in your wrist.

Wrist pain can happen to you whether you are or are not active. Still, certain factors can make you more prone to wrist problems, including:

1. Certain sports professionals and amateur athletes of all sorts — basketball, football, hockey and tennis players, pitchers, and golfers — are prone to wrist injuries. Wrist problems are also showing up in more children and teens, especially those who snowboard, rollerblade and skateboard. According to some estimates, nearly 80 percent of young gymnasts have chronic wrist pain!

2.Older adults are much more likely than younger people to have osteoporosis, which makes bones brittle and more susceptible to fractures. Older people are obviously also more likely to fall and to develop arthritis.

3. Almost any activity that involves your hands and wrists — even knitting and cutting hair — if performed forcefully enough and often enough can lead to disabling wrist pain.

How Can We Prevent or Help Cure Wrist Pain and Injury?

It is critically important to use protective gear such as wrist supports for athletic activities. Wear wrist guards or wrist supports for high-risk activities, such as football, snowboarding and rollerblading, as well as repetitive exercise such as gymanstics, bowling, high dive and others. If you're new to extreme sports, consider getting professional instruction, and know your limits.