Hand Tendonitis: 5 Symptoms You Should Know About
October 20th, 2020
Hand Tendonitis: 5 Symptoms You Should Know About
Have you experienced hand pain recently? You may have hand tendonitis, but consider the common symptoms and visit the doctor to confirm your diagnosis.
If your work involves a lot of writing, typing, drawing, or other types of repetitive hand movements, you might be starting to notice that you’re suffering from some wrist or hand pain.
This pain can be a result of several possible causes. It may just be a general soreness that will fade with time, or your hands and wrists gaining strength from the work that you’re doing.
It might be carpal tunnel syndrome, arthritis, or even hand tendonitis.
We’re going to talk you through how to identify whether or not you have tendonitis in your hands. A hand injury can be debilitating, and it can negatively impact your ability to work.
If you let it go on too long, it can cause more serious problems in the future.
Keep reading to learn some of the hand tendonitis symptoms so that you can seek out treatment as soon as possible.
1. Persistent Pain
You’ll notice wrist and hand pain in no time if you’re using your hands and wrists a lot. In with wist and hand tendonitis, this pain begins as weakness and increases to a dull throb that radiates from the affected area. It can also start as tenderness up and down one or more fingers along the palm of your hand.
In the early stages, this pain might stop when you’re no longer moving the wrists and hands. Later on, the pain can be consistent.
Tendonitis can get worse over time without some form of treatment and go from a dull ache or throb to a sharp pain that makes it impossible to get work done. You want to see a doctor or rehabilitation expert (or both) before you reach this point.
2. A Sliding or Grating Feeling
Tendonitis can sometimes give you the feeling that your joints are sliding against each other. This feeling may start off smooth but can increase in intensity to a grating or scraping sensation.
This is uncomfortable and even frightening. If your joints are grating against each other, or you feel as though they are, it’s important to seek a doctor right away.
3. Inflammation and Swelling
Tendonitis can cause some fluid buildup in the affected area. This is due to the inflammation of the hand and wrist.
This is going to cause your hand and wrist to swell. The swelling is going to be mild but noticeable and can get worse over time. That swelling may cause extra pain and tightness in your hands and wrists.
4. Inability to Bend Fingers
Tendonitis has some rarer symptoms as well. These are more likely to pop up if you’ve been trying to ignore the condition for a while instead of seeking out professional help and rehabilitation.
One of these symptoms is sharp pain when trying to bend the fingers. It may only affect one finger, or it might be the entire hand.
If this persists, you may lose the ability to bend one or more fingers at all. When this happens, it’s a more urgent situation that requires a visit to the doctor. You can’t keep doing work or going through your daily life if you can’t bend your fingers.
5. Numbness
Numbness is less prevalent in hand and wrist tendonitis than it is in other conditions such as carpal tunnel syndrome. This is one of the ways that you can differentiate the two conditions if you’re trying to assess the situation on your own.
Carpel tunnel syndrome can cause numbness and tingling up and down the arm from the elbow to the hand (like a “pins and needles” feeling or just complete numbness). The numbness is often on the bottom of the arm, but this isn’t always the case.
In tendonitis, the numbness is usually restricted to one area. If you’re having more problems in your fingers, it will be on the tips of those fingers. This numbness can be hard to notice at first as it’s not as widespread as the numbness from carpal tunnel syndrome.
When Should I See a Doctor?
Some hand pain from time to time is nothing to be concerned about. These symptoms can be a non-issue if they’re brief.
When they become persistent enough that you’re noticing them impact the quality of your work or life, it’s time to seek a professional for a diagnosis and guidance.
Letting the pain go on for too long can cause more permanent problems down the line. You don’t have to deal with the tendonitis symptoms alone. It’s best to find relief as soon as possible.
How Is Hand Tendonitis Treated?
There are several ways to treat tendonitis in the hands and wrists. Once you’ve been diagnosed, your doctor may prescribe something for pain relief or suggest some over the counter pain medications to soften the pain and reduce inflammation.
In some extreme cases, doctors might recommend surgical options. These are outpatient procedures, and they’re only necessary if the tendon has torn.
Non-surgical options are always preferred if they’re possible. Your doctor may recommend rest, exercise, hand and wrist splints, or some kind of rehabilitation or physical therapy program. They may also suggest a combination of these things.
Keeping up with stretches, exercise, keeping the brace on, and attending your rehabilitation sessions will help your hand and wrist to heal.
Are You Feeling Wrist and Hand Pain?
If you’ve been feeling persistent pain, weakness, swelling, or stiffness in your hands, you might be dealing with hand tendonitis. Seeking treatment as soon as possible helps you reduce future harm and work towards healing.
If this sounds like you, visit your doctor and ask about hand rehabilitation as a treatment method for your tendonitis.
Visit our site today to learn about our hand therapy options so you can get back to your pain-free life.
