5 Common Hand and Wrist Injuries, What Causes Them, and How to Treat Them
If you’re one of the millions of Americans who’ve ever experienced hand or wrist pain from an injury or overuse, you know how much it can disrupt your daily life. From simple tasks like typing and opening jars to hobbies like sports, playing music, and crafting, our hands allow us to interact with the world. When they’re impaired, so is our ability to work and enjoy activities we love.
Understanding the origins and risk factors of common hand and wrist injuries can help you prevent and treat them properly. Here are the top five afflictions that affect this critical part of our bodies.
1. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
By far, the most prevalent wrist and hand condition among Americans is carpal tunnel syndrome, with over 430,000 surgeries performed for it annually. This nerve disorder results from compression of the median nerve as it passes through the carpal tunnel in the wrist, causing numbness, tingling, weakness, and muscle damage in the hand and fingers.
While genetics sometimes play a role, repetitive manual tasks like typing, cutting, sewing, assembly work, and manual labor are the most common triggers. Obesity, pregnancy, diabetes, thyroid issues, and arthritis can also increase risks. Women between 40-60 years old are the demographic most vulnerable to carpal tunnel, with a rate three times higher than men.
Treatment starts with wrist splinting and anti-inflammatory medication. But if conservative measures fail to relieve symptoms within 2-7 weeks, surgery to open more space for the median nerve may be necessary. Alternative regenerative medicine therapies can often replace steroids and surgery.
2. Trigger Finger
This common condition affects around 900,000 Americans annually. It’s caused when inflammation thickens the sheath around the tendons that control finger motion, catching the tendons like a trigger and painfully “clicking” or locking the finger in place.
It usually emerges in adults between ages 40-60 and occurs more often in women than men. Trigger finger frequently develops in people with diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis but can also result from repetitive gripping activities done forcefully or awkwardly.
Doctors often first recommend splinting the affected finger and avoiding movements that exacerbate triggering. Steroid injections into the inflamed tendon sheath provide relief in many cases. However, surgery to open the sheath may ultimately be needed if conservative treatments fail after several months.
3. De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis
This painful wrist tendon condition afflicts nearly 260,000 Americans a year. It involves swelling and irritation where the two tendons controlling thumb movement pass through their tunnel-like sheath near the wrist. It manifests as localized pain at the base of the thumb, intensified by grasping or rotating the wrist.
It tends to occur in new mothers, possibly due to fluid retention and repetitive lifting motions from baby care. Musicians, golfers, and workers who repetitively grasp tools are also susceptible. Treatment typically starts with splinting and anti-inflammatory medications. If irritation persists, steroid injections may be attempted before considering surgery.
4. Wrist Fractures
Wrist fractures rank among the top 10 most common broken bones, with around 250,000 cases annually in America. Falling forward onto an outstretched hand usually causes these breaks, which most often occur in elderly patients past age 65. However, younger adults and athletes may also sustain this injury.
Three types account for most wrist fractures:
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Colles fractures: breaks near the wrist on the thumb side
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Smith fractures: breaks on the opposite wrist edge
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Barton fractures: cracks and dislocation where the wrist meets the forearm
Treatment depends on fracture complexity but often involves casts or splints for 6-8 weeks until the bones mend, sometimes preceded by manipulation or surgery for significant displacement. Hand therapy is then needed to recover strength and flexibility.
5. Finger Sprains and Dislocations
As arguably our most critical digits for fine motor skills, finger injuries can greatly debilitate normal hand function. These insults to the joint capsule ligaments often result from sudden forceful impacts to the fingers, like when they are bent backward. Sports mishaps and falls create common culprits.
Dislocated fingers are one of the most common sports injuries; basketball, football, rugby, hockey, soccer, and volleyball carry high risks. Fingers can dislocate in several directions depending on the forces involved. Without prompt relocation, permanent stiffness or arthritis often develops over time.
Treatment starts with buddy-taping the injured finger to an adjacent one and applying ice packs. Depending on the severity, a doctor may need to reduce the joint to realign bones. Splints are then worn for several weeks until ligaments heal, followed by hand therapy to increase stability and movement. Regenerative treatments such as PRP therapy may support hastening recovery.
While injuries and overuse issues in our incredibly intricate hands may seem inevitable, knowing what causes them points us to prevention opportunities. Adapting equipment and techniques for repetitive tasks, exercise-based conditioning programs, anti-inflammatory diet strategies, braces, and ergonomic improvements can all help stave off damage.
But if you develop persistent symptoms like pain, swelling, numbness, or reduced range of motion in your wrists or hands, make sure to see your doctor or visit a regenerative medicine clinic. Getting an accurate diagnosis is critical for proper, prompt treatment so normal function can be restored as soon as possible.
Emerging regenerative therapies, such as platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections, stem cell therapy, and exosome therapy, show great promise for treating tricky musculoskeletal conditions involving inflammation, damage, and arthritic changes. By precisely delivering healing factors to injured areas, they may significantly enhance repair and regeneration.
Though still considered experimental, regenerative treatments provide new options beyond pain management or surgery for many cases of debilitating wrist and hand injuries or degeneration. Call STEMS Health in South Florida to learn if you may benefit from these innovative approaches.
