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Wrist problem--advice/experiences?

OK, so I was at work about a week ago (I work at Starbucks). I went to lift one of the brewers and heard/felt my wrist snap. Now, although this hurt a lot, the pain subsided so I went about my day. Also, this has happened to me on multiple occasions, and nothing came of it. I have flimsy wrists, and I've just sorta come to accept that.

Anyway, the next day or two I finished up a few commissions that I had, using my tablet/photoshop. Well, the next day my wrist was *killing* me, and it hasn't gotten better since. It's weird, because it's not swollen at all, it just hurts to move it and it makes a weird clicky sound when I try to rotate it. Also, just FYI, it's just the side of the wrist where the thumb joint connects, and the pain just kinda runs along the side there, from below my wrist and up into my thumb. My MIL has arthritis, and she describes hers this way.

So, I'm trying to take it easy, but I have a labor-intensive job *and* a 2 year old, so I'm sure you know what that means.

I guess what I'm wondering is if any of you struggle with this kind of thing. It seems like a repetative strain type of problem. It's not swollen at all, however, it just hurts. A lot.

I've been icing the holy heck out of it, any chance I get, and it provides relief. But once I stop icing it just hurts as bad as it did before. Advil doesn't help at all either.

Any advice? I may be making a trip to the doctor next week if it doesn't get any better by then.

Oh, and BTW, I've been wrapping it in an ace bandage any time I have to use it. You know, for support and such.

It's my right hand, and I'm a righty, so obviously art is out. What do I do about this guy I still owe commissions to? I feel really bad, but I don't know if I should work on them right now...

I have a similar problem with my elbow. If I use my mouse in a marathon kind of way (liiiike 48hour gaming or whatever!), my elbow just aches and keeps on aching for a day or two.

As for the clicking wrist - have you looked into carpal tunnel syndrome? The clicking almost sounds like your wrist is partially dislocating or something. Best (non-medical practitioner) thing would probably be rest (HAHAHA!! what's that?) or getting one of those proper wrist straps/supports for use at work and such.

Well, that was a whole lot of nothing right there. :)

I have almost the same thing with my left wrist. I happened when I started using the orbitals at the gym, which added constant side-to-side motion on my wrists which they are not accustomed to at all. A week later my wrist slowly started hurting more and more, until I'd eventually wake up in the middle of the night and be in a significant about of pain.

Side-to-side movements of my hand and rotating my thumb is what hurt. I could feel the tendon that moves when I rotate my thumb was swollen, and the popping sensation when I rotated my thumb felt like the tendon was shifting around and rolling over the carpals (kinda creepy).

So I used a wrist brace for a few weeks and that helped out a lot, especially while sleeping. I'd put my hand under hot water to loosen my muscles up so I could actually rotating my thumb and hand without any pain, and then cooling it to bring down the swelling. And I couldn't actually see the swelling at all, it was just that one tendon that I could feel more in one arm (2 inches from the wrist and at the base of my thumb) than the other arm.

After about a month of taking care of it I didn't need to use a wrist brace anymore. However, even 6 months later if I lift something with my left hand wrong I'll feel pain and the occasional popping sensation. So I think it's probably tendinitis, but I haven't gotten it checked with the doctor yet.

I'd at least recommend the wrist brace. Don't wear it all the time though, especially if your wrist has been okay for a week because you'll become dependent on it and your wrist will become even weaker. As for the heating/stretching/cooling thing it seemed to have worked for me but I'm not a doctor.

Thank you for your input, guys, really appreciate it. Maybe I need to invest in a better brace. The wrap adds support, but it doesn't immobilize entirely. I'm thinking tendinitis too. Gonna look up carpal tunnel syndrom and see the symptoms for that.

I do apartment maintenance for my day job, which is VERY hard on the hands. About a month ago I was working on some under-sink plumbing, trying to un-stick a large compression nut with two crescent wrenches. The position was awkward, and when the nut finally gave, I heard this odd sort of grinding crunch pop sound from my right wrist. It hurt like hell, and then the pain subsided after a few minutes. However, as the day wore on, the pain returned, and became VERY intense by the evening, particularly if I put any pressure on my thumb.

I described it to my closest friend, who was fairly certain she knew what I had done. Somehow, in putting a lot of pressure on my wrist at a very odd angle, I had not only popped a couple bones out of joint, but I had managed to roll the tendon leading to the knuckle of my middle finger onto the WRONG side of the bone. Just leaving it alone was not going to solve the problem, so she massaged my hand for a good fifteen minutes, and was finally able to pop the bones back into place and massage the tendon back to where it should be. I wore a rigid wrist brace at night and anytime I was home for the next few days, and it was about two weeks before my wrist was totally back to normal.

I don't know if that's what your problem is, but it's a thought. I hope you are able to find a solution and get your wrist back to normal. Nothing scares me more than the thought of loosing the full use of my hands.

Wow, Sid, that sounds so similar to what happened with my wrist. Makes me wonder if that's what's gone on with me. Someone else mentioned physical therapy, so maybe I should go to a doctor and see about making an appointment.

I may need a brace at night. Last night I rolled onto my hand at some point and woke up this morning with my wrist/thumb just *throbbing*, and it's really hurting today.

OK, so I'm noticing something about myself regarding this issue. I feel like my wrist is slowly improving. But now I have a hard time not overusing, since it's feeling better. I'm more comfortable with everyday activities, so I'm doing all kinds of stuff, but now it's hurting more again. Hmm... I wonder when I'll be able to use it to its fullest without it getting inflamed again...

Okay,here goes.Before I got into hand-drawn art, I was into fly-tying( the creation of detailed inverdebrate imitations for artistic/fishing applications),which requires constant hand rotation in the application of matierials. Long story short, I ended up with severe carpal-tunnel.I was completley unable to rotate or move my wrists in any way. At the age of 16, surgery did'nt seem like an attractive option, so I went looking for alternatives. I found a book on dealing with carpal-tunnel( and a coulple other flexability issues), and applied the included exercises. It definetly was'nt an immediate fix,I had to keep myself on a strict stretching regime,and when I skipped the exercises for a few days, my wrists would just tighten up agian. Taking glucosamine tablets in combination with the stretching exercises seemed to help with joint flexability, but I'm not sure. Anyway, I'm 20 now, and though I do have to deal with occasional stiffness, it's not anywhere as bad as it was before.

I don't have the book with me right now, but I could post the info and ISBN later if you're interested.

~The Lone Wolf

Lone Wolf28 said: Okay,here goes.Before I got into hand-drawn art, I was into fly-tying( the creation of detailed inverdebrate imitations for artistic/fishing applications),which requires constant hand rotation in the application of matierials. Long story short, I ended up with severe carpal-tunnel.I was completley unable to rotate or move my wrists in any way. At the age of 16, surgery did'nt seem like an attractive option, so I went looking for alternatives. I found a book on dealing with carpal-tunnel( and a coulple other flexability issues), and applied the included exercises. It definetly was'nt an immediate fix,I had to keep myself on a strict stretching regime,and when I skipped the exercises for a few days, my wrists would just tighten up agian. Taking glucosamine tablets in combination with the stretching exercises seemed to help with joint flexability, but I'm not sure. Anyway, I'm 20 now, and though I do have to deal with occasional stiffness, it's not anywhere as bad as it was before.

I don't have the book with me right now, but I could post the info and ISBN later if you're interested.

~The Lone Wolf

Wow, yeah, I'd love the book info! Thanks a lot! Also, glad to hear you got your CTS under control without surgery, that's pretty awesome. Seems like they always automatically resort to surgery on that.