Somewhere along the way, a lot of people start babying one wrist without really thinking about it. The groceries go in the other hand, and the push-ups quietly drop out of the workout. It started as a little soreness after work that was gone by breakfast. The trouble starts when it stops settling down. Plenty of people in Chandler spend eight or nine hours a day on a keyboard and mouse, then go home and scroll on a phone, and the wrist never really gets a break.
Pain that’s hung around for a few months usually has a reason behind it. Most of the time, that reason can be treated without surgery.
Where It Hurts Says a Lot
The wrist is a crowded spot. Eight small bones, a bunch of tendons, and a couple of big nerves all pass through an area about the size of a watch face. So we start by asking you to point.
- Thumb side, sore when you lift a baby or wring out a towel: we think about de Quervain’s tendinitis
- Numb or tingly thumb and first two fingers, mostly at night, which is classic carpal tunnel
- Sharp pain on the pinky side when you turn a key, which can mean the small cartilage pad on that edge is worn or torn
- A stiff, achy wrist in the morning is common with arthritis, especially after an old break
- A small bump on the back of the wrist is often a ganglion cyst
How It Usually Starts
Ask most people when it started and they’ll shrug. Usually it’s the same movement, over and over, for months. For one person it’s the mouse at work. For another it’s a nail gun, or a toddler who wants to be picked up every few minutes. Old injuries play a part too. A wrist that was sprained or broken years ago is more likely to get stiff and sore down the road.
Fixing It Without Surgery
You’ll squeeze a grip meter for us, bend your wrist up and down, and let us poke around until we hit the sore spot. Sometimes we want an X-ray to rule out an old fracture that never got noticed.
A lot of people start out in a splint. It sounds too simple, but a tendon or nerve that finally gets to rest for a few weeks often calms down a lot. After that, hand therapy takes over with stretches and some light strength work for the forearm. We’ll talk about your mouse and keyboard too, and the way you hold your phone in bed. When a tendon just won’t settle, a cortisone shot is another option. Give it several weeks, and most people notice the wrist bothering them less and less.
Is your wrist still bothering you months later? Come see us at Modern Medicine of Chandler, AZ, and we’ll find out what’s causing it and help you use that hand without wincing.
