Wrist Pain Specialist
-
- Tweet
Blake Fenkell, D.O.
Orthopedic Surgeon & Arthroscopy & Sports Medicine located in Troy, MI
When any movement involving your wrist hurts, it’s time to find out the cause and start the solution. At Blake Fenkell, the private orthopedic practice of Blake Fenkell, DO, you get customized wrist pain evaluation, diagnosis, and management, with an emphasis on fast pain relief and recovery. Call the office in Troy, Michigan, or use the online scheduler to arrange your wrist pain evaluation now.
Wrist Pain Q&A
What causes wrist pain?
Wrist pain can refer to pain affecting any of the bones, joints, tendons, ligaments, muscles, and other tissues that make up your wrist. Common causes of pain in this area include:
- Arthritis
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Strains
- Sprains
- Fractures
- Ganglion cysts
- Kienböck's disease
- De Quervain's tenosynovitis
Sports that require frequent wrist movement, jobs that require repetitive hand and wrist movements, and diseases like gout and diabetes may raise the risk of developing a condition that causes wrist pain.
How is wrist pain diagnosed?
Diagnosing the cause of wrist pain can be complicated because so many different tissues can cause or contribute to it.
Dr. Fenkell conducts a careful exam of your wrist, moving it in various ways and gently palpating the skin to check for swelling, bumps, and other problems. He also evaluates your hand, as problems within your wrist can lead to hand weakness and other issues.
Depending on the suspected origin of your wrist pain, Dr. Fenkell may recommend lab tests or imaging tests such as X-rays, computed tomography (CT) scans, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or ultrasounds.
If Dr. Fenkell suspects nerve involvement in your wrist pain, he may conduct tests to check muscle electrical activity and nerve conduction.
In some cases, Dr. Fenkell may recommend a minimally invasive procedure to better evaluate your wrist from the inside. In this procedure, he uses an arthroscope — an ultrathin tube housing a tiny video camera — to carefully examine your wrist and look for the problems that imaging exams might not show.
Wrist arthroscopy can also serve as a treatment, as Dr. Fenkell can often perform repairs on the spot.
How is wrist pain treated?
Dr. Fenkell prescribes individual wrist pain management plans according to the root cause of your wrist pain. He always approaches wrist pain using conservative measures first, including physical therapy, wrist bracing, activity modification, and anti-inflammatory medication.
For severe wrist pain, you might need anti-inflammatory corticosteroid injections, anesthetic injections, or radiofrequency ablation for extended pain relief.
If you have a soft tissue injury like a ligament or tendon injury, you can potentially heal much faster with a precision medicine treatment, such as platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections. This, in turn, brings on pain relief.
Certain cases of wrist pain may not improve with nonsurgical care, especially problems involving wrist trauma or severe degenerative damage. Dr. Fenkell may recommend arthroscopic surgery to address the issue using only tiny incisions.
If every move of the wrist seems more painful than the last, it’s time to reach out to Blake Fenkell for help. Book your appointment by phone, or click the online scheduler now.
