Painful wrists are
pretty common, but they aren’t always serious. Most wrist joint pains are mild
and get better on their own; sometimes, however, the pain can be more severe.
Proper diagnosis and checkup followed by an appropriate treatment will help to
regain the normal function of this important joint.
What Can Cause Wrist
Pain? Trauma, inflammation
and degeneration of the joint can cause the wrist to become painful.
Traumatic injury to
the wrist can either be sudden or after repetitive use of the joint. The
ligaments and bones of the wrist joint can get injured after a fall on the
hand. The bone most frequently involved in trauma to the wrist is the scaphoid.
If fractured and untreated, permanent deformity and chronic wrist pain could
follow. Similarly, falls can also cause ligaments of the wrist joint to get
torn making the joint lose its stability. Torn ligaments and cartilages can
cause severe pain.
Overuse and straining
the wrist joint can also be a source of pain. Over time these repetitive
injuries can cause the tendons to become inflamed. Repetitive twisting and
flexing of the wrist can cause a form of wrist pain.
Another likely cause
of wrist pain is osteoarthritis. This condition causes the joints and its
synovium to degenerate. This causes the joint to not only become painful but
also swell and become stiff. An old injury to the joint can also cause similar
symptoms of osteoarthritis.
Other inflammatory
conditions such as gout or rheumatoid arthritis can also cause pain and
swelling in the wrist.
How is Pain in the
Wrist Joint Diagnosed? Apart from the
history and complete physical examination, imaging studies like MRI scans and
X-rays can help us find the exact cause of the pain in your wrist joint.
How is the Pain
Treated? Once the cause of the
pain is established, we will construct a treatment plan according. Generally,
mild cases only require some rest, icing and splinting to help the wrist joint
heal. If the injury is severe, then surgery will be advised. Inflammatory conditions
like rheumatoid arthritis can be treated with the appropriate medications.
Arthroscopy for Wrist
Joint Injuries If the ligaments and
cartilage in the wrist joint are torn, they can be reconstructed through a
surgical procedure called arthroscopy. Through this method, a small camera
called the arthroscope is inserted into the joint. This helps the surgeon to
visualise all of the structures in the joint; torn or damaged structures are
repaired with micro-sutures.