Wrist Pain Coventry & Birmingham

Wrist pain can occur for a number of different reasons. These include, wrist fractures sprains and carpal tunnel syndrome; diagnosing the problem can sometimes be difficult, so here is some information on how to analyse your wrist pain.

You may suffer from wrist pain after a fall, and you may find yourself to be bruised and sore. Sometimes, a fracture may be misdiagnosed as a bad sprain (an injury to the ligaments), and the pain, limited movement, and weak hand grasp in the affected arm is ignored. Your wrist is probably fractured rather than sprained if you have:

• persistent pain
• swelling near the wrist
• changes in finger movement
• numbness

Usually, an X-ray can confirm the diagnosis. Once the fracture is diagnosed, appropriate treatment begins.

A fractured wrist may also be a sign of underlying problems such as:

• low bone density
• poor balance
• vision/hearing problems
• Wrist Sprains

Wrist sprains occur when the wrist is forcefully bent backwards, tearing the ligament that connects the bones of the wrist. Symptoms include wrist pain with motion, swelling, bruising, and tenderness over the injury site. X-rays should be taken to rule out a fracture. In some cases, an MRI or CT scan is done to determine the extent of the ligament injury.

Treatment includes splinting, ice, and rest. Prevention includes being careful on wet floors that may cause slipping.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

A research review published in The Lancet, for Cold or Low Level Laser therapy for neck pain. Also included; the successful management of "Repetitive stress injury" or "Carpal tunnel syndrome" by a new treatment modality- application of Cold or low level lasers, for pain relief and healing.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome affects the wrists, an injury that can prevent people from working, and making the wrists and hands very painful. This is a wrist condition that can result in chronic wrist and hand pain.

Carpal: Across the back of the wrist, eight small irregular bones (called carpals) are aligned in 2 rows forming a letter "C." There is a tough ligament attaching across the inner side of the wrist. Thus forming the Carpal Tunnel.

Tunnel: An opening through which something passes through. Nine tendons of the muscles of the forearm that move the fingers along with the soft median nerve pass through this narrow tunnel. This tunnel is about the size of your little finger.

In carpal tunnel syndrome the median nerve becomes compressed, irritated or swollen, resulting in pain.

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a condition in which the median nerve becomes irritated and swells.

During the swelling the pressure in the canal increases leading to further irritation and compression of the nerve. This leads to more swelling and nerve irritation.

What are Carpal Tunnel Syndrome symptoms?

Typical symptoms of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome include parenthesis (abnormal sensations) such as tingling and numbness in the thumb and index and middle fingers on the palm side, night pain, weakness in grasping, thumb and index finger pinching, and other thumb movements' clumsiness, such as awkward hand movements and dropping things with increased weakness.

Can Surgery Effectively Treat Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?

The failure rate for carpal tunnel surgery is more than 65%. Surgical procedures have been developed over the years to "release" the pressure on the nerves at the carpal tunnel by permanently severing the ligament that holds the tunnel together. Unfortunately, these procedures are rarely successful over the long term and almost never address the cause of the nerve irritation. the failure rate for carpal tunnel surgery is more than 65%, Common sense would tell us that it is unlikely that the carpal tunnel would simply "shrink" without warning. Therefore, increasing the size of the tunnel will only provide temporary benefit especially if the tendons within the tunnel continue to thicken. Also, post-surgical scar tissue can also interfere with proper wrist and nerve function contributing to more pressure on the nerve.

Treatments available for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Before commencing the treatment patient should be evaluated for the cause of the nerve swelling. Some systemic conditions such as under active thyroid can lead to the swelling of the tendons, thus putting pressure onto the median nerve.

Patients should also be evaluated for possible compression of the nerves at the neck, shoulder and elbow levels that can also present itself as a pain and weakness in the wrist.

In majority of cases of wrist and hand pain and weakness the primarily cause is compression of the nerve root at the neck level that forms nerves of the arm and hand. That's why some patients still experience symptoms of carpal tunnel even after the surgery or cortisone injections were performed.

Cold or low level laser therapy applied over the carpal tunnel has proven to be very effective in reduction of swelling and pain management. Please contact us if you require further information.

Low Level Laser Research for Carpal Tunnel

Successful management of "Repetitive stress injury" (RSI) (also known as repetitive stress injury, repetitive motion injuries, repetitive motion disorder (RMD), cumulative trauma or "Carpal tunnel syndrome" by a new treatment modality- application of Cold or low level lasers for pain Relief.

E. Wong G LEE J. Zu CHERMAN and D. P. MASON

Western Heart Institute and St. Mary's Spine Center St. Mary's Medical Center. San Francisco. CA. USA and Head and Neck Pain Center, Honolulu HL. USA

Abstract

Female office workers with desk jobs who are incapacitated by pain and tingling in the hands and fingers are often diagnosed by physicians as "repetitive stress injury'' (RSI) or "Carpal tunnel syndrome'' (CTS). These patients usually have poor posture with their head and neck stooped forward and shoulders rounded; upon palpation. They have pain and tenderness at the spinous processes C5 - T1 and the medial angle of the scapula. In 35 such patients we focused the treatment primarily at the posterior neck area and not the wrists and hands. A low level laser (100 mW) was used and directed at the tips of the spinous processes C5 - Tl.

The laser rapidly alleviated the pain and tingling in the arms, hands and fingers, and diminished tenderness at the involved spinous processes. Thereby, it has become apparent that many patients labelled as having RSI or CTS have predominantly cervical radicular dysfunction resulting in pain to the upper extremities which can be managed by low level laser.

Successful long-term management involves treating the soft tissue lesions in the neck combined with correcting the abnormal head, neck and shoulder posture by taping. Cervical collars, and clavicle harnesses as well as improved work ergonomics.

LASER THERAPY, 1997:9: 131- 136 09/97 © 1997 by LT Publishers, U.K., Ltd.

Carpal Tunnel Study Results Released

A physician at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School is evaluating a "cold" laser to treat patients with carpal tunnel syndrome, a debilitating nerve condition that causes severe pain and numbness in the hand.

Clinical results of a double-blind study of 11 patients afflicted with carpal tunnel syndrome who were treated with a diode-laser device manufactured by Lasermedics (Missouri City, TX) showed that after six to 15 treatments, nine of the 11 patients experienced relief of pain and other associated symptoms as well as normalization of abnormal latencies.

The study was conducted by Michael L. Weintraub, a neurologist from Briarcliff, NY, and reported in the February 1996 issue of Neurology.

The patients all used a 30mW 830nm, a hand-held, battery-operated, nonsurgical laser device that employs the process of photo-biostimulation.

Dr. Weintraub concluded that the results of his study support the efficacy and safety of laser-light treatment in carpal tunnel syndrome.

View our Cold/Low Level Laser Therapy Section listed under pain relief