Not an athlete but want to get clear on what you can do about wrist pain that won’t go away for good?
Wrist injuries are fairly prevalent among athletes and wrist pain can come from any number of movements.
Patient Success Story: Student Athlete Back On The Field After Healing Wrist Pain
Meet Andrew
Our client Andrew (a high school baseball player) had severe pain in his wrists on and off for about 2 years before coming to us for help. He played baseball all through high school and it was his and his parent’s dream for him to go to college on a baseball scholarship.
In his senior year months before the season was going to officially start, he started to practice and started to develop wrist pain. His father was really worried because scouts were going to come by at the beginning of the season and they could not risk him not playing due to injury.
See, a year before that, he had injured his wrist while working on improving his swinging and hurt his wrist. They went to the hand surgeon and got a splint to wear for 2 months. He did a few stretches and got back to working out and hitting the ball. The pain went away.
When the pain returned this time, they knew to just get started with wearing the wrist splint while waiting to talk to the doctor. For a month but even with the immobilization, the wrist pain continued on for a few months. This time, the hand surgeon recommended possible scoping to see what was wrong with the wrist.
When it comes to wrist pain, we have so many bones and ligaments there that even with MRI, it doesn’t always tell the true story. Arthroscope is a type of surgery where they look into the wrist with two scopes and a camera and can clean up any debris between the bones or fix a ligament if it’s torn.
But that’s surgery. I don’t care if it looks only like 3 punctures. It can be painful. You can lose motion. You need therapy to recover. And the worst part, is all the down time. Andrew would NOT be able to play baseball.
The doctor said that was the last resort and sent him to us for conservative treatment
Andrew at Hands-on Therapy Services
He tried resting for a couple of weeks, thinking to himself, if it could get better on its own. It is true that resting is one of the most important steps to healing the initial symptoms, but in Andrew’s case he had to seek professional help before it was too late. Otherwise he would lose his college baseball scholarship if things continued the way it did..
Fortunately as Miami occupational therapists and certified hand therapists, we were able to put him in a position to succeed without having to worry about whether his wrist would hurt more or keep continuing to hurt.
The most important aspect of therapy is making a decision that you want to exhaust all conservative methods first. Since that was a YES, and they already tried splinting for a month, we could pick up and get along faster.
We needed to fully look and examine how the whole arm moved in various positions and situations. Once we did that, we could pick key movements that would work the best to reduce the pain WITH certain activities.
We created a plan for him.
Young kid, not having pain all the time, but needed to get better within a time frame.
Once completed with the personalized program, Andrew was pain free, and able to play baseball without worrying that he might need surgery. He was able to progress himself throughout the process and able to continue even after he went off to college.
Written by Hoang Tran
Andrew’s Testimonials
Check out our Success Stories Page , which also includes Andrew’s Testimonials OR check out a Video Testimonial form our Andrew H.
About the author – Hoang Tran
Hoang Tran is a certified hand therapist and the owner of Hands-on Therapy Services and author of the book “The Hands-On Approach”. She loves helping people with hand, neck and shoulder problems, because she knows how bad and debilitating they can get if not addressed and treated properly (once and for all!).
The aim of her Miami hand therapy clinic is to bring patients back to full functionality, without pills, injections or surgery.
If you are struggling with wrist pain that comes and goes….AND you want to avoid it from getting worse, avoid injections and surgery, give us a call at 786-615-9879 and ask how we can help you. You can also schedule an appointment, OR request a Free Discovery Visit!
In these difficult times, we are here to help. Telehealth and online sessions are available!
The material contained on this site is for informational purposes only and DOES NOT CONSTITUTE THE PROVIDING OF MEDICAL ADVICE, and is not intended to be a substitute for independent professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare providers with any questions or concerns you may have regarding your health.
