Treat a Sore Wrist Before It Gets More Painful

All too often, we take our wrists for granted along with the abilities that these intricate parts of our anatomy provide for us in our daily lives, from carrying our bags to working at the computer. As many sports coaches will tell you, it’s all in the wrist!

If your wrist has become sore, the obvious importance of this body part should indicate that it needs immediate treatment. If ignored, the condition may get worst. Future quality of life may be affected when dealing with pain from a tender wrist. The simplest of tasks may become impossible since the wrist pain will be ever-present. Since it’s not safe to take too many over-the-counter drugs, seeking medical help to manage or repair the source of pain is imperative.

Pain that start small may get worse over time. A tender or sore wrist is possibly an indicator of a worse problem. Possibilities include gout, arthritis, carpal tunnel, cysts, sprains or fractures. Having a medical professional evaluate you as soon as possible can head off future problems. When treating your wrist, you may be told to use the RICE method.

For another thing, your tender wrist can degenerate into something worse. Your painful wrist may be the precursor and/or the symptom of medical conditions like carpal tunnel syndrome, arthritis, gout and pseudo-gout, tendonitis, ganglion cysts and bone fractures and muscle sprains. You definitely will want to treat these disorders as soon as possible.

RICE Treatment Protocol

When performing at-home treatments for a sore wrist, your primary goal is to relieve the pain felt, promote the healing of the injury, and avoid the recurrence of said injury. This self-care treatment applies to almost all cases from repetitive stress injury to wrist trauma to arthritis-related wrist pain. * R stands for rest coupled with activity modification. You have to provide adequate rest for your injured wrist for at least 24-48 hours, which is called the critical period. Usually, your wrist will be encased in protective sheaths like a splint and/or sling. Plus, you have to modify your activities such that stress on the sore wrist is minimized during this period.

Ice and heat treatments may also help alleviate pain. Generally, you will use ice for an acute injury, and heat for a chronic condition. When using ice packs, limit use to 20 minutes per application.

* C stands for compression and cortisone injections. During early treatment, compression is used to keep the muscles and tendons as stable as possible. Of course, you have to make sure that your wrist does not become cold and blue from a too-tight compression bandage. Cortisone injections are administered by your doctor, which should treat the inflammation, if any, in a sore wrist.

Elevating the wrist above the heart is also another good method for dealing with wrist pain. Use a sling during the day, and during the night, elevate with a pillow.

The RICE treatment is only applicable as a first aid and in after care scenarios. If your feel that an injury is not responding to RICE protocols, then seek medical help as soon as possible.

Indeed, a sore wrist may not look like much to worry about today but you have to be very careful that tomorrow, it will be as good as new. After all, your life may very well depend on how well your wrist works with and for you.

Tom Nicholson spends his time caring for carpal tunnel sufferers. Please follow this link to find out more about having asore wrist.

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