The wrist cartilage and ligaments are essential for stabilizing, supporting, and cushioning your wrist. However, the cartilage and ligaments of your wrist cartilage are prone to degradation or injury, leading to wrist arthritis. The joint pain in your wrists can worsen when you rest or exert pressure on the joint. Apart from joint pain, your wrists may also be inflamed and stiff. Although there is no cure for arthritis, several treatments are available at your orthopedic surgeon’s disposal for relieving its symptoms and improving function in affected joints. One common surgical treatment your surgeon may recommend is proximal row carpectomy Chula Vista. The surgical procedure involves removing a few carpal bones from your wrist, which creates more room for the remaining bones to move freely without rubbing against each other.
Causes of wrist arthritis
Your wrist arthritis may result from the natural process of wear and tear as you age. The wrist pain from wear and tear is often referred to as degenerative arthritis or degenerative joint disease.
You may be at high risk of degenerative joint disease in your wrist if you are obese or overuse your joints.
Another potential cause of arthritis in your wrist is auto-immune problems. Sometimes, the immune cells of your body, which protect you against diseases and infections, can mistakenly attack healthy cartilage in your wrists or other parts of your body with joints. One common autoimmune and inflammatory disease that may attack the cartilage in your wrists is rheumatoid arthritis or RA.
Your hand surgeon may refer you to a rheumatologist or primary physician to help manage and control rheumatoid arthritis affecting your wrist.
Wrist arthritis may also develop due to an injury that affects your wrist. Debilitating, chronic joint pain can occur in your wrists slowly or quickly. Also called posttraumatic arthritis, wrist arthritis results from an injury deteriorating ligament and cartilage; thus, the wrist bones rub against each other.
Conservative treatments for wrist arthritis
Your hand surgeon will likely recommend non-surgical treatments to help relieve symptoms of wrist arthritis, such as pain, inflammation, and stiffness.
Conservative treatments may involve activity modification, medications, exercises, and steroid injections. For example, activity modification demands that you stop or minimize engaging in activities or tasks that may promote joint pain in your wrists. Activity modification can help curb the worsening and spread of your joint pain to other sections of your body.
You may also need to take a therapeutic medication to help reduce joint pain, inflammation, and discomfort in your wrists.
A physical therapist can also teach you exercises you can regularly perform to improve the movement and function of your wrists. Your physical therapist may also encourage you to wear wrist splints to avoid further straining your arthritic joints.
If conservative treatments fail to relieve your discomfort and pain, significantly affecting your quality of life, you may undergo surgery. Apart from proximal row carpectomy, other surgical treatment options include wrist fusion and total wrist replacement.
Contact Ortho 1 Medical Group today to schedule an appointment with a carpectomy specialist.