Wrist Pain
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01 Causes
Hand and wrist pain has many similar causes to elbow pain, these include fine and intricate movements such as knitting or sewing, large movements such as opening jars, gripping a screwdriver or sports equipment, moving hay bails or break dancing variations.
Problems in the hands is caused by many different factors including ‘wear and tear’ and arthritic conditions, lack of blood flow to the fingers or problems in the forearm, elbow, shoulder or neck.
The hands are often the location for systemic symptoms to develop such as pins and needles or are hypersensitive to temperature changes.
Pins and needles in the hands can be a result of nerve compression from too much tension in the hand, forearm, upper arm, shoulder and neck muscles, the neck itself, diabetes, pregnancy or thyroid issues.
02 Symptoms
Pins and needles or numbness in the hand or fingers
Stiffness or difficult bending the fingers or wrist
Sharp pain when putting pressure down through the hands
Difficulty holding objects including drinks or cutlery
Stiffness lasting 10-60 minutes in the morning
Sharp pain or pins and needles from intensive hands on jobs
03 Treatment
As mentioned above, proper assessment of the hands, forearms, elbows, shoulder and neck will reveal the root cause of the symptoms in the hands.
Improving the mobility of the wrist and all associated joints through osteopathic mobilisation techniques can free up the muscle and nerve tension and improve blood flow through the hands. Manipulation techniques can also be used to improve joint alignment and reduce muscle tightness.
04 Management
Grip strength and wrist mobilisation exercises may be given in order to improve strength, muscle endurance and stability of the wrist.
Stretching advice may be given to promote ease of motion of the elbow, forearm and hand muscles.
Hydrotherapy may be advised to promote healing or blood flow of injured structures or rid of inflammation.
