HEP: Wrist Sprain
Patient Education
What’s going on?
This injury occurs commonly after you fall on your outstretched hand.
It can also occur if you are using your hand repetitively at work or for sport and hobbies.
Usually, a strong force at the wrist and hand can sprain or disrupt ligaments, especially when the wrist is bent forward or backward.
Forceful and repetitive gripping and twisting has been shown by the research to be a cause of many upper extremity overuse injuries.
How long will it take?
Depending on the severity of your injury, this could take between 6 weeks to 6 months.
How will we treat your condition at IHSM?
At IHSM, a doctor of physical therapy will perform a detailed physical examination of how to move and all the structures that could be contributing to your pain; including the nerves, joints, and muscles.
Initially, your therapist will teach you about the importance of resting.
Resting helps to reduce the pain and speed up recovery.
Your therapist will educate you on bracing to help your tissues rest and stay in neutral.
Your therapist may build a splint for you, provide a brace or they will direct you to where you may purchase one.
After the tissues are no longer inflamed, exercises and therapy will be performed to improve your range of motion.
Gentle return to exercises will be performed on your wrist as you demonstrate improvement (isometrics to concentric to eccentric strengthening) to restore your wrist to normal function.
Modalities such as acupuncture, or electrical stimulation may also be used to control the pain and inflammation in your wrist.
What can you do to help yourself?
In the most painful phase, use ice for up to 15 minutes.
Rest in a neutral position is essential.
Use the splint to reduce the use of your hand temporarily.
Learn to use your non-dominant hand some of the time.
Try not to grip much with the involved hand, it needs some time to heal.
As symptoms improve, gradually begin to use it more.
If this is a sport or work-related overuse injury, ensure your racket or tool has the optimal grip size for your hand.
Instructions:
You may do all of these exercises right away.
About IHSM
Integrative Health and Sports Medicine, LLC is a one-stop health and wellness center. Our mission is to restore our patients to a healthy, pain-free, and productive life. By combining orthopedic physical therapy techniques, sports medicine, acupuncture, and Chinese medicine, we are able to treat conditions and achieve results in cases that have not responded well to modern Western medicine.
We are located in Cincinnati, Ohio. Please email us at info@integrativesports.com to schedule a consultation and let us help you on your journey to optimal health.