Elbow, Wrist and Hand Pain Relief
Find the Relief You Need for Your Elbow, Wrist, and Hand Pain Today
You use your elbows, wrists, and hands constantly throughout the day – but nothing will make you realize just how much you use them like when they are feeling achy and painful. Whether you’re experiencing pain due to an injury, overuse, or some other underlying condition, it can greatly impact your quality of life and your ability to function.
Imagine your typical morning: you get out of bed, brush your teeth, shower, get dressed, make breakfast, and begin your commute to work. At this point, you’ve already used your elbows, wrists, and hands hundreds of times – and you’re still at the beginning of your day! If you are doing all this with pain, it can make daily life really difficult.
Fortunately, you can find relief or even experience a full recovery at MTI Physical Therapy by working with a licensed physical therapist in our Bellevue, Magnolia, Fremont, First Hill, WA clinic.
How are these conditions treated?
The first step in dealing with hand, wrist or elbow pain is evaluating the source of that pain. Our OMPT trained physical therapists have post-graduate, advanced training, in identifying which tissue is causing your pain, assessing the joints, tendons, muscles, ligaments, nerves and bones of the forearm, wrist and hand. Once the source of pain is identified, your physical therapist will use their knowledge of the biomechanics of how all these joints work together to identify any underlying restriction or weakness that may be contributing to overuse or impairment.
After your evaluation, the first priority is to use therapeutic techniques to get rid of the pain as soon as possible. After that, your therapists will begin to focus on restoring mobility and flexibility. Therapeutic exercise[link] will help you regain your coordination, endurance, strength and function. Whether returning to work activities or sport, the functional performance of your hands is primary. Let our hands help your hands!
Did you know that elbow and hand pain can originate from the neck?
If you are having persistent or recurrent symptoms in your elbow, wrist or hands, your neck may be part of the problem. Postural and joint dysfunction in the neck can lead to referred pain in the forearm or contribute to increasing the pain levels of irritated tissues in your forearms. It is the job of your physical therapist to assess these relationships and provide combined neck and arm treatments to finally resolve persistent pain and impairments.
Common causes of elbow, wrist, or hand pain
A few of the most common conditions that may be the culprit for the pain you are feeling are explained below.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Carpal tunnel symptoms often originate in the neck. Repetitive tasks of the hands, such as typing or prolonged gripping, can lead to inflamed tendons. These inflamed tendons end up placing compression on the median nerve at the wrist, which is a condition known as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS). Once the nerve is irritated, tingling and hand weakness can result. Not only neck issues, but hormone fluctuations increase inflammation putting you more at risk for CTS. This is most often seen in pregnant women, and women between the ages of 34-60.
Early intervention, especially physical therapy, may help you avoid surgery. Joint mobilization to the wrist and neck, as well as mobility treatments for your nerves, can reduce pain and allow for therapeutic exercise to restore your strength.
Do your hands tingle when you ride your bike? Maybe a Bike Fit is needed to ensure proper ergonomics when riding to avoid these types of tissue irritations.
Tennis Elbow and Golfer’s Elbow
Tennis elbow refers to pain on the lateral or outside of the elbow, whereas golfer’s elbow refers to pain on the medial or inside of the elbow. Both of these injuries are a result of repetitive use and can be attributed to a variety of different tasks, not just the sports they are named after. The result can be a tendinopathy (tendinitis), with pain, weakness and loss of performance. If your tendon pain does not heal on its own in 4-6 weeks, there may be underlying reasons as to why your symptoms are persistent:
- Joint restrictions in the elbow or wrist
- Muscle coordination and strength issues in the elbow or even shoulder
- Neck stiffness, joint restriction or nerve irritation
- Overuse / lack of recovery between training and sport participation
- Equipment: improper grip for racquets or hands
- Technique: improper coordination of functional movements or sport technique
Our physical therapists know how to sift through all these potential causes to determine how to best assess you safely to get back in the game.
Cubital Tunnel Syndrome
Cubital tunnel syndrome is a common form of nerve compression damage that can lead to elbow, wrist, and hand pain. It is caused by repetitive pressure on the ulnar nerve, which is located inside of the elbow and is known as your “funny bone.” When pressure is put on the cubital tunnel and surrounding nerves, it can cause pain, numbness, and tingling, especially to the ring and pinky fingers.
Normally these nerves around your elbow can tolerate a fair amount of impact without significant symptoms. If your “funny bone” nerve is easily irritated with light pressure, or even setting the arm on an arm rest, there may be a restriction of the nerve mobility in the neck, shoulder or wrist area that may benefit from manual treatment.
Sprains
Sprains to the elbow, wrist, or hand can result in pain due to ligament and/or joint trauma. These injuries typically occur from quick over stretching of the ligaments, such as a fall on an outstretched arm, or catching something heavy. A fracture may have occurred as well, so an assessment is necessary before starting any treatment. We will always consider joint injuries during rehabilitation, but if there is a fracture, that will be our primary treatment focus.
Arthritis
Arthritis is a very common condition that affects approximately 53 million Americans. In fact, according to the Arthritis Foundation, it is the most common form of disability in the United States. There are many different forms of arthritis, but it is typically caused by repetitive motions or an injury that impacts the cartilage in the joints of the elbow, wrist, or hand. Physical therapy helps to improve joint motion, reduce inflammation, and strengthen the surrounding supportive muscles.
Find relief with us!
Don’t let elbow, wrist, or hand pain reduce your quality of life any longer!
If you are looking for a physical therapist in Bellevue , Edmonds, Magnolia, Fremont, First Hill, WA, contact our office today for an appointment. Our staff and physical therapists look forward to meeting you and get you back to living the healthy and physically active life you deserve!
