Wrist pain can occur for a variety of reasons including medical illness, overuse of the wrist, and acute trauma. In each case, the pain can be debilitating and it can undermine one's ability to perform basic daily living tasks. Thankfully, innovative treatments are emerging to help manage, reduce, and in some cases, eliminate wrist pain altogether.
By far, the most common cause of wrist pain is carpal tunnel syndrome. Caused by compression and entrapment of the median nerve, carpal tunnel syndrome is characterized by numbness, tingling, swelling and paresthesia in the fingers and moderate to severe pain in the wrist. It may also involve diminished hand strength and dexterity.

Medical illness is also a common cause of wrist pain, and conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, gout, and diabetes can make people vulnerable to injury. Interestingly, both pregnancy and menopause can make women more vulnerable to wrist pain, and, as a rule, women experience repetitive stress injury to the wrist more often than men.

Remedies for wrist pain vary, and they can involve everything from compresses and cooling packs to medication, cortisone injections and surgery. Depending on the reason for the injury, proper exercises that enhance strength and mobility around the wrist joint are among the most favored interventions as they treat the underlying source of most wrist pain. Indeed, research shows that the right training regimen can reduce symptoms in a matter of weeks and provide relief in 90 percent of cases.

Talk with your healthcare provider about conservative exercise and stretch therapy before being subjected to procedures that have poor success as shown in the following statistics.

Wrist Splints and Anti-Inflammatory Medications:
Failure rate is 81.6% (Including "partial success") in total alleviation of symptoms. Curative rate following treatment is 18.4%.Source: Kaplan, et al, 1990. J Hand Surgery.

Iontophoresis + Splinting:
Failure rate is 42.1% in total alleviation from symptoms. Source: Banta, et al, 1994. J Hand Surgery.

Steroid Injection:
Failure rate is 72.6% after 1-year follow up. ( Including "partial success" as failure) Source: Irwin, et al. J Hand Surgery.

NOTE: Be sure to consult your physician for a proper diagnosis of your condition before starting any type of exercise routine