Find Relief for All Your Elbow, Wrist, and Hand Pains!
Physiotherapy 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!
We take our elbows, wrists, and hands for granted when we aren’t in pain. Fortunately, working with a licensed Newcastle, ON physiotherapist can help you find relief or even complete recovery.
Call our clinic today at (905) 987-7778 for the help you’ve been looking for!
How can physiotherapy relieve elbow, wrist, and hand pain?
Physiotherapists are experts in movement and joint disorders who can treat your symptoms while also determining the source of your pain!
Our Newcastle, ON physiotherapists, create a personalized treatment plan that is tailored to the needs of each patient’s specific condition. This may include specialized treatments like manual therapy, pain, and inflammation-reduction methods, and specific therapeutic exercises to restore strength and pain-free movement.
The advanced treatment options available at Newcastle Physiotherapy and Sports Rehab can help to relieve your pain, restore your range of motion, and get you back to living your life normally. In many cases, physiotherapy treatments can even help you eliminate the need for harmful painkillers or invasive surgical procedures for nerve-damaging conditions like Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
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 may 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. This can 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.
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 physiotherapist 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 syndrome impacts approximately 5% of all Americans, according to the American Physiotherapy 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. Physiotherapy 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 physiotherapy today!
Don’t let elbow, wrist, or hand pain reduce your quality of life any longer! If you are looking for a Newcastle, ON physiotherapist, contact Newcastle Physiotherapy and Sports Rehab today for an appointment and to meet with one of our dedicated team members. We are located in Newcastle, ON, but are proudly servicing surrounding areas, such as Oshawa, Ajax, Bowmanville, Orono, Port Hope, and Cobourg! We will be happy to get you back to living the healthy and physically active life you deserve!