“I Can’t Do That Because My Wrists Hurt”

            You probably hear people saying that phrase all the time, you might be the one who is saying it themselves. For some reason though these people just decide that they are going to ignore the pain and just live with it because they believe there is nothing that can help. So I am here today to go over some common wrist conditions that we see regularly in our office and some things that we do to help fix the issue and what you can do at home to get some temporary relief. Do not let the pain in your wrists stop you from doing what you love! 

And always remember if there is anything we talk about in this post that sounds like it might be a problem that you are currently having please reach out to us at www.inTuneChiroTN.com and request an appointment. We would love to sit down and get to the bottom of these issues so you can live a happy and pain free life!

Dr. Albert and Dr. Chanel strive to find the root cause of each and every patients problems and develop a specialized care plan. Suffering from wrist pain? The Docs at inTune Chiropractic have the tools and expertise to help rid you of that issue so you can live a happy and healthy life!

Photo Credit: @MakeUpBySara127

Common Conditions

• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS):
  • I know what you are thinking, “starting with a doozy.” And you are right, there are so many people who are suffering from or think they may be suffering from CTS. Many of these people get so fed up with the pain that they opt for surgery and that makes me so sad because there are so many things we can do conservatively in our office that can help these people for a fraction of the cost and without having to cut out pieces of the body.
  • CTS is what is known as an entrapment neuropathy. This means the median nerve is being compressed as it passes through the carpal tunnel in the wrist. Some symptoms you may be having is numbness, tingling, weakness, and pain over the thumb, index, and ring finger but not usually in the palm of the hand (see figure below), if there is numbness in the palm then we have to look more toward the elbow, shoulder, and neck for compression of the nerve. Some other issues you may be having is having your hand “fall asleep” or loss of grip strength and dropping objects along with pain that wakes you up at night.
• As you can see in the image above, the median nerve is running underneath the transverse carpal ligament (TCL). When this ligament is inflamed or irritated it could cause compression on the median nerve causing you the symptoms of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. During surgery, the TCL is removed in order to decrease pressure on the nerve, in most cases this is just a temporary fix. Try conservative care before going towards that irreversible step of having surgery. inTune Chiropractic Clinic, Inc. has had tremendous results with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome from adjusting and using our state-of-the-art Piezowave2 Therapy.
• Carpal Instability:
  • This is a disruption of the ligamentous support between the carpal bones and/or between the radius and the carpus. This results in a loss of structural integrity of the wrist and associated biomechanical comprise of normal wrist function. Carpal instability can also lead to other wrist issues if it is not properly cared for including Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Triangular Fibrocartilage tear, tendinopathy, and osteoarthritis.
  • This instability is usually from microtrauma or some big traumatic event including a fall on an outstretched hand (FOOSH). Some symptoms that you may be noticing when this is occurring is crepitus or clicking with movement. This crepitus is also is accompanied with painful movements.
    
• Wrist Sprain/Strain:
  • If you have been keeping up with our blogs, then you know the in’s and out’s of sprain/strains. These can also occur in the wrist as well! But for those of you who are unaware a sprain is the stretching or tearing of the ligaments around the wrist. The main cause for a sprain is falling on an outstretched hand (FOOSH) but it can also be caused by repetitive use causing microtraumas, so if you have a job where you are constantly moving or using your wrists you may be experiencing this condition.
  • The main symptoms of this is swelling of the wrist with a lot of pain to the touch. You may have also heard a “pop” when the injury occurred as well. You may also be experiencing difficulties with some activities of daily living including opening a door or twisting open a jar.
• A wrist sprain may mimic the symptoms of many of the other common conditions of the wrist but usually can be attributed to a traumatic event or injury directly to the wrist resulting in swelling, pain, bruising, tenderness, and a "popping" feeling inside of the wrist.
• Photo Credit: Florida Orthopedic Institute
• De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis:
  • This is a big fun name for a what essentially is tenosynovitis of the abductor pollicis longus and extensor pollis brevis tendons. And if you’re lost after reading that sentence what that basically means is inflammation of the tendons and surrounding synovial linings of the thumb/wrist.
  • This condition is not normally caused by some big fall or traumatic event but from overuse in daily activities and now most recently has been seen in people who text and use their phones too much. So if you are one of those people who are constantly texting and start to feel some soreness or pain in their thumbs you might have some De Quervain’s going on so you need to come into the office and let us check that out.
• 

  The above figure shows the tendons going into the thumb that are affected by inflammation and swelling in tunnel putting pressure on the tendons, causing irritation, and irritating the surrounding synovial linings.

• Photo Credit: Dr. Paul Jarrett 2016
• Triangular Fibrocartilage Complex Tear:
  • This is an interesting condition caused by damage to the fibrocartilaginous disc and associated ligaments at the distal end of the ulna. This can be caused by a FOOSH injury or slowly degenerating over time due to overuse.
  • Some symptoms you will see is pain on the ulnar side of the wrist that is worse with activity, you also may be experiencing weakness with rotational movements of the wrist or increased pain with compression.
• The triangular fibrocartilage complex (TFCC) is a cartilage structure located on the small finger side of the wrist that, cushions and supports the small carpal bones in the wrist. The TFCC keeps the forearm bones (radius and ulna) stable when the hand grasps or the forearm rotates. An injury or tear to the TFCC can cause chronic wrist pain. 

What Can I Do?

            Now it is time for the fun part, some things we can do in the office and things you can do at home to help rid yourself of that wrist pain. First off, for all of these conditions listed above except for a Grade III sprain and fibrocartilage ligament tear, adjusting the hand, wrist, elbow, shoulder, and even the neck can help get mobility back into the joints and greatly help the body be in the most optimal alignment to quickly and efficiently heal. Sometimes one good adjustment is all that you need to help get rid of some or most of the pain.

Shameless Piezowave2 Therapy Plug: Our office is one of the only Chiropractic offices in the Nashville area who have a Piezowave2 and this machine has proved time and time again to be one of the best and quickest therapies for helping extremity pain including the wrist. By increasing circulation to the injured area, damaged tendons/ligaments can quickly heal. Our office has seen firsthand many accounts of treating Carpal Tunnel Syndrome with our Piezowave2 therapy especially in patients who believed surgery was their last option. Come and schedule a consultation today and mention this blog to get a free of charge appointment with our Piezowave2 therapy.

The Piezowave2 machine in all its glory. State-of-the-art technology that has the healing potential for many musculoskeletal conditions leaps and bounds ahead of electric-stim, soft tissue work, dry-needling, acupuncture, ultrasound, TENS units, and many other passive modality therapies.

Photo Credit: @MakeUpBySara127

We also can do several different stretching or strengthening exercises to help the associated soft tissue:

• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: A nice rehab program for CTS starting in the acute phase would be doing the Alphabet exercise in cool water. Also, during the day every hour for a few minutes stretch the neck, shoulder, wrist, hand, fingers. Later on you can do active grip exercises with a tennis ball to help grip strength.
• Carpal Instability: Hand and wrist conditioning exercises which we will talk about in depth in the video on our YouTube channel.
• Wrist Sprain: Using a stress ball and gripping exercises (see images below)

The above image shows different wrist strengthening and stretching exercises that can be completed to help rehab a wrist sprain. It is advised to come into our office first in order to correctly and accurately diagnose your condition in order to prescribe you with the best exercises to get you back to doing what you love.

Photo Credit: RelayHealth and/or its affiliates 

Some of you may not be suffering from any of the above conditions so on our YouTube channel we will talk about general stretches and strengthening exercises you can perform to help rid yourself of the pain.

Conclusion

          There are so many different things you can do at home to help rid yourself of wrist pain but it is always a good idea to come into the office first so we can properly diagnose the condition and give you the correct exercises and stretches specifically for your condition. And if you want to take your health seriously coming in for adjustments and Piezowave2 therapy is a must. inTune Chiropractic Clinic, Inc. is your number #1 Mount Juliet, TN Chiropractor. We strive to find the cause of your neck pain, back pain, wrist pain, knee pain, shoulder pain and to restore function and mobility to your entire body. Give us a chance, you will not regret it, we will see you in the office soon!

If you ever have any questions about how we can help or what conditions we can treat and help you with please reach out and we can schedule a consultation and see you in the office!

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“Remember to keep your mind and body inTune!”