Pain in the wrist joint – the phenomenon is not so rare, although it has many causes, ranging from injuries to chronic systemic diseases of the body.
Pain in this joint, of course, reduces a person’s quality of life, and most importantly, indicates that there are unpleasant changes in the body.
The correct diagnosis can be made by specialists – orthopedists and neurologists. They will also prescribe adequate treatment that will help cope with the problem.
To put it very generally, pain in the wrist joint appears due to diseases of the following categories:
- traumatic in nature – as a result or complication after injury,
- inflammatory nature,
- degenerative manifestations in the tissues of the articular surfaces.
Diseases that cause pain in the wrist joint
Any pain manifestation does not occur on its own. Therefore, pain in the radial joint has its own causes.
As a rule, such sensations in the radial joint cause various diseases:
- Styloiditis is an inflammatory disease of the ligaments that attach to the styloid processes of the radius. Accompanied by pain in the area of the above processes.
- De Quervain’s disease is otherwise called stenosing tenosynovitis, which refers to inflammatory processes in the tendons of the muscle responsible for abducting the thumb. They have acute or chronic forms.
- Carpal (or carpal) tunnel syndrome – manifests itself as compression of the median nerve, which runs in a fibrous tunnel located close to the surface of the palm of the wrist.
- Arthritis of the hand – manifests itself in inflammatory processes of the wrist joint, as a derivative disease from rheumatoid arthritis, reactive arthritis, gout, and so on.
- Arthrosis is a disease that occurs in rare cases. The most common arthrosis is post-traumatic arthrosis, that is, it occurs after an injury to a joint, hand, or entire arm. With this disease, deformation of the cartilage of the articular surface occurs, in this case, the wrist.
- Bursitis is characterized by the presence of a large amount of fluid in the joint capsule, which is not a natural human condition.
- Hygromas are characterized by the appearance of a benign tumor in the joint area, which reduces the mobility of the joint.
- Periarthritis is a disease that affects the wrists and manifests itself as inflammatory processes in the styloid process of the radius.
- Dislocations are characterized by displacement of the articular surfaces relative to each other, which should not occur in the normal state of the joint.
The causes of pain in the wrist joint are as follows:
- With de Quervain’s disease (or tenosynovitis), the disease is most often caused by overstrain of the tendons of the joint. The clinical picture of the disease is especially evident during constant movements of a certain nature associated with the work of the wrist joint. The most common patients who come to us with this problem have professions such as seamstress, sander, plasterer, and housekeeper. Also, inflammatory processes in the tendon sheaths during tenosynovitis can be caused by the penetration of pyogenic bacteria into the above-mentioned connective sheaths.
- With styloiditis, the causes of the disease are the same as in the previous case. Only the Filkenstein symptom will have to be excluded from the overall picture of the disease.
- In carpal (or carpal) tunnel syndrome, the disease is stimulated by frequent flexion or extension of the hands. Therefore, these symptoms affect people who are prone to frequent work at the computer (using the so-called “mouse”), constantly playing the piano, professionally engaged in repair or finishing work, and so on. Carpal tunnel syndrome can be triggered by some systemic diseases – rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, and so on, that is, diseases that are associated with metabolic disorders in the body. This syndrome most often affects the fairer sex.
- With arthritis of the wrist joint, patients experience pain in it along with swelling. Sometimes there is slight redness of the skin in the area of the joint cavity. Stiffness in joint movement may occur in the morning after waking up. Manifestations of the disease can be different – it all depends on the origins of arthritis and its cause.
- Sometimes, when taking an x-ray, no changes are visible in the joints of the hand. If tests are taken, then as a result of laboratory tests it turns out that ESR is increased, as is C-reactive protein. This picture obtained as a result of analyzes is characteristic of all forms of arthritis. Arthritis provoked by any specific diseases can manifest itself in changes in the indicators of other parameters. For example, with gout, the level of uric acid in the blood increases, as with rheumatoid arthritis, the rheumatoid factor in the blood increases.
- Arthrosis usually develops at a slow pace and progresses unnoticed. Patients begin to suffer from pain that occurs when the joint is loaded, especially of a mechanical nature. In a calm state, the pain decreases or almost disappears. It happens that with arthrosis, pain of a starting nature occurs – in the morning, during joint loading, after a night of immobility. This is due to the fact that the cartilage is gradually destroyed, and its surface becomes deformed. These irregularities lead to pain. In the future, as the disease progresses, when the joint itself begins to be deformed, the pain may become constant: day and night, under load and at rest.
- Bursitis appears as a consequence of injuries, regular physical activity, as a complication of gout, artiritis, and various allergic reactions that can accompany diseases of an infectious nature.
- Hygromas appear with constant daily mechanical impact on the hand. As a result, a benign tumor appears in the articular area. The disease does not pose any danger to human life, although it causes significant inconvenience in terms of the quality of life itself.
- Periarthritis has a cause that is expressed in constant micro-traumas that occur on the wrist and the styloid process of the radius.
- Dislocations occur most often due to injuries related to the wrists.