Elbow Wrist & Hand Pain Relief

Overuse, fractures and an underlying medical condition can all cause elbow, wrist or hand pain. You may not realize how important the elbow, wrist and hand are until the pain impedes you from doing simple tasks like moving your wrist or picking up a fork. The pain can even prevent you from preventing in sports or going to work. Be sure to see a physical therapist to help reduce your elbow, wrist pain or hand pain. Research has shown that physical therapy can help reduce or eliminate pain. Why suffer in pain or use over-the-counter meds to treat your pain, when a physical therapist can help you heal naturally?

Common Issues Affecting the Elbow, Wrist, and Hand

Carpal tunnel syndrome affects approximately 6 percent of adults. This symptom causes pain, weakness and numbness in the hand. This syndrome is a result of a pinched nerve in your wrist. It can be caused by the positioning of your wrists while using the keyboard, prolonged exposure to the vibration of power tools, typing or playing the piano.

Tennis elbow results from overuse of the elbow from playing sports like tennis or racquetball. With overuse, there is an inflammation of the tendons that join the forearm muscles to the elbow bones. Golfer’s elbow is an overuse injury like tennis elbow, but the pain is located at the inside of the elbow instead of the outer side.

There are different types of arthritis that can affect the joints in the elbow, wrist and hand. Typically, there is pain, inflammation, stiffness & lateral epicondylitis. Osteoarthritis is the most common kind of arthritis. It occurs when the cartilage at the ends of bones wears away and bone rubs against bone. Pain can become chronic. This type of arthritis is typically progressive and can limit your daily activities.

Fractures to the elbow, wrist or hand can cause pain. Likely, you’ll have to rest your fracture and may even be in a splint for a while. This period of immobilization can lead to weakness and loss of range of motion. With the help of a physical therapist, you can learn stretching and to strengthening exercises to get you back in the game. Get elbow pain relief with physical therapy. 

Physical Therapy for Elbow, Wrist, and Hand Pain

Physical therapy is effective in the treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome, which can cause pain in the elbow, wrist, hand and fingers. A physical therapist will help you do stretching exercises to help improve the flexibility of the elbow, wrist, hand and finger. Heat and cold therapy may be implemented to help reduce inflammation and pain. Plus, a physical therapist will help educate on things like how to change wrist positions and how to use utensils.

When it comes to treating arthritis, the goal of a physical therapy program is to reduce pain, increase the range of motion, strengthen the muscles that support an arthritic joint and keep you mobile. Passive modalities like electric stimulation and ultrasound may be used to relieve pain.

With tennis and golfer’s elbow, the first thing a physical therapist will do is to reduce pain. This may be done with specific exercises, muscle stimulation, tape for support or ice massage.