Hand & Wrist Pain
You use your wrists and hands hundreds of times before you leave for work, so pain in them touches everything you do. Physical therapy restores motion, strength and grip after injury, surgery or arthritis. Joint Effort Physical Therapy provides hand therapy for wrist and hand pain, so you do not have to search for a hand therapist near me, in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
What is causing your wrist or hand pain
Wrist sprain and strain
A wrist sprain is a ligament injury and a strain is a muscle or tendon injury. Both typically come from a quick over-stretch, such as a fall on an outstretched arm or catching something heavy.
Broken wrist
After a wrist fracture and time in a cast, the joint is stiff and the hand weak. Wrist fracture recovery is a matter of regaining motion, then strength and grip.
De Quervain's tenosynovitis
Pain on the thumb side of the wrist when you grip, lift a child or twist, from irritated tendons running to the thumb.
Trigger finger
A finger catches or locks as it bends because the tendon does not glide smoothly through its sheath.
Thumb pain and arthritis in the hand
Arthritis is very common in the hands and is usually from repetitive motion or an injury that wears the cartilage in the joints. Thumb arthritis makes pinching, opening jars and turning keys painful. Physical therapy works to improve joint motion, reduce irritation and strengthen the muscles that support the joints. See Arthritis & Joint Pain for more on managing it.
How hand therapy at Joint Effort works
We tailor the order to your diagnosis, but care often follows this path.
Evaluation
Your physical therapist checks motion, strength, swelling, sensation and how you use your hand for the tasks that matter to you.
Calm and move
Manual therapy and range of motion exercises restore movement. We use deep tissue laser therapy, electrical stimulation or Therapeutic Ultrasound when they fit, and kinesiology taping can support the joint.
Rebuild the grip
Grip and hand strengthening progress at the pace the tissue allows, so you can get back to work, hobbies and daily tasks.
After surgery or a cast
Hand and wrist surgery, and fractures treated in a cast, usually leave stiffness, swelling and a weak grip. Rehab after surgery is covered under post-surgical rehab, and for the hand itself we manage swelling and restore motion step by step.
If you wonder whether a brace or splint belongs in your plan, ask your physical therapist at the evaluation. Our hands-on team, a physical therapist and physical therapist assistants, can walk you through your options for getting back to using the hand.
Numbness or tingling in your fingers?
Carpal tunnel
Numb fingers, especially at night, usually point to a nerve at the wrist. See Carpal Tunnel.
The elbow and neck
A nerve can also be pinched at the elbow or in the neck. See elbow pain for the cubital tunnel.
Hand and wrist pain care in Hot Springs, Arkansas
Joint Effort Physical Therapy treats Hand and wrist pain at our Hot Springs clinic, 1880 Airport Rd., Suite C.
Not sure whether your plan needs a referral? Call us. As a courtesy, we verify your health benefits before you arrive.
Meet the people who treat you on our team page.