Find Relief for All Your Elbow, Wrist, and Hand Pains
Physical Therapy Can Help You Move Your Upper Extremities More Easily
Consider your typical morning routine: getting out of bed, brushing your teeth, showering, dressing, eating breakfast, and starting your commute to work.
At this point, how many times do you think you’ve used your elbows, wrists, and hands? Probably hundreds!
Now, if you do all of this while in pain, even the most mundane tasks can become difficult. You might even find it difficult to find your way around your own house.
We take our elbows, wrists, and hands for granted when we aren’t in pain. Fortunately, working one of our area Overland Park licensed physical therapists can help you find relief or even complete recovery.
Our innovative care strategies at Exercise Sport Physical Therapy will help you find quick relief. Call our clinic today at (913) 413-0012 for the help you’ve been looking for!
How can physical therapy relieve elbow, wrist, and hand pain?
Physical therapy can often reduce or even eliminate the need for costly, invasive medical and surgical procedures.
Physical therapists are experts in movement and joint disorders who can treat your symptoms while also determining the source of your pain!
One of our Overland Park physical therapists, after identifying the problem, will create a personalized treatment plan that is tailored to the needs of each patient’s specific condition.
The advanced treatment options available at Exercise Sport Physical Therapy can help to relieve your pain, restore your range of motion, and get you back to living your life normally. Any cause of elbow, wrist, or hand pain can benefit from physical therapy.
Manual therapy, pain and inflammation-reduction methods, and specific therapeutic exercises to restore strength and pain-free movement are all examples of specialized treatments that may be included in physical therapy.
Common symptoms of elbow, wrist, and hand pain
When it comes to upper extremity pain, everyone has a unique set of symptoms.
Acute elbow, wrist, or hand pain is usually the result of an injury, but long-term chronic pain can be caused by illness or other underlying factors.
Other symptoms that may accompany the pain include numbness or tingling in the extremities, particularly the fingers, which may make normal daily activities difficult, depending on the severity of your condition.
Your pain could be mild to severe, and it could also be intermittent, meaning that it comes and goes throughout the day.
In most cases, consulting with a medical professional who can evaluate the situation will result in the best possible outcome for your pain.
What’s causing my elbow, wrist, and hand pain?
Because our bodies are so complex, there are many reasons you might be experiencing upper extremity pain.
Listed below are a few of the most common conditions that may be the reason for the pain you are feeling:
Golfer’s Elbow/Tennis Elbow
Tennis elbow refers to pain on the lateral or outside aspect of the elbow, whereas golfer’s elbow refers to pain on the medial or inside aspect of the elbow.
Both of these injuries are a result of repetitive use injuries and can be attributed to a variety of different tasks, not just the sports they are named after.
Seeing a physical therapist for these conditions is recommended, because therapy restores the underlying joint and soft tissue limitations that are causing strain to the tendons, and reduces the inflammation quite rapidly.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Carpal tunnel is a condition you may have heard thrown around in conversation, maybe from someone who uses their hands and wrists a lot for their jobs.
Carpal tunnel syndrome impacts approximately 5% of all Americans, according to the American Physical Therapy Association.
The main job of the carpal tunnel is to protect the median nerve on the inside of your wrist, in addition to the tendons you use to bend the fingers.
However, this tunnel can become constricted, and when it does, nerve compression can result, leading to a variety of symptoms, such as numbness and tingling to the thumb, 1st, and 2nd fingers. Besides pain to the wrist and hand, swelling to the hand and fingers is even possible.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) can be caused by an injury or by repetitive job-related use, such as assembly-line work, keyboard-heavy work, or jobs that require someone to operate heavy machinery.
Cubital Tunnel Syndrome
Cubital tunnel syndrome is a common form of nerve compression damage that can lead to elbow, wrist, and hand pain.
This condition is different from carpal tunnel syndrome and occurs when pressure is put on the cubital tunnel and surrounding nerves.
It is caused by repetitive pressure on the ulnar nerve, which is located inside of the elbow and is known as your “funny bone.” It can cause pain, numbness, and tingling, especially to the ring and pinky fingers.
Arthritis
Arthritis is a very common condition that people of all ages are living with. There are many different forms of arthritis, but it is typically caused by repetitive motions or an injury that impacts the cartilage in the joints of the elbow, wrist, or hand.
According to the Arthritis Foundation, arthritis is the most common form of disability in the United States. Physical therapy helps to improve joint motion, reduce inflammation, and strengthen the surrounding supportive muscles.
Sprains/Strains
Strains refer to muscle or tendon injuries, whereas sprains refer more to the ligaments, which connect bones.
Sprains and strains typically occur from rapid overstretching of the ligaments or tendons, such as a fall on an outstretched arm, or catching something heavy.
It may take some time for you to realize you’ve even sustained one of these injuries, as the pain typically takes a day or two to show itself.
Elbow Bursitis
At the end of the elbow is a fluid-filled sac called the “bursa” that serves as a cushion to the elbow bone, or “ulna.”
When that bursa is compressed due to an injury or repetitive motion, it can lead to pain and swelling. Because of this, it is common to see this condition in athletes and students.
Relieve the discomfort in your upper extremities with physical therapy
If you are experiencing any of the above-mentioned symptoms, or if you have persistent pain that does not seem to go away, do not rely on potentially harmful medications to treat your symptoms.
If elbow, wrist, or hand pain is interfering with your quality of life, please contact our office today to set up an appointment with one of our dedicated team members.
We are skilled, attentive, and eager to get you back to the healthy, physically active lifestyle you deserve!