Wrist Assessment

October 2, 2014 11:56 AM

My wrist is bothering me, and I can't figure out why or what to do.

It's more of a uncomfortable feeling than a full on pain. I had an X-ray and everything seems to be fine, at least medically, and Googling doesn't give me any results that would explain it. It sort of feels like if I give it one really big crack, this feeling will go away, but my wrist won't bend that way. I tend to crack my wrists a few times a day, but this has been constant for the past two days. It's my non-dominant hand, so I can't imagine it's overuse. This has happened a couple times before. I feel if I don't address it'll become more constant and more severe. Please help me figure out a) what's wrong with my wrist and b) what to do about it!

posted by Enchanting Grasshopper to Health & Fitness (8 answers total)

Best answer: Wrists (like shoulders) are complicated. What I would do is see a good physical therapist. They know the muscles, tendons and joints better than the doctors do. They'll have a battery of tests and they'll narrow down your problem. Typically, they'll do some baseline strength measurements, give you some stretches and a strength exercises, see you weekly to monitor progress, and maybe do some ultrasound or other therapy. In my experience (which entails shoulder, neck and hip problems), they'll have you fixed up inside of a month.
posted by beagle at 12:09 PM on October 2, 2014

Do you sleep on your non-dominant side? It sounds like you may have slept on it funny.
posted by myselfasme at 12:29 PM on October 2, 2014

Stop "cracking" your wrists ASAP. If it's your mousing wrist, change over to the other one.
posted by Carol Anne at 12:58 PM on October 2, 2014 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I've had a lot of hand and wrist injuries and I've had surprisingly good results from sleeping in a drugstore wrist brace. You wouldn't think that bracing a wrist while you're not using it would be helpful, but it is. Take naproxen or ibuprofen daily to reduce inflammation.

If you are determined to find out what's causing this, I strongly recommend seeing an orthopedist who specializes in hands. After years of misdiagnoses, x-rays and MRIs, a hand surgeon immediately and correctly found the ganglion cyst that had been troubling me for years. However, by the time you can get in to see a hand specialist it is very likely that your pain will have disappeared, leaving nothing to diagnose.
posted by workerant at 1:12 PM on October 2, 2014

Best answer: I was in an accident which left my wrist weak, with a low amount of pain. The X-rays revealed nothing and my ER doctor condescendingly assured me that it wasn't broken - or more accurately, rolled his eyes at the suggestion that it was broken and that I needed a note to be excused from work for more than the 2 days he originally gave me (I type for a living). After a couple months, when the pain and the weakness did not subside, I went to an orthopedic specialist where an MRI revealed a break requiring surgery. The specialist told me that it is not uncommon for a non-specialist to mis-diagnose wrist fractures; the bones are small and many and the pain is usually not as intense as for other fractures.
posted by rada at 1:14 PM on October 2, 2014 [1 favorite]

I'm a side sleeper and I usually sleep on my non-dominant side. I have had this happen before and it's exactly as myselfasme said above - I slept on it funny. I've woken up with my wrist bent all weird and it'll be uncomfortable for a couple of days. I second workerant's recommendation of sleeping in a wrist brace - it has completely solved this problem for me.
posted by bedhead at 1:14 PM on October 2, 2014

Response by poster: Thanks for all the suggestions. I sleep on my dominant side or stomach, so I think that's out. I'll get a wrist-brace for now. I would love to see a specialist, but I am unable to afford any additional visits for the moment, although I will when I have the funds/am in the right part of the world.
posted by Enchanting Grasshopper at 3:29 PM on October 2, 2014

Without more details, it's hard to know exactly where you're experiencing the pain. Definitely try the wrist brace.

Check down near your elbow - are the muscles tight there? I get some relief in my wrist if I massage down there and I almost always have knots there. Your body will refer pain around, like in forearm knots causing wrist pain - the whole site is pretty helpful.
posted by bookdragoness at 3:57 PM on October 2, 2014