Consistent wrist pain: Anyone have tips on strengthening wrists?

Posted by Tony Hart @TonyHart87, Mar 7, 2016

<p>I live an active lifestyle often jumping from one activity to the next. Being in my late twenties, I've always felt that my body could take it. Over a year ago my right wrist started to hurt. I had a busy weekend with paintball, tennis, and hanging sheetrock for my garage but was still surprised to have my right wrist swell up come Monday morning. It hadn't hurt during any of the weekend activities and I didn't recall any pain or trauma that could have caused it. I iced it for a few days and took Aleve but it never got fully better. After weeks of pain (only when I bend my wrist back to about 3/4 extension) and not being able to put pressure on it (pushups were unimaginable and it was tough to get up off the floor), I went in for an x-ray which revealed nothing. After doing some more Rest and Recovery (R&R) it still hurt, so I went into my doctor at Mayo Clinic and he recommended the use of a wrist brace. It felt a little better but never all of the way. If I didn't do anything on it for a month or two I would be able to do some things but not all. After about a year, I got it re-x-rayed, which didn't show much. The doctor said that there was a very minimal gap forming between my lunate and another hand bone. After seeing a hand specialist (again at Mayo Clinic), he mentioned that he felt a little lump and said that it was probably a ganglion cyst and sent me for a wrist ultrasound. Turns out that it was a cyst, they performed a 15 minute procedure using a needle to poke holes in it and I am currently just shy of a week after. My wrist is feeling better and I am hopeful that this fixes the issue on a longer term scale. If the cyst were to reoccur, surgical removal would be the next option. If you are having very localized pain in your wrist that doesn't get better with R&R, I would certainly recommend getting it looked at by a hand specialist and to ask about ganglion cysts!</p>

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Alyse Brunella | @alysebrunella | Mar 7, 2016

@TonyHart87 What a long journey of dealing with pain and impediment to your active lifestyle. I'm happy to hear that you were able to find a treatment plan for your wrist to help subside the pain.

I'd like to tag a couple of other members who are experiencing unresolved wrist pain. @jesiah505 and @kathyswansonsolka, I wanted to share Tony's journey with you in hopes that it may give you some suggestions in your search for answers to your wrist pain.

Tony, how long do you anticipate before you can return to your regular activities?

Tony Hart | @TonyHart87 | Mar 8, 2016

In reply to @alysebrunella "@TonyHart87 What a long journey of dealing with pain and impediment to your active lifestyle. I'm..." + (show)

Sorry to hear about your unresolved wrist pains @jesiah505 and @kathyswansonsolka. It's a terrible thing to deal with.

It's been 5 days since the procedure and I'm just starting to trust it more now. It's been hurting for so long, I wince a little when I do something even though there isn't pain anymore. I'm not going to be too rough on it right out of the gate but I did bike into work today and it seemed fine just a little stiff. I'll slowly be ramping up my activities again now.

Tony Hart | @TonyHart87 | Mar 15, 2016

It's been 12 days since my procedure and my wrist is feeling great. A little stiff from time to time but that's mostly from not using it for so long. I raked and thatched the lawn this weekend and played disc golf and had no pain! I'll post if anything changes or the pain comes back.

Alyse Brunella | @alysebrunella | Mar 15, 2016

Hi @TonyHart87 - I'm glad to hear your surgery went well! Please keep us posted on your recovery, as your journey will be beneficial to other members experiencing wrist pain, as well as others who have gone through a similar procedure.

Tony Hart | @TonyHart87 | May 12, 2016

Update: 2 months after procedure - I had begun biking to work (6 mile ride round trip) on a consistent basis back in April but started having pain in my wrist that had the procedure. The pain wasn't in the middle where the issue was but on the outside (ulnar nerve) that started to radiate up into my elbow a bit. After a few weeks of Rest and Recovery, it's finally back to feeling good again. My guess is that I tried to do too much immediately after the procedure and my wrist was still weak. I'm hoping so anyways! Anyone have any tips on strengthening wrists?

truepaintballer | @truepaintballer | Sep 30, 2022

There are many things to eliminate and strengthen my wrist but I mostly do Squeezie when I feel strengthened.
You can squeeze just about anything in this one. Try a tennis ball, hand grip exerciser, or towel.

While standing or sitting, hold your ball (or squeezable thing of choice with your palm facing up.
Squeeze your squeezy thing as hard as you can for 3 seconds.
Slowly release your grip.
Repeat 10 times, then switch sides.

These step help to release stress and provide mentally peace very quickly.