What can hurt your wrist
The section of the upper limb between the metacarpal bones and the forearm, formed by the eight bones, is called the wrist. This part of the hand is subjected to constant stress, as it is located in the most mobile part of the limb, so many are faced with the fact that the wrist hurts.
With prolonged and persistent pain in this part, it is important for the patient to immediately consult a specialist, since self-medication and ignoring the symptom itself can lead to irreversible consequences. In cases where the wrist hurts, you should seek help from the following doctors:
- Surgeon;
- Rheumatologist;
- Traumatologist.
Causes of wrist pain
As a rule, many are faced with the fact that the wrist hurts when flexing and extending the hand. This significantly limits the mobility of the limb, and this condition can be due to various reasons. The factors that lead to the occurrence of such a syndrome include acute injuries and trauma, and various pathologies of the joints, muscles, bones and tendons can also be the causes of pain in the wrist.
Fractures, sprains, and dislocations lead to acute injuries of the wrist of varying severity, accompanied by symptoms ranging from shock to deformity of the hands. There are cases when fractures of the wrist bones are not accompanied by acute pain, but proceed in a smoothed form.
In everyday life, situations often arise when, after an unsuccessful bruise or fall, the wrist swells and severely hurts when bending, which limits the mobility of the limb. If the patient does not receive medical attention on time, loss of arm mobility and other serious complications are not excluded.
Other causes of wrist pain are ligament ruptures, which often occur when the hands are abruptly flexed. Symptoms in this situation are similar to those that occur with bruises - pain, swelling, and limitation of movement of the wrist.
Tendon abnormalities also lead to severe pain in the limb of the arm. The lack of timely medical intervention may well lead to complete or partial loss of hand mobility. These pathologies include tendon inflammations such as tendonitis, tenosynovitis and peritendinitis, which differ in the causes and location, namely:
- Tendevitis - occurs in the flexor tendons that connect the metacarpal bones to the wrist. Usually, the disease occurs in athletes and people who constantly make repeated movements with a strong load on the wrist (builders);
- With tendovaginitis, the wrist hurts when bending the thumbs, since the tendons that are responsible for their movement are the location of the disease;
- Peritendinitis occurs in the extensor tendons of the wrist joint and hand. With the disease, the wrist hurts sharply and the mobility of the thumb and forefinger is limited.
Carpal tunnel syndrome, or as it is also called, carpal tunnel syndrome, is an inflammation of a nerve that occurs when it is squeezed between the flexor retainer and the three bony walls. Because of it, the wrist hurts sharply, numbness of the hand occurs and the mobility of the fingers is complicated. Basically, the syndrome manifests itself in people whose activities are associated with increased activity of fine motor skills (artists, musicians, neurosurgeons, etc.).
Other reasons why the wrist hurts are joint pathologies, which are very diverse (arthrosis, arthritis, etc.). Their manifestation is due to many unfavorable factors, serious complications are a consequence of diseases, namely:
- Deforming osteoarthritis, in which the cartilage tissue of the wrist joint is damaged. The cause is improperly healed fractures of the wrist bones or genetic and metabolic factors. In addition to the fact that the wrist is very sore, with the disease, increased sensitivity appears when pressing in the area of inflammation. If the patient is not helped in time, deformation of the hand is not excluded;
- Rheumatoid arthritis is a disease in which small joints are affected, the wrist hurts sharply and severely, fine motor skills and general mobility of the hands are impaired. The patient needs careful treatment and care, because there is a threat of a chronic inflammatory process that affects vital organs (heart, lungs) and disrupts the basic functions of the body. Lethal outcome is not excluded.
With pathologies of bone tissue, the wrist also hurts a lot, since they provoke an inflammatory process in the wrist area of the hands. Sometimes, after examination, it turns out that the pathologies are caused by necrosis, which lead to complete or partial death of bone tissue.
Prevention and Treatment of Wrist Pain
In order to avoid the condition when the wrist hurts, you must adhere to a number of simple rules, namely:
- Observe the principles of proper nutrition;
-
Perform brush massage during prolonged work at the computer;
- Be careful when performing traumatic work;
- Do exercises to strengthen your wrist muscles regularly.
Timely diagnosis and early treatment of wrist pain are the guarantors that the patient will subsequently be able to avoid the development of many complications. Self-medication is strictly prohibited, since determining the root cause of the onset of pain is a difficult process even for a qualified doctor. Treatment directly depends on what caused this symptom to appear. If the pain is due to injury, bruises, fractures, or stretch marks, the doctor will apply a bandage, cast or elastic bandage, etc. If pathologies are the cause, either surgical or conservative treatment of wrist pain is performed.
Many people face a problem when their wrist hurts after a long time working at the computer or when injuries occur. It is important to know that you should not try to cope with pain on your own in such situations, since improper treatment can be fraught with disastrous consequences.
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