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17-Year-Old With Constant Wrist Pain – No Diagnosis Despite MRI
Chronic Pain | Last Active: 12 minutes ago | Replies (8)Comment receiving replies
@michal
I have a 16 year old son and can empathize with your concern.
Were the MRIs of your daughter’s wrist/hands only?
Have you been to a neurologist for EMG/nerve conduction studies of her upper limbs? If not, that would be good to check communications from brain to upper limbs/muscles and neuromuscular health. That would identify if there is any spinal nerve root compression affecting arms/hands or carpal tunnel syndrome.
You should ask the neurologist or an orthopedic spine specialist to check her cervical spine with a MRI to make sure she doesn’t have compressed nerve roots or spinal cord causing her symptoms. The neurologist can also do bloodwork to check for neuropathy markers.
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@michal
Is your daughter a vegetarian or vegan? Nutritional deficiencies can cause neuropathy symptoms and problems with hands/feet.
The neuropathy bloodwork can check if she is deficient in vitamin B12, iron, etc. A nutritionist/dietitian can review diet/supplements to see if anything should change.
Does your daughter smoke or vape? The chemicals in cigarettes or vape cartridges can damage nerves due to toxicity.
If your daughter hasn’t done physical therapy, that may help address any issues with repetitive motion injuries.
Has she tried cortisone injections or acupuncture for pain management? Working with a pain management specialist might help.
She may want to try sleeping with wrist braces to see if it helps stabilize hands/wrists at night and if it helps reduce morning pain. Wearing them during the day when she has pain may help prevent injury but she doesn’t want to wear them too much where muscles atrophy.