What is Wrist Tendinitis, and how You can Manage it?
What is wrist tendinitis?
Wrist tendinitis is a wrist injury resulting from the inflammation of the wrist tendons – thick and tough tissues that connect your forearm to the hand or wrist bones. There are almost six tendons present in the wrist, helping you control the movements in your wrist, hands, and fingers. Overuse of any of these tendons or sustaining wrist injuries, like a wrist sprain, can irritate or make them inflamed, resulting in wrist tendinitis.
Wrist tendinitis can be divided into different forms, depending upon the conditions or symptoms. However, the most common form of wrist tendinitis is de Quervain’s tendinitis. The condition affects the tendons near your thumb. As well as this, ulnar tendinitis is also common which develops from the irritation of the tendons in the hands near your little or pinky finger. Causes of developing wrist tendinitis may be different, depending upon your activities and the environment where you live.
This article is a detailed account of the common causes and symptoms of wrist tendinitis. However, we also come up with possible treatment plans that will help you manage the symptoms of wrist tendinitis. Furthermore, our discussion ends with ideas on how one can prevent the chances of developing wrist tendinitis. So, let’s begin our discussion here;
What causes tendinitis in the wrist?
Any activity that put repetitive stress on your wrist can cause wrist tendinitis. The wrist tendons are surrounded by a tendon sheath – a layer of lubricated tissues. Overusing the wrist can irritate this sheath, resulting in enlargement and inflammation of tendons. The condition makes your tendons difficult to glide smoothly through the sheath. Consequently, tendons are compressed making your wrist and finger movements painful.
People involved in activities requiring repetitive wrist motions, such as sportspeople, writers, painters, hairdressers, and others can put excessive stress on their wrists. Thus, they are at a high risk of developing wrist tendinitis. The following are other risk factors contributing to the development of wrist tendinitis:
- People older than 40
- Having a history of tendon injuries
- Suffering from certain health conditions, including arthritis, gout, and diabetes
- Suffering from some infectious diseases
- Bad posture during sports and other occupational activities
- Poor conditioning of your wrist before learning new activities
- Ignoring pain or other discomforts in your wrists
What does wrist tendinitis feel like?
Pain is the basic symptom associated with wrist tendinitis. The pain may be dull and can be worsening with movements of your wrists or hands. Other possible symptoms associated with wrist tendinitis are as follows:
- Swelling around your wrist joint – especially on the thumb base
- Popping sensation or stiffness when moving your hand or fingers
- Difficulty performing certain movements or lifting objects
How to diagnose wrist tendinitis?
At the initial stages of diagnosis, healthcare professionals get the medical history and perform physical check-ups to check the range of motion. For more severe conditions, they may suggest radiological tests. X-ray, MRI, and ultrasound are considered the best radiological tests to diagnose the causes more accurately. Depending upon your condition, your healthcare professionals will suggest any of the suitable tests.
This is how you can manage wrist tendinitis
Wrist tendinitis is a curable disease or injury. Healthcare professionals follow different treatment plans or methods, depending upon your conditions. Both nonsurgical and surgical treatments are followed to get rid of the symptoms of wrist tendinitis:
Nonsurgical treatments for wrist tendinitis
The following are considered the best non-surgical treatments to deal with the mild to moderate symptoms of wrist tendinitis:
- Rest: Whenever you feel pain in your wrist or when wrist tendinitis is diagnosed, you must provide your wrist with complete rest. This will help you reduce the chances of further injuries.
- Icing: Healthcare professionals also suggest putting or applying ice on the injured areas as it helps reduce swelling. However, you must ensure that you apply ice in the right way. Avoid applying direct ice to the skin and you must use ice bags instead.
- Immobilisation/bracing: Immobilisation helps avoid unnecessary movements of your wrist. As well as this, it helps provide your injured area with needed compression and support, speeding up recovery following an injury. So, it is advised to wear the best wrist support braces for wrist tendinitis to protect your wrist and speed up recovery. Ensure that you wear the right braces according to your needs. For this purpose, you can take advice from your healthcare advisors.
- Oral medications: Your healthcare professional may also suggest taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. They will help reduce pain, swelling, and other discomforts. Ensure that you take the right drugs under the prescribed amount to maximise the results.
- Physical therapy: Physical therapy is another best non-surgical treatment plan as it helps strengthen your wrist joints. If needed, you must consult professional physical therapists and follow their advice.
- Injections: In some conditions, healthcare professionals also suggest cortisone injections right into the inflamed areas. They help reduce swelling and pain.
Surgical treatments for wrist tendinitis
When the symptoms do not go away from the nonsurgical treatments or when the injury is severe, your healthcare professionals might suggest surgery. There are two main surgical approaches are used to deal with the severe conditions of wrist tendinitis and these are mentioned below:
- Your surgeons clean or remove the damaged tissues from the tendon sheath.
- They may also make small insertions in the tendon sheath, releasing your tendons. It provides tendons with more space or room to move normally.
Healthcare professionals suggest wearing wrist support braces following wrist surgery to promote healing. However, you must consult your surgeons or GP to know how long you should wear wrist support braces.
The possible ways to prevent wrist tendinitis
If you are a professional sportsperson or require repetitive movements of the wrist during your occupations, you may suffer from wrist tendinitis at one point or another. Although professional coaches and healthcare advisors suggest some preventative measures by following which you can avoid the chances of injuries:
- Warm-up: Never forget to warm up your body before every strenuous activity. This will help promote blood circulation and keep your wrists active, avoiding overuse injuries.
- Avoid overuse: Whether you are practising for your competition, working out at the gym, or using tools on your duty, always listen to your body. Avoid overusing and take frequent breaks. Putting excessive stress continuously will lead to the development of wrist tendinitis.
- Wear wrist braces: Wearing wrist braces protect your wrist by reducing the impact of repetitive strain or overuse. You must wear wrist support braces when necessary.
- Use the right equipment: Whether you are on the playing court or at your workplace, always use the right and proper-sized equipment to avoid wrist tendinitis and other problems.
- Learn proper techniques: Several sports require repetitive wrist movements to perform well. Several techniques, for example, swinging techniques in golf or forehand groundstrokes can cause wrist injuries. You need to learn all the required techniques properly to get an injury-free experience.
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