How To Relieve Wrist Pain and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?

A wrist pain is a common type of injury resulting from a momentary loss of stability. As you slip, you subconsciously stick out your arm to break the fall. However, once your hand hits the ground, the force of impact bends it back towards your forearm. This impact occasionally stretches the ligaments that link the wrist and the hand bones. The result is tiny tears, or in extreme cases, a complete break to the ligament. This article will reveal to you simple wrist pain relief techniques to manage your wrist sprain.

Types of Wrist Pains

• Grade 1: It is characterized by pain with minor damage to the ligaments.
• Grade 2: It is characterized by pain, a feeling of looseness to the joint, severe ligament damage and some loss of function.
• Grade 3: It is characterized by pain, severe looseness, a completely torn ligament and complete loss of function.

How to Relieve Your Wrist Pain

Here are the top 7 practical but simple ways to relieve your wrist pain.

Icing the Wrist

A wrist sprain is characterized by various symptoms including swelling, pain, bruising, warmth and tenderness around the injured area. Icing the wrist helps in reducing the swelling and pain. Do it for 20 to 30 minutes every 3 to 4 hours for two to three days until the pain is no more.

Resting the Wrist

Allow your wrist to rest for at least 2 days. If it is a grade 1 wrist sprain, it will heal automatically.

Compression

Firmly compress your wrist with a bandage to manage the pain.

Keep Your Wrist Immobile

Using a splint or a cast will help in keeping your wrist immobile. This technique should only be used for a short period until you see your doctor. After that, follow the doctor’s advice whether to keep using the splint or not. Prolonged use of a splint can lead to muscle weakness and severe stiffness in some cases.

Wrist Elevation

Raise your wrist above your heart, on the back of a chair or a pillow as frequent as you can.

Take Anti-inflammatory Pain Killers

To manage the pain, swelling, redness, and heat associated with a wrist sprain, use non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, for instance, Aleve, Advil, and Motrin. But, it is vital to note that some of these drugs come with side effects for instance ulcers and an increased risk of bleeding. Thus, you should only take them regularly when directed to do so by your doctor.

Exercise

Do strengthening and stretching exercises as recommended by your doctor.

Wrapping it up…

Wrist sprains are hard to avoid because they are occasionally caused by accidents. If you are an athlete, ensure you exercise safely. You can use wrist tapes or guards to cut the frequent occurrence wrist sprains. If the sprain happens regardless of your efforts, try implementing the 7 top wrist pain relief techniques discussed in this article. The average recovery time should be 2 to 10 weeks depending on the type of your wrist sprain.

How To Relieve Wrist Pain and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome? Last Updated: 8/2/2018