WRIST & HAND PAIN
Hand Pain
Find Relief For Your Wrist And Hand Pain
PHYSIOTHERAPY SERVICE IN BURLINGTON CAN PROVIDE RELIEF FROM WRIST AND HAND PAIN!
Do you find yourself unable to use your hands and do things that used to be easy? Are you experiencing pain and stiffness in your hands that seems impossible to get rid of? If pain in your hands is affecting your enjoyment of life and makes your routine very difficult to achieve. Our physiotherapists at Cogent Physical Rehabilitation Center can help you find relief for your hand pain.
We know that pain in the wrist and hand can negatively affect the enjoyment of life, lead to poor sleep and affect your vocation and recreation. More importantly, we can help you resolve your pain and get the relief you need!
Make an appointment today at our Burlington Physiotherapy Clinic to find the relief you have been looking for.
WHAT ARE THE CAUSES OF WRIST AND HAND PAIN?
The complexity of the anatomy of the wrist and hand allowing tactile feedback, dexterity and precision during fine motor tasks and performance of daily activities makes the human hand complex and unique. Wrist and hand injuries are very common and range from minor cuts and bruises to more severe injuries such as fractures, dislocations and tendon or nerve damage. They can result from various causes, including accidents at home, occupational hazards, sports and trauma. Some wrist and hand conditions are a direct consequence of the ageing process.
de Quervain's Tenosynovitis
Thumb Base Osteoarthritis
Triangular Fibrocartilage Complex (TFCC)
Ulna Collateral Ligament (UCL) Injury
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Scaphoid Fracture
Hook of Hamate Fracture
Distal Radius Fracture
Metacarpal fractures
Flexor Tendon Injuries
Extensor Tendon Injuries
The most common tendinopathy in the wrist is de Quervain’s tenosynovitis. Repetitive thumb extension and abduction can lead to a thickening of the tendons producing he actions as they pass under the first extensor compartment retinaculum. Tenderness to palpation is approximately 2 cm proximal to the radial styloid and worsened by tucking the thumb under the other fingers while moving the wrist in the direction of the little finger.
The base of the thumb osteoarthritis (TBOA) at the carpometacarpal joint is the most common site of hand osteoarthritis, affecting the non-dominant hand first because of the biomechanics of power pinch. The thumb plays an important part in the positioning of the hand in space to allow important activities of daily living. It is integral to fine motor activities such as pinch, key and chuck grips as well as having an important role in power grips. TBOA is more common in post-menopausal women. Symptoms includes pain at the base of the thumb, stiffness and reduced movement, weakness of pinch and grip and instability that varies in severity and duration. Function is affected variably in different individuals and can range from constant pain and disability to an occasional inconvenience with certain activities. Activities involving repetitive or strong gripping or pinching actions tend to worsen symptoms of TBOA.
The TFCC is a soft tissue complex that supports the distal radioulnar joint. It also acts as a load-bearing structure of the carpus (hand bones) on the distal ulna. Tears of the TFCC can occur with hyperextension and pronation of the axially loaded, ulnar deviated wrist. However, micro- or repetitive trauma can cause peripheral tears to the TFCC with rapid supination-pronation of the wrist deviated towards the little finger as seen with swinging a baseball bat. Deep aching pain with gripping, and occasional symptoms of clicking with pronation (turn palm-down) and supination (turn palm-up) can be experienced.
Injury to the UCL at the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joint is very common. UCL injuries commonly occur in individuals participating in sports that involve overhead throwing, such as baseball, javelin, and volleyball. The ligament is injured by valgus/abduction forces to the thumb, such as being hit by a ball or falling onto the thumb, especially when holding a tennis racquet or the stock when skiing. Patients with an acute UCL injury often report the sensation of a pop followed by the immediate onset of pain and bruising around the inside of the elbow. Patients with ligament strains will report pain and difficulties with pinch grip activities such as turning a key and squeezing a peg.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) is the most frequently occurring peripheral nerve entrapment syndrome encountered in the hand and wrist. It is defined as a compression of the median nerve at the level of the wrist joint associated with decreased function of the nerve at that level. CTS affects 7–16% of the adult population and accounts for about 90% of all nerve compression syndromes. CTS is generally reported to be more common in females and increases with age with higher occurrence between ages 45 and 64 years.
The origin of CTS can be related to work, lifestyle, injury, or genetics. Repetitive exposure to vibrations or forceful angular motions are thought to be the most common causes of CTS. Specific diseases, such as diabetes, pregnancy and morbid obesity may also be associated with an increased risk for the development of CTS. CTS is seen with increased frequency in females and the elderly population and largely suspected when patients present with typical symptoms such as numbness, tingling, nocturnal paresthesia and/or neuritic “pins-and-needles” pain in the radial three and a half digits.
Scaphoid fractures are the most commonly injured bone in the wrist and hand. This hyperextension injury tends to occur in a pronated, radially deviated hand. Presentation can range from disabling wrist and hand pain to mild swelling and reduced range of motion. It is common to find a scaphoid nonunion with a remote history of a wrist sprain. Patients will complain of radial-sided wrist pain with typical tenderness in the anatomical snuff box, axial loading of the thumb, or pincer (bringing the thumb and index finger together) grasp.
Hook of hamate fracture are rare and underreported. These injuries are often misdiagnosed or confused with simple wrist sprains. The most frequent causes are sports that require a strong grip such as golf, baseball, and tennis. Repeated micro-trauma of the hypothenar eminence induced by the end of the racquet, club, or bath as been thought to be the cause of these fractures. Several factors cause hook of the hamate fractures, including blunt trauma, repetitive microtrauma, and avulsion injury. Also, fall on an outstretched hand, motor vehicle collision, and direct strike from a projectile such as a baseball are common causes of acute traumatic hook of hamate fracture. Gripping-related acute trauma to the hook when holding a bat, racket, golf club, or bicycle handle is an additional common cause. The relative rarity of injury pattern, lack of specific symptoms, and complex hand anatomy can make it common to miss this fracture.
Distal radius fractures (DRF) are the second most common fracture and usually occur due to a FOOSH (Fall On Out Stretched Hand), with the wrist in dorsiflexion. There are three main types of DRF including Colle's fracture (dinner fork deformity), Smith's fracture (garden spade deformity) and Barton's fracture. The incidence of DRF in older patients correlates with osteopenia, and older patients with previous DRF are more likely to sustain an osteoporotic fracture at other sites of the body. Low energy injuries or falls are more often seen in older patients and usually result in mildly displaced fractures not involving the joint. Whereas high energy injuries are more common in younger patients and usually lead to comminuted and displaced fractures involving the joint.
Fractures of the metacarpals are very common. The two most common mechanisms of injury include accidental fall and direct blow to the hand. Metacarpal fractures make up 12% to 33% of all forearm and/or hand fractures finding that 19 % of all fracture visits included hand fractures, with 33 % of these being fractures of metacarpal bones. Males aged 10 to 29 years have the highest incidence of metacarpal fractures. They often occur following bicycle accidents across affected individuals and accidental fall was the mechanism of injury in persons younger than 9 years or older than 50 years.
Flexor (palm) tendons are cord-like structures running from the forearm across the wrist and palm and into the fingers, allowing you to bend your fingers and thumb to grasp an object or make a fist. Injuries to the flexor tendons can lead to the ability to bend one or more of the joints in your hand. Flexor tendon injuries usually occur from a cut on the palm side of your fingers, hand, wrist, or forearm. Flexor tendons can also be injured when a finger or thumb is violently pulled away from you while you are attempting to grasp something, such as the jersey of an opposing player in sports. While an open cut may cause a tendon laceration, a sudden and forceful pull against the tendon may cause a tendon rupture.
Flexor tendon injuries have the highest incidence in persons aged 20 to 29 years and in females. Work-related injuries account for ~25% of acute traumatic flexor tendon injuries, most commonly in construction and extraction (44%), food preparation and serving (14%), and transportation and material moving (12%) occupations.
Extensor (back of the hand) tendon injuries are more frequent than flexor tendon injuries and are very common (61%) because they are not protected like the flexor tendons in the palm. Extensor tendon injuries can cause serious functional limitations. Extensor tendon injuries are commonly encountered with disproportionate representation in young, otherwise healthy males. Injury mechanisms include hyperflexion, direct blunt trauma and penetrating trauma. Blunt trauma and hyperflexion trauma often cause a closed injury, one that is commonly encountered in athletes. Penetrating injuries have a comparatively higher incidence than blunt ones.
Are You Searching For Wrist & Hand Pain Relief in Burlington?
If you are living with pain in your wrist or hand while recovering from an injury, our physiotherapists can help you regain and maintain your function. Physiotherapists offer safe and effective treatment methods for managing pain and weakness that accompany many hand and wrist conditions.
At Cogent Physical Rehabilitation Center, our physiotherapists will help to coordinate edema control; pain management; reducing joint contractures; increasing tendon gliding, strengthening, and work hardening; counseling; and ongoing diagnostic evaluation of your hand condition. We also use modalities used to manage hand injuries including ultrasound, splinting, cryotherapy, various electrical modalities, phonophoresis, and iontophoresis for hand pain relief.
REQUEST AN APPOINTMENT WITH OUR PHYSIOTHERAPY CLINIC IN BURLINGTON FOR HAND PAIN RELIEF TODAY
If hand pain is affecting your quality of life, please contact Cogent Physical Rehabilitation Center as soon as possible. We'd be delighted to schedule an appointment for you at Cogent Rehab facility. We're excited to assist you in reclaiming the active, healthy lifestyle you deserve!
Request an appointment with a physiotherapist in Burlington to begin your journey towards full wrist and hand pain relief!
Visit Our Burlington Physiotherapy Clinic For Relief From Pain In Your Wrist and Hand!
Your Next Steps...
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Request An Appointment
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Receive A Personalized Treatment Plan
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Work Hard And Progress In Your Recovery
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Recover & Enjoy Life As You Should