Sprained Wrist: What You Should Know About It!

A sprained wrist is very painful and is accompanied by swelling and restricted mobility. 

A  sprained wrist  is caused by injury to the joint capsule and ligaments from incorrect movement, a fall, or excessive stress. In some cases, individual fibers of the ligaments or muscles can tear.

Normally, it is an overstretching of the ligaments in the wrist,  which occurs particularly when one falls awkwardly on one hand or supports oneself with one hand in the event of a fall. Athletes also often suffer from this injury from repetitive exertion.

It is a very common problem,  with an injury of the scapholunal ligament (SL ligament) that connects two of the small wrist bones, particularly often.

Sprains can have a wide variety of causes and accordingly different treatments are used. You can learn more about this topic in today’s article. You can also find advice here to help alleviate the discomfort.

Sprained Wrist: What You Should Know About It!

As already mentioned at the beginning, a wrist sprain is caused by overstretching, which is usually triggered by a wrong movement or a fall.

The sprain can have different degrees of severity. It depends on the injury to the ligament. However, regardless of the severity, overstretching a ligament always causes pain and restricted mobility.

The extent of the injury is divided into three categories:

• Mild Sprain (Severity 1): It is a minor injury to a ligament that has been overstretched without tearing.

• Moderate sprain (severity level 2): The moderate injury to the ligaments is caused by overstretching and small tears. Almost 50 percent of the fibers are torn.
• Severe sprain (severity 3):  In this case, the ligament is completely torn and the wrist can no longer be stressed. The treatment is then more complex.

How does a wrist sprain come about?

Usually the injury arises as a result of a fall or fall on the floor,  or if one supports the hand incorrectly. In this situation, one often tries to soften the impact with the hand, which results in the ligaments being overstretched. Often the scapholunal ligament is affected. It connects the scaphoid bone under the ball of the hand with the semilunar bone.

However, the injury can also result from overexertion of the wrist. This is often the case with athletes who perform repetitive movements when practicing sports such as tennis or paddling, for example.

How is a sprained wrist treated?

The sprain of the wrist creates pain and limits the ability of the joint to move. This type of injury often causes sequelae if not treated properly.

In the event of a sprain, it is recommended that the affected joint be in a resting position. You need to prevent stress on the joint in order for the injury to heal properly. You should also put ice on the affected area immediately after the injury.

Usually the joint is immobilized with a bandage. However, this must be put on correctly so that it does not exert too much pressure. Otherwise, the affected area of ​​the body will not have sufficient blood flow and recovery will be more complicated.

In some cases,  surgery is required. This can be done through surgical arthroscopy, in which a camera is inserted through a small incision to help the surgeon.

Summarizing conclusion

A sprained wrist is a common injury that can happen at any time. This is particularly the case in the event of a fall or overload. The main symptoms are pain, swelling, and limited mobility of the joint.

If you have symptoms and think you have a sprain, you should definitely see a  doctor. They can examine you and recommend appropriate treatment to avoid complications.