Wrist Pain

Center for Orthopaedics

Orthopaedic Surgeons located in Lake Charles, LA & Moss Bluff, LA

Wrist pain is a common orthopedic complaint and is often related to trauma or wear-and-tear. The premier orthopedic medicine specialists at the Center for Orthopedics provide customized treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome, sprains, fractures, and other hand and wrist problems. Call the office in Lake Charles, Louisiana, now or schedule an appointment online.

Wrist Pain Q & A

What is wrist pain?

Wrist pain is discomfort within the joints that connect your hand to your arm. This pain can show up exclusively in the wrist but often extends to the hand or arm. If your wrist joints or the surrounding tissues are diseased or damaged, it can cause significant pain.

What causes wrist pain?

Several conditions cause wrist pain, including:

Carpal tunnel syndrome
Osteoporosis
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA)
Osteoarthritis
Fractures
Sprains and strains
Ganglion cysts
De Quervain’s disease
Tendinitis
Bursitis

Sports injuries and other trauma are common causes of wrist pain, but wear-and-tear causes like carpal tunnel syndrome are equally common.

When should I seek medical care for wrist pain?

Wrist pain can improve with conservative home treatments like rest, ice, and elevation, and nonprescription anti-inflammatory medication (aspirin, ibuprofen [Motrin®, Advil®], naproxen sodium [Naprosyn®, Aleve®]). If your wrist pain continues for longer than a few days or grows more severe, reach out to the Center for Orthopaedics to schedule an appointment.

How is wrist pain diagnosed?

The Center for Orthopaedics team finds the underlying cause of your wrist pain using an exam, medical history review, and wrist function tests. The team might also order imaging tests like X-rays, an MRI, or a CT scan to evaluate your wrist tendons, ligaments, and bones in detail.

If the team suspects nerve damage in your wrist, you’re likely to need a test to evaluate the electrical impulses in your wrist muscles. In some cases, you’ll need blood tests as well.

What does wrist pain treatment involve?

How wrist pain is treated depends on how severe it is and whether it disrupts your life. The Center for Orthopaedics team might recommend OrthoExpress for acute wrist injuries. OrthoExpress care offers fracture, sprain, and other traumatic injury care within 24 hours or less.

The Center for Orthopaedics team recommends a conservative treatment approach for many chronic and acute wrist injuries, including physical medicine and rehab services. This approach focuses on non-surgical treatments like physical therapy, prescribed exercises, massage therapy, bracing, and splinting.

If conservative treatments don’t provide relief, the team could recommend steroid or anesthetic injections or regenerative medicine treatments.

In the most severe cases of treatment-resistant wrist pain, the Center for Orthopaedics team will recommend surgery like carpal tunnel release. Their experienced orthopedic surgeons use advanced minimally invasive techniques to get excellent results with little or no downtime.

If you suffer from acute or chronic wrist pain, make an appointment now at the Center for Orthopaedics online or by phone.

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