Associated symptoms

The symptoms can be acute and severe or slow progressing, depending on the underlying cause. Acute injuries to bones, ligaments and cartilage of the wrist can be accompanied by severe shooting pain. This is followed by an enormous restriction of movement due to the pain and possible misalignment of the bones.

In most cases, bleeding also causes swelling and redness, which in turn cause pain. Degenerative cartilage damage to the wrist can cause increasing symptoms over weeks to months. Increasing pain and restricted mobility are also typical here.

In advanced stages, there may be audible rubbing of the bones during movements, considerable pain, stiffening of the joint and chronic swelling. In most cases, swelling indicates a non-physiological accumulation of fluid. These can be inflammatory fluids, pus and blood.

Acute injuries to the bones and ligaments of the wrist are usually accompanied by the injury of smaller blood vessels. As a result, bruising occurs, which is externally visible as bruises, redness or swelling. Chronic degenerative diseases can also cause the joint to swell. The friction of the bones often causes an inflamed irritation state, which leads to increased fluid production of the joint mucosa. In the long term, additional bony changes can occur, which can make the joint appear thicker and swollen.

Diagnosis

An important clue for initial suspected diagnoses is the origin of the pain. Indications of new injuries, newly started sports or long-term existing complaints point the way in the diagnosis. A physical examination can also identify swelling, malpositions, movement restrictions and provocative pain.

With the help of an ultrasound examination, joint effusions can already be well examined and possible ligament and cartilage damage can be suspected. In order to detect injuries of the bony structures, additional X-ray and CT examinations may have to be performed. The CT image is the detailed and high-resolution version, especially for the diagnosis of the small carpal bones. An MRI examination can be performed to provide detailed images of cartilage damage or ligament injuries.