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Causes/Symptoms
Jump to Finger Causes
Jump to Wrist Causes
Jump to Elbow Causes
Fingers
• Blood flow problems
• Injury
• Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis
• Nerve problems
• Osteoarthritis
• Raynaud's phenomenon
• Rheumatoid arthritis
Wrist
Carpal tunnel syndrome is a common cause of wrist pain. You may feel aching, burning, numbness, or tingling in your palm, wrist, thumb, or fingers. The thumb muscle can become weak, making it difficult
to grasp things. Pain may extend up to your elbow.
Carpal tunnel syndrome occurs when an important nerve (called the median nerve) gets compressed at the wrist because of swelling. Such swelling can occur if you:
• Do a repetitive motion with your wrist like typing on a computer keyboard, using a computer mouse, playing racquetball or handball, sewing, painting, writing, or using a vibrating tool.
• Are pregnant, menopausal, or overweight.
• Have diabetes, premenstrual syndrome, an underactive thyroid, or rheumatoid arthritis.
Wrist pain with bruising and swelling is often a sign of an injury. The signs of a possible broken bone include misshapen joints and inability to move the wrist, hand, or a finger. Other common
injuries include sprain, strain, tendinitis and bursitis.
Arthritis is another common cause of wrist pain, swelling, and stiffness. There are many types of arthritis. Osteoarthritis occurs with age and overuse. Rheumatoid arthritis generally affects both
wrists. Psoriatic arthritis accompanies psoriasis.
Infectious arthritis is a medical emergency. The signs of an infection include redness and warmth of the wrist, fever above 100°F, and recent illness.
Other common causes of wrist pain include:
• Gout -- this occurs when you produce too much uric acid, a waste product. It forms crystals in joints, rather than being excreted in the urine.
• Pseudogout -- this is when calcium deposits in your joints (usually the wrists or knees), causing pain, redness, and swelling.
Elbow
Elbow pain can be caused by a variety of problems. A common cause in adults is tendinitis, an inflammation and injury to the tendons -- soft tissues that attach muscle to bone.
People who play racquet sports are most likely to injure the tendons on the outside of the elbow. This condition is commonly called tennis elbow. Golfers are more likely to injure the tendons on
the inside of the elbow.
Other common causes of elbow tendinitis are gardening, playing baseball, using a screwdriver, or overusing your wrist.
Young children commonly develop "nursemaid's elbow," usually when someone is pulling on their straightened arm. The bones are stretched apart momentarily and a ligament slips in between,
where it becomes trapped when the bones try to snap back into place. Children will usually quietly refuse to use the arm, but often cry out with any attempt to bend or straighten the elbow. This
condition is also called an elbow subluxation (a partial dislocation).
Other common causes of elbow pain are:
• Bursitis -- inflammation of a fluid-filled cushion beneath the skin
• Arthritis -- narrowing of the joint space and loss of cartilage in the elbow
• Elbow strains
• Infection of the elbow
Reviewed By: Harvey Simon, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Physician, Massachusetts General Hospital.
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