Common Wrist Problems

Your hands and wrists contain multiple small joints, connected with ligaments, muscles, and bones. Your wrist might seem like a single joint, but it actually has more than one joint — and that means there are plenty of things that can cause wrist pain and other problems.

At the Center for Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, Michael L. Blackwell, MD, can diagnose your wrist problems and recommend the right treatments to resolve your symptoms. Dr. Blackwell treats patients from offices in Tomball and Kingwood, Texas.

Sports, stress, and sprains

Often, wrist pain develops as a result of an injury. Sudden impacts can damage your wrist joints. If your ligaments are overstretched, you can end up with a painful sprain. 

According to the American Society for Surgery of the Hand, you’re most likely to sprain your wrist by bending your hand backward to catch yourself during a fall.

Sprains range from mild to severe, depending on the degree of injury. You might see swelling or bruising around the injured area if you’ve suffered a sprain.

Some types of physical activities can cause repetitive stress injuries to the bones, ligaments, and muscles of your wrists as well, if overdone. 

Repetitive motion syndrome can affect your wrists due to hobbies, professional requirements, and technology use, causing swelling that puts uncomfortable pressure on your nerves and leaves you coping with wrist pain or function issues.

Wrist pain and technology use

A common culprit of wrist problems, technology use has only increased for many over the last few years. Scrolling, mousing, and typing can leave your wrists overstressed and suffering from inflammation. If you’re dealing with wrist tendonitis, repetitive use leading to tendon damage may cause inflammation, tearing, or irritation.

If you have carpal tunnel syndrome, often connected to tech use, your ligaments press painfully on your nerves, resulting in pain, numbness, and a feeling of weakness in the affected hand. Carpal tunnel syndrome can cause you to lose use of your hand and wrist, or suffer from shoulder pain.

Your risk for carpal tunnel syndrome increases if you have arthritis or diabetes. Carpal tunnel syndrome can also be caused by repetitive lifting, or by prolonged use of equipment that makes your hand vibrate.

Inflammation and autoimmune conditions

Several chronic and degenerative conditions can cause wrist pain. If you have osteoarthritis, wear and damage to the cartilage that covers your wrist bones can leave you suffering from pain and inflammation. This condition tends to occur most frequently in older patients.

You could also have rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic autoimmune inflammatory condition that can impact joints around your body, including the joints in your wrists. Rheumatoid arthritis can diminish your range of motion in affected joints.

Treatment options for your wrist problems

Dr. Blackwell and his team can diagnose the root cause of your wrist problems. Following a comprehensive physical exam and any needed imaging scans or studies, Dr. Blackwell works with you to develop your personalized treatment plan, starting with conservative treatment options.

For professional support in coping with wrist problems from the common to the unusual, contact Dr. Blackwell at the Center for Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine now. You can book your initial consultation appointment over the phone, or schedule online.