Wrist Pain: Treatment, Causes & Diagnosis

What is Wrist Pain?

Sprains or fractures from abrupt injuries frequently result in wrist pain. However, chronic issues like carpal tunnel syndrome, repetitive stress injury, and arthritis can also cause wrist pain. Finding the precise source of wrist discomfort might be challenging because so many different things can cause it. But effective therapy and recovery depend on a correct diagnosis.

Causes of Wrist Pain

If you experience wrist pain following a fall, an X-ray may reveal a fracture, sprain, or partial ligament damage, but occasionally unexplained aches and pains manifest. These signs and symptoms could come and go, deteriorate throughout the day, or persist indefinitely. Chronic wrist pain might be difficult to diagnose. You should visit your doctor, who will carefully examine you and order the necessary imaging tests.

Possible causes of wrist pain include:

• Carpal tunnel syndrome is a frequent hand condition that results in hand and wrist pain, numbness, tingling, and weakness. Carpal tunnel syndrome is an interval pressure condition that develops when the median nerve's canal becomes compressed due to swelling from repetitive motions or excess weight. Your wrist is where this nerve passes, allowing your hand to sense and move.
• Tendinitis: Your wrist has several tendons that allow you to move your fingers and wrist. These tendons have the potential to become inflamed and bulge, leading to movement-related pain or severe spontaneous rupture. One of the most typical types of tendinitis is De Quervain's tenosynovitis. It happens on the wrist's thumb side. The movement of your thumb and wrist together will cause you to experience excruciating pain if you have de Quervain's tenosynovitis. Visit your healthcare practitioner if you have any symptoms to get a precise diagnosis.
• A ganglion cyst is a fluid-filled, non-cancerous (benign) tumor that develops on the tendons and joints of the wrist. Numbness, tingling, and dull discomfort can be caused by a big cyst pressing against the nerves in your wrist. Although it is not harmful or hazardous, the condition might be uncomfortable.
• Gout: Gout, a form of arthritis, inflames joints, causing them to become sore, tender, and swollen. To touch, the injured joint could feel heated. When your bloodstream becomes overly uric acid-rich, which is a byproduct of food digestion, gout develops. Tiny, uncomfortable crystals develop in your joints and soft tissue as a result of the excess acid.
• Osteoarthritis: As cartilage deteriorates, this type of arthritis develops. Osteoarthritis is a condition in which bone scrapes on bone, resulting in pain, edema, and stiffness.
• Psoriatic arthritis: Psoriasis, a skin condition that results in thick, scaly skin patches, can cause psoriatic arthritis in some people. Wrist pain, soreness, and swelling are symptoms of this arthritis.
• Another inflammatory disorder that frequently begins in the tiny joints in the hands and wrists is rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Usually, it affects the wrists or both hands. Rheumatoid arthritis in the wrist can cause joint discomfort, stiffness, and edema.
• An autoimmune condition called systemic lupus erythematosus makes your body target healthy tissue that is already there. The tiny joints of the wrist and hand frequently experience arthritis in lupus patients.