Wrist pain

Wrists are strong, but falls and everyday use can injure them. Wrist pain may require only rest or physical therapy to heal, but sometimes you might need surgery or other advanced care. Aurora Health Care’s orthopedic team offers treatments for any type of wrist pain.

Expert wrist pain diagnosis & care

Our orthopedic team has specialized expertise in treating wrist pain, including:

• Expert orthopedists: Many of our orthopedic surgeons are fellowship-trained in hand surgery. These doctors have pursued additional training after medical school, focusing on the delicate tendons, joints and muscles of the wrist and hand. Along with their expert knowledge, they're able to offer complex treatments such as minimally invasive surgery, joint fusion and reconstruction to stabilize the wrist.
• Hand therapy: Some of our physical therapists and occupational therapists have earned hand therapy certification after thousands of hours of study and practice in treating the hand, wrist and arm. These hand therapists can help relieve your wrist pain so you can use your hands and wrists comfortably again.
• Noninvasive treatment options: Our occupational therapists and hand therapists offer wrist pain treatments, including bracing and physical therapy.
• Wrist and hand care in convenient locations: The Aurora Hand Service Program provides specialized care for conditions affecting your hands and arms, including your wrists. This surgical and nonsurgical care is available to you in locations throughout eastern Wisconsin.

Risk factors for wrist pain

Anyone can have wrist pain, but it’s more likely to occur in people who:

• Play sports that require frequent wrist extension – bicycling, tennis, baseball, softball (especially catchers) or bowling.
• Perform repetitive movements, like using a computer, working with tools, knitting or cutting hair.
• Have osteoporosis, a condition that makes bones more brittle and increases the likelihood of a wrist fracture, causing significant pain in wrists.
• Have arthritis, which causes inflammation and tenderness in joints like the wrist.
• Are pregnant – pregnancy increases the likelihood of temporarily having pain in your wrists because of fluid build-up.

Conditions and causes of wrist pain

The wrist joint includes eight small bones connected with ligaments and tendons (bands of tissue). Three large nerves pass through the wrist to the hands, allowing your hands to touch, feel, move and communicate with your brain. When any of those parts are injured or stressed, you may experience pain in the wrist.

Wrist pain is very common. Sometimes it comes and goes without an obvious cause. If pain continues, though, it could be caused by:

Wrist injuries

Wrist fracture

You’ll feel wrist pain if you have a fracture from impact that breaks the bones of the wrist. This can occur from a fall, accident, or sports injury.

Wrist sprain

A wrist sprain is an injury to the ligaments in the wrist from an impact, such as falling onto an outstretched hand. Other traumas – such as sports injuries or overuse – can cause sprains or ligament tears that can cause wrist pain.

Repetitive wrist stress

Repetitive movements, like typing or using tools, may compress the nerves in the wrist and cause wrist pain.

Arthritis of the wrist

Joint inflammation, stiffness and pain, including pain in the wrist, may be caused by arthritis. The wrist is one of the areas arthritis affects most often. There are different types of arthritis that may cause wrist pain, including:

Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is a type of arthritis caused by the breakdown or loss of cartilage in your joints. When the cartilage breaks down and wears away in your wrist, the bones under the cartilage can rub together and cause wrist pain.

Rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis is a common autoimmune disease where the body's immune system mistakes healthy cells in your joints as foreign invaders, causing inflammation and often resulting in wrist joint pain. This immune response leads to inflammation in the joints.

Psoriatic arthritis

Psoriatic arthritis is a type of arthritis that includes a skin rash. In some people, psoriatic arthritis affects joints in the wrist, causing swelling, pain, and stiffness.

Wrist bursitis

Wrist bursitis is inflammation of the small sacs of fluid between the bone, muscle, skin, and tendons in the wrist that lubricate the joint. Bursitis can be caused by impact but is most often the result of frequent friction or overuse of the joint, leading to potential wrist joint pain.

Carpal tunnel syndrome

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a common cause of wrist pain. Nerves travel to the hands through a passageway in the wrists called the carpal tunnel. Repetitive movements, like typing or using tools, may compress this tunnel and create pain in the wrist.

De Quervain's tenosynovitis

De Quervain's tenosynovitis causes inflammation of the thumb tendons, which in turn can cause wrist pain. Doctors sometimes call this condition thumb tendonitis or “mommy thumb."

Ganglion cysts

Gout

While rare, gout can cause excruciating pain in the wrist. Gout is a form of arthritis where uric acid crystals form in the joint and cause pain, typically in the big toe.

Neuropathy

Neuropathy is a broad term used to refer to nerve damage or disrupted nerve pathways that transmit messages between the body and brain. It can cause wrist pain or tingling in the wrist or hands.

Kienbock disease

Kienbock disease is a condition where one of the small bones in the wrist loses blood supply. Bone tissues need a regular supply of blood. If the supply is interrupted, it can cause parts of the bone to die. leading to wrist pain.

Unusual and rare causes of wrist pain

The following conditions can cause wrist pain:

• Infection
• Tumor
• Lupus
• Avascular necrosis
• Cervical nerve compression

Diagnosing wrist pain

Our doctors may be able to diagnose wrist pain based on an examination and simple in-office tests. In some cases, they may use testing like:

• Imaging: X-rays can reveal bone fractures, while magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans can show other structural issues inside your wrist. Both can help your doctor pinpoint the source of wrist pain.
• Blood tests: Your doctor may order blood tests to get more information about swelling or ongoing pain, especially if you're experiencing symptoms such as wrist joint pain. Blood tests can help with the diagnosis of conditions like rheumatoid arthritis (rheumatoid pannus) and gout.
• Exploratory arthroscopy: Sometimes, minimally invasive surgery using small incisions (called portals) can help your doctor diagnose the cause of chronic wrist pain.

Treatments for wrist pain

Often, wrist pain improves with remedies like rest, ice and changes in activities. But if these kinds of self care aren’t working, we may recommend:

• Bracing or splints: Wrist splints or wrist braces help immobilize and support your wrist while it heals, potentially providing relief from wrist joint pain. Your doctor might recommend you use a splint for a week or two and then return for further examination.
• Physical therapy: Physical and occupational therapy may be used as standalone treatments or as treatments after wrist surgery. With therapy, you can learn more comfortable ways to use your wrists or get help with your recovery.
• Guided injections: For pain in wrists, orthopedists use injections to administer inflammation-reducing medication directly into the joint. Some injections use ultrasound imaging (using sound waves) or fluoroscopy (injecting a dye agent to more clearly show the joint) for precise delivery.
• Minimally invasive surgery: Minimally invasive arthroscopic surgery lets a surgeon repair the wrist through small incisions using tiny surgical tools. When surgery is needed, our doctors use arthroscopic techniques whenever possible to repair carpal tunnel syndrome, remove ganglion cysts, repair ligament tears and alleviate pain in wrists.
• Fusions and reconstructions: If you have advanced wrist pain from arthritis or trauma, our specialty-trained hand and wrist surgeons offer surgical fusion and reconstruction. These surgeries use metal plates and bone grafts from other parts of your body to stabilize the tiny bones of the wrist and relieve pain. Learn more about our treatments for elbow, wrist and hand pain.