Hand and wrist pain can be incredibly debilitating, affecting your ability to perform various day to day functions like carrying your kids, typing, cooking, drawing, or basically anything that involves using your hands.
Sometimes the causes and reasons for the pain are fairly evident, making it easier to target during professional hand therapy sessions – while at other times, the causes can be sudden, or go unidentified till professional intervention.
Some of the most surprising, albeit familiar, causes of hand and wrist pain are:
1. Injuries, Trauma, Sprains
Some causes can be pretty evident, like injuries, sprains, and other types of trauma. Additionally, treatment, rest, healing, and strengthening exercises and therapy are critical factors in managing pain post-injury. Pressure, impact, and force can all cause sprains that lead to muscle and ligament damage.
These injuries are common in the aftermath of physical accidents and injuries, contact sports, gym or other workouts, or even hitting your thumb against a hard surface.
2. Overuse And Exertion
Sometimes, it’s not an immediate cause, but consistent, gradual use leads to problems. Overusing your hands and wrists is common to particular professions and lifestyle habits like frequent and continual computer use, heavy lifting, or even sports and athletic training.
Without adequate and appropriate rest and interventions, overuse strains your tendons, joints, muscles, and nerves, which become sore and tense. The resulting pain can be challenging to cope with, hindering your daily activity levels and productivity.
3. Trigger Fingers
Trigger finger is a term that refers to the swelling at the base of a particular finger or your thumb. The condition results in decreased mobility due to the pain and soreness, and moving the finger might not be possible.
Treatments may vary depending on the progression of the condition and how difficult it is to manage—but usually, it requires professional evaluation and recommendations.
4. Health Conditions
There are numerous health conditions, directly and indirectly, related to hand and wrist pain too. Some of them are temporary and go away with time, while others are chronic and require multiple interventions, treatments, and a combination of medical and therapeutic approaches.
The most common conditions to cause pain in various parts of the hand and arm, ranging from the shoulder to the fingers, include:
- Raynauds
- Osteoporosis
- Arthritis
- Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
- Cubital Tunnel Syndrome
With each of the cases above, it’s essential that you have your case addressed by a trained professional. Give us a call or drop by our center to meet with our team of certified hand therapists if you’re around Freehold, Edison, or Old Bridge, NJ. We also provide excellent wrist fractures treatment and have an exceptional team of occupational therapists in Edison, NJ.
We’d be happy to help you through our various evaluation and treatment modalities.
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