You use your wrists to do many routine tasks every day, so when this joint hurts, it can make your day much more difficult. Wrist pain can slow down your typing and cause other work-related issues. It can also make it more painful to work out or play sports that you enjoy. If your wrist hurts when you bend it or put pressure on it, you might have one of three wrist problems.
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
Carpal tunnel syndrome is a wrist problem that can cause your wrist to hurt when it’s bent or placed under pressure. The carpal tunnel is a narrow passage through the wrist, and it’s through this passage that the median nerve enters your hand. The ligaments that help flex your fingers also run through the carpal tunnel. Repetitive workplace tasks like typing can irritate one or more of these ligaments, and this irritation can turn into inflammation. An inflamed ligament can rub against the median nerve. Bending the wrist or putting pressure on it can increase the likelihood of the ligament rubbing on this nerve, and this is why you may feel more pain when doing these actions.
- Osteoarthritis
Another issue that can cause your wrist to hurt when you bend it or put pressure on it is osteoarthritis. This type of arthritis typically comes from age-related wear and tear on cartilage in the wrist joint. The wearing can also be accelerated by wrist injuries you’ve had or by performing repetitive wrist movements frequently.
As the cartilage in the wrist wears away, it reduces the cushioning between the bones of your wrist. This is a problem because cartilage is what keeps wrist bones apart when you bend your wrist or place pressure on it. When the cartilage is worn away, these actions can cause wrist bones to rub together, leading to a lot of pain.
- Wrist sprain
Wrist sprains can also lead to pain when bending or putting pressure on the wrist. This type of injury is commonly caused by several factors. Impacts to the wrist while playing sports can be a factor that leads to a wrist sprain, and these impacts are more likely in high-contact sports like football and rugby. Falls are another factor that commonly cause wrist sprains. In both cases, the ligaments in your wrist could be sprained. Since these structures are used to bend your wrist, this type of movement can increase pain when the ligaments are injured. Placing pressure on the wrist also places more stress on the injured ligaments and can increase your pain.
Find help for pressure or movement-related wrist pain at Border Therapy Services
Are you looking for a treatment option that can help reduce pain from bending or placing pressure on your wrist? Border Therapy Services offers physical therapy that can help. Our team will do a free screening to find out the source of your pain. Then, we’ll build you an individualized therapy plan, and this plan may include helpful therapy techniques such as:
Don’t wait to get our help with your wrist pain. Contact our team today for more information or to schedule an initial appointment.