Physical Therapy Methods For Hand & Wrist Pain

Hand and wrist pains are some of the most common ailments from athletes to people who work desk/ computer jobs, to the elderly population. Athletes who participate in sports that require higher levels of contact such as wrestling, hockey and football can have repetitive wrist injuries. Some common pains are caused by recreational activities, job related tasks, normal daily chores, and even health conditions. These may include:

• Acute training or trauma (e.g. strains, sprains, dislocations and fractures)
• Working at a desk for long periods
• Cumulative motion syndrome or repetitive stress syndrome, RSI (e.g. de Quervain’s disease/tendinitis, bursitis and tennis elbow)
• Referred pain from the neck, chest or shoulder
• Participation in sports without proper training, especially tennis, golf, baseball and racquetball
• Repeated bending the wrist or reaching out with the arm
• Sharp increase in athletic activity (weekend athlete)
• Ganglion cysts (fluid-filled, benign tumors that develop on the outside of a joint or tendon)
• A nerve problem (e.g. carpal tunnel syndrome, pinched nerve and complex regional pain syndrome)
• Depuytren’s Contracture (i.e. a hand deformity characterized by the development of thick cordages in the palm, via the tendons responsible for flexing the digits downwards)
• Infection of a joint or bone (e.g. osteomyelitis); arthritis (e.g. rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis)
• Post-surgical and restricted mobility
• Falls on outstretched hand
• Fractures

The pains can range from minor strains or sprains to severe and repetitive throbbing over time. However, if managed properly, most patients can expect their injury to heal without any significant long-term disability regardless of the severity of the pain or injury.

At New Age Physical Therapy College Point, NY, we treat these common hand and wrist conditions:

• Wrist and hand injuries
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Wrist sprains/ strains
• De Quervain’s tenosynovitis
• Arthritis of the wrist
• Post surgical cases of the wrist
• Wrist fractures and dislocations
• Dupuytren's contracture
• Stenosing tenosynovitis (trigger finger)

Normally, physical therapy for hand and wrist pain help by first and foremost, identifying the problem, then modifying the work stations and seeking for other possible reasons for the dysfunction. Manual Hands-on Therapy, Coordination, Joint Protection Techniques, Customized Splints, Range-of-Motion Exercises, Strengthening, and Stretching, among others.

The physical therapy methods for hand and wrist pain incorporate pain relief programs, development of a home treatment program, as well as patient education. We incorporate proactive patient involvement with the main emphasis on strengthening the hands and wrists to prevent future injury, increasing strength, mobility, flexibility, and performance of the joints and tissues, and improving the normal hand and wrist functions. Generally speaking, physical therapy is very useful in managing and eliminating hand and wrist pain and helps the patient quickly return to their normal or athletic activities.