Acute vs Chronic Wrist Injuries
Wrist injuries can be a frustrating and debilitating occurrence, acquired via many separate and distinctive forms. Today we will go through these injuries, their possible causes and how to best manage them. Wrist injuries are often categorized as being either chronic, or acute.
Acute injuries
Acute injuries typically have a sudden onset and normally occur after any sort of trauma or impact directly to the wrist or hand. Wrist injuries can be attributed to many different causes and some of them can be as simple the following:
- Falling with an outstretched hand to brace yourself for impending impact.
- An improper lifting technique in the gym whilst performing heavy loaded lifts
- Impact during sports
- Any form of sudden or forceful impact to the wrist.
Acute injuries can often be resolved using means such as physical therapy, a wrist brace or splint to reduce swelling and alleviate pain or even anti-inflammatory medication. The more severe cases may require surgical intervention. As with many other injuries, accurate diagnosis of any wrist injury is vital. Without an accurate diagnosis, it becomes difficult to treat effectively.
Chronic injuries
Repetitive stress over long periods of time is generally what causes chronic wrist injuries. These can irritate from motions as mundane and repetitive as:
- mouse movement whilst seated at a desk
- playing instruments
- playing video games
- incorrect technique over a period of time during sports
Chronic wrist pain can also stem from conditions such as carpel tunnel syndrome, gout and arthritis. These each have their own course of treatment, but managing these conditions through exercise is one way to minimise the impact on everyday life.
If you have any questions, you can read more about how our Physio can help you manage your pain here. You can give us a call on 07 3352 5116 or book online and one of our exercise physiology team members can help to put the best plan in place for you.
