Wrist Sprain

Treating wrist sprains in Plano, Frisco, McKinney and AllenWhat is it?

A wrist sprain is a common injury especially among all kinds of athletes. Even though there are a number of ways to sprain the wrist, the majority of wrist sprains are caused by a momentary loss of balance which results in falling and catching yourself with your outstretched hands. The force of the impact bends your wrist back toward your forearm and causes a stretch beyond its normal range of motion, tiny tearing of the ligaments or worse yet a complete break of a ligament or bone. Pain and instability of the wrist joint typically occurs immediately following the injury.

Symptoms

The most common symptoms of a wrist sprain are: pain, swelling, tenderness and warmth around the area injured, bruising, reduced range of motion, and weakness. If a ligament has been seriously injured you may often hear a popping or snapping sound with wrist movement.

Treatment

The good news is while wrist sprains can be frustrating and take time to heal, minor-to-moderate sprains usually heal on their own. To speed the healing process you can certainly add ice, compression with taping or bandages, NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications) or perhaps splinting the wrist to prevent further irritation or damage. Hand therapy may be recommended for more serious sprains where torn or stretched ligaments resulted in joint instability or chronic pain. More complex surgeries are required when a patient has a significant tear or fracture at the wrist and waited to see a physician for several weeks, therefore it’s important to see your physician if the symptoms don’t subside with conservative treatment options.

If you are experiencing Hand & Wrist pain, weakness of the Hand & Wrist, stiffness of the Hand & Wrist or night time Hand & Wrist pain, give us a call 972-250-5700 or make an appointment now.

 

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