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Wrist sprain - aftercare

Scapholunate ligament sprain - aftercare

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Description

A sprain is an injury to the ligaments around a joint. Ligaments are strong, flexible fibers that hold bones together.

When you sprain your wrist, you have strained or torn one or more of the ligaments in your wrist joint. This can happen from landing on your hand wrong when you fall.

See a health care provider as soon as possible after your injury.

More About Your Injury

Wrist sprains can be mild to severe. They are ranked by how severely the ligament is pulled or torn away from the bone.

Chronic wrist sprains from poorly treated ligament injuries in the past can lead to weakening of the bones and ligaments in the wrist. If not treated, this can lead to arthritis.

What to Expect

Symptoms such as pain, swelling, bruising and loss of strength or stability are common with mild (grade 1) to moderate (grade 2) wrist sprains.

With mild injuries, stiffness is normal once the ligament begins to heal. This can improve with light stretching.

Severe (grade 3) wrist sprains may need to be looked at by a hand surgeon. X-rays or an MRI of the wrist may need to be done. More severe injuries may require surgery.

Chronic sprains should be treated with splinting, pain medicine, and anti-inflammatory medicine. Chronic sprains may need steroid injections and possibly surgery.

Symptom Relief

Follow any specific instructions for symptom relief. You may be advised that for the first few days or weeks after your injury:

Make sure to rest your wrist as much as you can. Use a compression wrap or splint to keep the wrist from moving and to keep the swelling down.

For pain, you can use ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), naproxen (Aleve, Naprosyn), or acetaminophen (Tylenol). You can buy these pain medicines at the store.

Activity

To build strength once your wrist starts to feel better, try the ball drill.

To increase flexibility and movement:

If you feel increased discomfort in your wrist after these exercises, ice the wrist for 20 minutes.

Do the exercises twice a day.

Follow-up

Follow up with your provider 1 to 2 weeks after your injury. Based on the severity of your injury, your provider may want to see you more than once.

For chronic wrist sprains, talk to your provider about what activity may be causing you to re-injure your wrist and what you can do to prevent further injury.

When to Call the Doctor

Call the provider if you have:

References

Franco VS, Kim HT. Wrist and forearm injuries. In: Walls RM, ed. Rosen's Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 10th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2023:chap 43.

Marinello PG, Gaston RG, Robinson EP, Lourie GM. Hand and wrist diagnosis and decision making. In: Miller MD, Thompson SR. eds. DeLee, Drez, & Miller's Orthopaedic Sports Medicine. 5th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2020:chap 67.

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Review Date: 5/12/2022  

Reviewed By: Linda J. Vorvick, MD, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Family Medicine, UW Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA. Also reviewed by David C. Dugdale, MD, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.

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