The wrist is one of the most complicated structures or joints in the body. The wrist involves many actions, including waving, hammering, throwing objects, and more. As well as this, the wrist plays a pivotal role to perform well in several sports and athletic movements. For example, wrist movement is crucial when playing bowling, baseball, badminton, tennis, golf, volleyball, and others. However, as these sports require the repetitive or continuous motion of the wrists, they can put extra pressure and stress on the wrist joints, causing wrist pain or injuries.
This article is a detailed account of the most common wrist injuries resulting from sports or athletic activities and other occupations requiring repetitive wrist movements. As well as this, you can get the idea of how to wear the wrist braces and how effective they are to help manage the wrist pain. So, let’s begin here;
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Carpal tunnel syndrome, CTS
Carpal tunnel syndrome, also known as median nerve compression, occurs due to extra pressure on your median nerve, which runs throughout the arm length and goes through a passage in the wrist named carpal tunnel. However, the median nerve ends in your hand. The maiden nerve helps control the movements of your thumb and all of your fingers except your pinky finger.
Strong gripping, repetitive hand motions, awkward hand positions, vibration, and the mechanical stress on the palm are the common causes leading the carpal tunnel syndrome. The condition may make you feel numbness, tingling, and weakness in your arms and hands.
How do wrist braces help with CTS
Wearing wrist braces helps straighten and stabilise the wrists, helping reduce the pressure that squeezes the maiden nerve. Relieving pressure on the maiden nerve helps reduce the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome. As well as this, wearing the best wrist braces for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome also helps reduce the impacts of the repetitive movements of wrists during sports and other physical activities, helping reduce the chances of injuries.
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Scaphoid fracture
A scaphoid fracture is a broken wrist that occurs when the scaphoid bone is broken. The scaphoid bone is a small bone near the base of the thumb and is known as one of the carpal bones. Any impact on the wrist, especially on the scaphoid bone, can cause a scaphoid fracture.
However, the most common causes may include a direct fall during sports or other physical activities, overhead or repetitive wrist or hand movements in sports, and a direct blow to the opponents. The scaphoid fracture may result in swelling, pain, tenderness, inability to move the wrist or hands, bruising, dislocation, and deformity.
How do wrist braces help with a scaphoid fracture
Experts suggest wearing wrist braces following a scaphoid fracture. The wrist braces help control the unnecessary movements of the scaphoid bone and other surrounding bones, helping prevent further damage. As well as this, wrist supports for scaphoid fracture also provide your scaphoid bone or other broken bone the needed compressions and support, helping speed up the recovery process. Moreover, wearing wrist braces during sports and other physical activities also helps reduce the chances of wrist injuries.
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Wrist tendinitis
Wrist tendinitis is an inflammation of the wrist tendons. These tendons help connect the forearm muscles to the bones of your hands. Wrist tendinitis typically occurs due to repetitive movements or stress on the wrist tendons. The tendons are surrounded by a layer of the lubricant tissues – tendon sheath.
Overuse can irritate the sheath, leading to enlargement and inflammation. Consequently, it makes tendons difficult to glide smoothly through the sheath, causing compression on your tendons and making your wrist movements painful. The common symptoms of wrist tendinitis may include difficulty performing certain actions, such as turning doorknobs, lifting objects, and opening jars. As well as this, it may also make you feel pain, stiffness, and swelling around your wrists.
How do wrist braces help with wrist tendinitis
Wearing wrist braces keeps your wrist in a neutral position, helping bring relief to wrist pain and discomfort. These wrist braces also control the repetitive movements of the wrist, helping reduce the symptoms of wrist tendinitis or arthritis. Sportspeople or other persons involved in repetitive motions of the wrist are suggested to wear wrist braces to avoid the risks of wrist injuries.
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Wrist sprain
A wrist sprain occurs when the strong ligaments of the wrists are stretched out beyond their limits or torn. It happens when the hand or wrist is bent or twisted forcefully, such as in the case of a direct fall onto an outstretched hand. The wrist sprain commonly occurs among players or sportspeople involved in basketball, baseball, gymnastic skiing, skateboarding, and other related sports or activities. The common symptoms of a wrist sprain may include pain, swelling, warmth, tenderness, bruising, loss of motion, and weakness around your wrists.
How do wrist braces help with a wrist sprain
Wrist braces or supports for wrist sprain are designed in such a way that they keep your wrist in a neutral position. This neutral position helps minimise stress and pressure on the wrist joints and tissues. As well as this, these wrist supports may also reduce the sudden and unintended use or movements of the wrists that can aggravate the sprain. Wearing the wrist braces during sports and other physical activities may help bear the impacts of the stretching movements and overuse, helping avoid the chances of the wrist sprain.
Other treatment options for wrist injuries
Wearing wrist braces help reduce the chances of wrist injuries during sports and other physical activities. As well as this, they also help provide support and compression to the wrists, helping speed up the recovery process. However, depending upon your conditions, all these mentioned injuries may also require medical attention and other treatment processes to get better.
For example, you may need to follow the non-invasive or conservative measures, including rest, anti-inflammatory drugs, elevating the injured areas, and ice massage, to reduce the mild to moderate symptoms of wrist injuries. However, some severe conditions, such as wrist fracture, may need surgery to get back to normal.
Conclusion
If you are involved in high-contact sports, workouts, and other occupations requiring repetitive movements of wrists and hands, you may suffer from any of these mentioned injuries. However, you need to practice and work under your trainers’ supervision to avoid these injuries. Professional trainers or healthcare providers also suggest wearing the best wrist support and braces to avoid the risk of injuries as well as to help manage the wrist pain.
360 relief provides you with the best wrist supports to help manage wrist problems. You can find a variety of wrist braces that are different according to the users’ needs. It will help if you ask your GP or healthcare professional to choose the best product accordingly.
