Acute pain in the wrist is most commonly caused by a wrist injury, a fall onto the outstretched hand. Most patients correctly identify when the pain is a little worse and identify when they may have sustained a fracture. Bruising and swelling are frequent features of a wrist fracture, but fractures can occur without these signs being present.
The common causes of wrist pain after a fall that feels more like a sprain than a fracture, are:
- scaphoid fracture
- ligament injury
- triangular fibro cartilage complex (TFCC) injury
- tendon injury
All of the above can be identified by a combination of clinical examination and x-rays and scans were necessary.
Chronic Pain in the Wrist
This may occur as a result of a previous injury. Undiagnosed fractures or injuries to the scapholunate ligament or TFCC are the common causes of persistent pain.
If there is no history of injury then the common causes are:
- inflammatory arthritis
- degenerative arthritis
- tendinitis
- impingement
- wrist ganglion
In addition to physical examination, further imaging in the form of scans and x-rays will help to establish the cause in these cases and occasionally blood tests will be required.
