Wrist Pain When You Grip or Lift: What It Usually Means

Wrist pain and numb fingers are two different complaints. If your hand tingles or goes numb, that is a nerve question, answered on is it carpal tunnel or a problem in my neck and numbness and tingling in the hands and arms. This page is pain: gripping, twisting a lid, pushing up out of a chair, carrying something.

At Tradewinds Chiropractic & Wellness in Estate Thomas, two questions sort it: where the tenderness sits, and which movement sets it off. Eight small bones, several tendon groups and a pad of cartilage share a joint the width of your hand, so an inch changes the answer.

Pain on the thumb side

The pattern we see most. It flares when you grip, and especially when you lift with the thumb pointing up: a kettle, a hand tool, a baby lifted under the arms all day. The sore spot is a band a couple of finger widths back from the base of the thumb, tender enough that turning a key hurts. Usually this is tendon load on that side, following a change in what the hands are doing. Thumb-side pain that began with a fall is the red flag below.

Pain on the little-finger side

Pain on the outer edge answers to rotation: a doorknob, opening a jar, pushing up out of a chair with the palm flat. Some people get a click with the turn. A small pad of cartilage there takes load when the forearm rotates, and it is a common site of trouble after a fall onto the hand and after months of twisting. A wrist that clunks on rotation is worth examining.

Pain across the back of the wrist under weight

Some wrists only complain when you push through the palm: a plank, a press-up, getting up off the floor. The pain sits across the back and stops the moment the weight comes off. That is usually about how far the wrist bends back under load, not damage, so changing the hand position often settles it.

A soft lump on the back of the wrist

A smooth lump that grows and shrinks over weeks, is often painless, and shifts under the skin is usually a ganglion: a pocket of joint fluid, not a tumor. Many go away on their own. Show it once so it gets named, and so a lump that is hard, fixed, growing or painful at night gets handled as the different question it is.

When the wrist is not the source

Neck problems can refer symptoms into the forearm and wrist, so wrist pain with neck stiffness or an ache near the shoulder blade gets the neck checked too: neck pain. The elbow is on tennis elbow and golfer's elbow.

What actually changes it

Grip through a painful wrist keeps it irritated, which is why this drags on in people who work with their hands. Changing the grip, the tool or the load matters more than any stretch: a fatter handle, a two-handed lift, a different way of picking up the baby. Taping or temporary support during the tasks that hurt is reasonable while the load gets managed, but it is not a treatment, and a wrist held still stiffens.

How we sort it out at Tradewinds

The exam maps tenderness bone by bone and tendon by tendon, tests grip and forearm rotation, compares wrist motion against the other side, and screens the elbow and neck. Digital x-rays are taken on site when a bone injury is in question. If it is a load problem, care is hands-on work through the forearm and wrist, joint work where the wrist is stiff, and a plan for the task behind it. If not, we refer out.

Dr. Keys is the Chair of the Virgin Islands Board of Chiropractic Examiners, a member of the Virgin Islands Chiropractic Society, and the International Chiropractors Association representative for the U.S. Virgin Islands.

When you should see someone else

Fell on your hand, and the hollow at the base of the thumb is tender? That needs medical assessment and imaging. The hollow that appears when you stretch the thumb away from the hand is called the anatomical snuffbox, and one of the small wrist bones, the scaphoid, sits directly underneath it. Breaks there get missed constantly, for two reasons: they feel like an ordinary sprain, and they frequently do not show on the first x-ray. A normal x-ray on day one does not rule one out. Left untreated, that bone can fail to heal and the wrist can be damaged permanently. The assumption that causes the harm here is "it is just a sprain." Get it assessed, and go back if it is still sore a week or two later even after a clean film.

Go to the nearest emergency room, or call 911, if:

• The wrist is visibly deformed after a fall
• You cannot move the hand, or cannot put any weight through it
• The hand is cold or pale, which is a circulation emergency
• The wrist is hot, red and swollen with a fever, which can be an infected joint and is urgent

Get seen promptly, not eventually, if numbness or weakness in the hand is spreading or worsening.

Getting seen

Charter crew hauling lines account for a lot of this. Visitors, tell us your departure date when you call. We are in the VI Medical Foundation Building, Suite 202, 9150 Estate Thomas, St. Thomas, USVI 00802. Hours: Mon, Wed, Thu 10:00 am to 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Tue, Fri 7:00 am to 2:00 pm. Closed Sat and Sun.

Call (340) 690-4994 or email info@tradewindschiropractic.com. We take walk-ins and same-day appointments. New patient forms are on the forms page to print and fill in.

Questions patients ask

What causes wrist pain when gripping?

Most often it is the tendons on the thumb side of the wrist taking more load than they have adapted to, which is why it flares when you grip and when you lift with the thumb pointing up. Pain on the little-finger side that answers to twisting is a different structure, and pain across the back of the wrist only when you push through the palm is a third. Tradewinds Chiropractic & Wellness examines the wrist to sort out which one you have. Call (340) 690-4994.

My wrist hurts when I lift things. Is that carpal tunnel?

Probably not. Carpal tunnel is a nerve problem, and its signature is numbness and tingling in the fingers, worst at night, easing when you shake the hand out. Pain with gripping and lifting, with no numbness, usually points at the tendons, the joint surfaces or the cartilage pad instead. If you have both pain and numbness, both questions are worth asking.

What does pain on the outside of my wrist mean?

If you mean the little-finger side, pain there is usually provoked by rotating the forearm: jars, doorknobs, screwdrivers, pushing up out of a chair. A small cartilage pad on that side takes load during rotation, and it is a common source of trouble after a fall onto the hand or after repeated twisting. A click or clunk with the turn makes it worth an exam.

I fell on my hand and my wrist still hurts. Do I need an x-ray?

If the hollow at the base of your thumb is tender, yes, and you should be assessed even if you can still move the wrist. A small bone sits under that spot, breaks there are frequently missed because they feel like a sprain, and they often do not appear on the first x-ray. A normal initial film does not clear it. Go back for another look if it is still sore a week or two later.

What is the soft lump on the back of my wrist?

Most of the time it is a ganglion, a pocket of joint fluid that swells and shrinks over weeks, is often painless, and moves a little under the skin. It is benign and many resolve on their own. A lump that is hard, fixed in place, steadily growing or painful at night should be looked at rather than watched.