Wrist Stiffness

Wrist stiffness is a condition characterized by reduced flexibility, discomfort, or difficulty in moving the wrist joint. It can result from various causes, including injury, overuse, inflammation, or underlying medical conditions affecting the bones, ligaments, or tendons in the wrist.

Symptoms of wrist stiffness: Some people may develop the following symptoms:

• Stiffness: A person may feel this through their wrist and potentially in their fingers.
• Trouble gripping objects: Wrist pain may make grasping or holding on to objects difficult or uncomfortable.
• A clicking sound when moving the wrist: This can be more severe after periods of rest.

Causes of wrist stiffness: Injuries and health conditions that affect the bones and tissue in your wrist are the most common causes of wrist stiffness.

Injuries that cause wrist stiffness: Any physical damage to your wrist can cause pain. Some of the most common injuries that cause wrist stiffness include:

• Overuse and repetitive strain injuries.
• Wrist sprains.
• Sports injuries.
• Falls.
• Bone fractures.
• Nerve injuries or pinched nerves.

Health conditions that cause wrist stiffness: Health conditions can often cause wrist stiffness. This type of wrist pain tends to build up over time. Some of the most common causes of wrist stiffness include:

• Carpal tunnel syndrome.
• Wrist tendinitis.
• Wrist arthritis.
• Bursitis.
• Ganglion cysts.
• Infections.

Diagnosis of wrist stiffness: During the physical exam, your health care provider may:

• Check your wrist for tenderness, swelling or deformity
• Ask you to move your wrist to check for a decrease in your range of motion
• Check your grip strength and forearm strength

Imaging tests may include:

• X-ray: This is the most commonly used test for wrist stiffness. Using a small amount of radiation, X-rays can reveal bone fractures or signs of osteoarthritis.
• CT: This scan can provide more-detailed views of the bones in the wrist and may spot fractures that don't show up on X-rays.
• MRI: This test uses radio waves and a strong magnetic field to produce detailed images of the bones and soft tissues. For a wrist MRI, you may be able to insert your arm into a smaller device instead of a whole-body MRI machine.

Treatment of wrist stiffness: Which treatments you’ll need depends on what’s causing pain in your wrist. You might be able to relieve wrist stiffness with at home treatments. A healthcare provider will suggest treatment options and tell you how long you’ll need them.

Some of the most common treatments for wrist stiffness include:

• Rest: Taking a break from work, hobbies or sports that caused a wrist injury will give your wrist time to heal.
• Icing: Apply an ice pack or cold compress for 10 to 15 minutes a few times a day. Don’t apply ice directly to your skin (wrap the ice pack in a towel or washcloth).
• Ergonomic adjustments: Changing your hand’s position during repetitive motions can reduce stress on the wrist that’s causing pain.
• Immobilization: You might need to wear a cast, splint or brace to hold your wrist in place and take pressure off it while it heals.
• Surgery: You may need surgery to remove a growth or repair nerve compression, tendon or ligament tears, fix fractures or treat arthritis. Wrist surgery can be open or arthroscopic.
• Physical therapy: A physical therapist can give you exercises to increase your wrist’s strength and flexibility.

Exercise of wrist stiffness: After any problem in the wrists, hands or fingers, it’s important to get movement and strength back. This supports tissue healing and will help you get moving again. When doing exercise you should listen to your pain levels, especially in the early stages. You may find that these exercises increase your symptoms slightly in the beginning. 

However, they should get easier over time and, with regular practice, can help to improve movement in the wrists, hands or fingers.

• Wrist flexion and extension
• Hand flip
• Wrist radial and ulnar deviation
• Wrist extensor stretch
• Wrist flexor stretch

Effective management of  Wrist Stiffness at Spine Physiotherapy & Rehabilitation Centre (SPTRC) in Shyamoli requires teamwork among medical professionals and patients, which in turn improves the patients' quality of life.

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