The anatomy of the wrist and hand is complex with 8 small carpal bones in the wrist joint held together by ligaments and 5 meta-carpal bones in the hand leading down to the fingers. The wrist joint and hand have multiple axes of movement to provide mobility for hand function.
Acute injuries to the hand and wrist joints occur mainly from falls on an outstretched hand i.e fracture or dislocation of the distal end of radius/scaphoid or ligament sprains/ or triangular fibro cartilage tears.
Sub acute and chronic wrist pain can be caused by an overuse condition i.e tenosynovitis or from an acute injury that has not been diagnosed or treated correctly. The location of the wrist pain helps to narrow down the diagnosis i.e front, back medial and lateral side of the hand/wrist. A thorough history of the onset of pain will provide important information to a previous acute injury. Factors that aggravate the pain provide useful information as to which structures are involved in chronic wrist pain. It is important to palpate the wrist to detect tenderness and to determine if the pathology appears to be soft tissue or articular (bone/joint).
Some Common Causes of Wrist & Hand Pain:
Bone or Joint Problem
What are the Signs & Symptoms?