WRIST, HAND AND FINGER PAIN
If you are suffering from pain in the wrist, or in your hand and fingers, this pain can be very incapacitating and prevents you from doing your usual activities. If you have had this pain for a while and can't remember exactly when it started because it is not associated with an injury, the most likely causes are as follows:
Carpal tunnel syndrome, where the median nerve which supplies your thumb and first two fingers is squeezed in the wrist, usually by arthritis. If you suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome, you will initially have tingling and burning in your thumb and first two fingers, when you're using your hands or at night, later you might lose your grip strength.
Tendonitis: there are many tendons traveling through the wrist to the hand, and those that are most commonly affected with tendonitis are the flexor and extensor carpi ulnaris. They Flex and extend the wrist and tilt it inwards. The flexor and extensor carpi radialis flex and extend the wrist and tilt it outwards. The common ligament of the extensor pollicis brevis extends the thumb and the abductor pollicis longus, moves the thumb away from the hand (as when you are using scissors).
Because people are constantly using their wrists and hands these types of tendinitis are fairly common, as is osteoarthritis of the wrists, hands and fingers.
Arthritis: Each hand has 27 bones, each one of these bones articulates with one to four others and you can get arthritis of any one of those articulations. There are many kinds of arthritis. They range from rheumatoid arthritis, lupus to gouty arthritis, but the commonest form of arthritis is osteoarthritis, wear and tear arthritis. To find out the details of the causes of and treatments for osteoarthritis go to the osteoarthritis section.
Nerve pain: Injury to the nerves that supply the skin of the wrist and hand will also cause pain in these areas. Pain due to loose ligaments or tendons or arthritis only comes when you move the ligaments or tendons or the joints. Nerve pain, on the other hand, can be severe and happen at any time even when you are not moving at all. If you press lightly on an area with nerve pain, the pain gets worse.
What can be done about these conditions?
Carpal tunnel syndrome can be caused by systemic illnesses such as diabetes or hypothyroidism (where you're lacking in thyroid hormone), vitamin B 12 deficiency or rheumatoid arthritis. Your family doctor should be testing and treating you if you suffer from these conditions. If you do not, you can be treated with wrist splints which you will wear at night or whenever you are likely to use your wrist a lot. Steroid injections in the carpal tunnel may reduce the inflammation and swelling thereby reducing the pressure on the median nerve. Often carpal tunnel syndrome needs to be treated by surgically severing the flexor retinaculum tendon thus opening up the roof of the carpal tunnel and freeing the median nerve. If osteoarthritis is contributing to the problem, prolotherapy can be used to help relieve it.
Tendonitis: because it is caused by overuse and excessive strain on the wrist tendons, the first thing to do is to change your activities: avoid activities which cause the pain. This is easier said than done if these activities are part of your work.
Use a wrist splint because it supports your wrist, there will be less strain on the involved tendons.
Acetaminophen, Tylenol, which has a mild anti-inflammatory effect, and anti-inflammatory medications such as aspirin, ibuprofen, Advil, Motrin have, until now, been the mainstay of treatment to relieve elbow pain. They all relieve the symptoms that occur with overstretched and worn ligaments and tendons. They are work by relieving inflammation which is a cause of pain. Unfortunately, inflammation is the mechanism the body uses to repair itself, and using these medications interferes with the process which would help regrow the affected ligaments and tendons. Anti-Inflammatory References
People who are suffering from De Quervain’s tenosynovitis (irritation of the common tendon sheath of the extensor pollicis brevis and abductor pollicis longus) are often given cortisone shots. At times there is loss of tissue in the area where the steroids have been injected. Steroid references.
Can prolotherapy help with the treatment of tendinitis?
Prolotherapy, a series of injections of growth promoting substances in and around the joint has been shown to stimulate the growth of tendons. It can help rebuild damaged tendons, it is very effective in treating tendinitis of the wrist. To learn more, see
Osteoarthritis of the wrist, hand and fingers has been treated very successfully with prolotherapy. In the following article, those treated with prolotherapy had improved flexion of their fingers and less pain with movement. One year later, there was less excessive bone growth in the joint and more cartilage seen on x-ray. For more information, go to the Osteoarthritis section
Reeves KD, Hasseinein K. Randomized prospective placebo-controlled double-blind study of dextrose prolotherapy for osteoarthritic thumb and finger(DIP PIP and trapezio- metacarpal joints): evidence of clinical efficacy. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 6, 311-320
Can neural prolotherapy help the pain in your wrists or your hands?
Neural prolotherapy is likely to help if your pain is coming from the nerves that supply your skin Nerve pain can be severe even when you are resting and can be made worse by pressing lightly on the affected areas. Many people suffering from wrist, hand, or finger pain have been successfully treated with neural prolotherapy. Because this treatment is very safe, it is worth trying at least once, particularly if your pain has not been helped by other treatments. See A new treatment for chronic pain and Frequently asked questions about prolotherapy and neural prolotherapy. For more information, go to www.painrelief.be
Click here for more information on what prolotherapy is, how prolotherapy works, what conditions respond to it when should you avoid it what are the risks what are the benefits how long does it last how much does it cost a new treatment for chronic pain frequently asked questions about prolotherapy and neural prolotherapy www.painrelief.be the prolotherapy consent form who is Dr. Bertrand as well as testimonials and how to get to Dr. Bertrand's office.