Wrist and Hand Pain
Stevens Point Orthopedic's specialists and surgeons are experts at treating wrist and hand pain.The wrist and hand are complex structures consisting of numerous bones, the joints between them, the ligaments that keep them stable and the muscles that generate your strength and motion. You demand a lot of your wrist, hand, and fingers in a given day from getting ready in the morning, to feeding yourself or typing and writing. The muscles that move your fingers are within the hand and travel up into the wrist making a very complex network. Wrist and hand problems can be caused by overuse, traumatic injury, or changes that occur naturally in your body.
Suffering from wrist and hand pain? Contact us to learn about treatment options.
How Your Hand and Wrist Works
This structure can be broken down into three parts: the fingers, the hand, and the wrist. Each finger is made up of three bones, except our thumb, which has two bones. Five metacarpal bones make up the hand. The wrist consists of eight small bones collectively called the carpal bones. The forearm bones, radius and ulna connect to the carpals creating what we consider the true wrist joint.
The wrist has multiple ligaments, connecting each of the carpal bones to each other and to the forearm and fingers. Bones are connected to other bones by ligaments which help provide stability. There are many ligaments that go between each of the bones in the wrist and hand. An injury to any of these can cause pain and instability in the hand or wrist.
Within the hand, there are many muscles that help move each of the fingers. Some of these muscles have tendons that travel across the wrist and run through a bony tunnel called the carpal tunnel. This tunnel is covered by soft tissue which can trap inflammation over the tendons. Inflammation in this area can cause pain, weakness and even numbness in the hand and fingers.
Evaluating Hand and Wrist Pain
Evaluation for wrist, hand, and finger pain starts with you giving us a history of your problem: when and how it started, how it currently feels, and which treatments you have tried so far. We also ask you about other medical conditions that may contribute to your pain. We do a physical exam to test the structures of your wrist and hand. We also check your range of motion, strength, and do special tests that can uncover specific problems of your wrist or hand.
Based on the findings of your physical exam, we may recommend a cortisone injection as both a clinical test and treatment for your pain. The numbing medicine mixed in the injection helps us determine the source of your pain, whereas the cortisone medication of the injection can provide pain relief. Sometimes we order tests such as x-rays or MRIs to visualize your bones and soft tissues. X-rays can show us things like fractures, spurs, and changes from arthritis. MRIs can show us more detail of the bones, as well as soft tissue damage like tears of the ligaments or muscles.
Whatever the cause of your hand and wrist pain, we are dedicated to helping you find the best treatment. Request an appointment today.
Causes of Hand and Wrist Pain
- Arthritis
- Fractures
- Instability
- Weakness
- Inflammation
- Nerve Problems
- Less common causes– infection or tumors
Treating Hand and Wrist Pain
Treatment of wrist, hand, and finger pain is very specific to the diagnosis and severity of your symptoms.