Elbow and wrist pain
Common wrist pain may be due to a number of different conditions:
Carpal Tunnel syndrome
A common occurrence in pregnancy, overuse activities, scar tissue from previous injuries, arthritis and fluid retention.
Occurs when there is compression to the tunnel that houses nerves to the hand and creates numbness, tingling, pain and weakness to the grasping aspects of the hand.
Typically it is worse at night, perhaps after a day of wrist use such as computer work or manual labour.
This is a gradual process, and your symptoms can worsen over time as the tunnel swells and gets more compressed.
The best recommendation is to start non-invasive treatment early, as surgical treatment may be used as a last resort.
Dequervains’s Syndrome
Pain on the thumb side of the wrist
Hurts when you use your thumb for grasping, pinching, making a fist and turning your wrist
Causes associated with overuse injuries. It can be common in new mothers to repetitively lift babies
There may be swelling at the site of pain
Your thumb may feel stuck in one place
Caused by the thickening and swelling of the thumb tendons reducing its capacity to glide and move easily.
Carpal Laxity/ Instability
Injury or loss of normal alignment to the bones of the hand and wrist, which lead to a change in range of motion
Usually after a traumatic injury, but can go unnoticed if the injury was not that serious
Over time this change in alignment reduces the range of motion at the joints, can irritate the supporting ligaments and joint capsule and causes pain and inflammation.
More common in young to middle-aged populations
Commonly associated with a fracture
Causes include acute injury, chronic repetitive stress, and micro-crystal deposits from another disease.
Another common cause is after falling on an outstretched hand
Scaphoid Fracture
The most common bone to be fractured in the wrist
Usually result from a fall on an open hand
Usually only occur in age 10 years or older
Appears as tenderness over the scaphoid bone (the base of the thumb) and with any kind of loading or movement
It may not show up on x-ray