Dr. Alvarez Discusses Wrist Pain

Dr. David Alvarez, an orthopedic surgeon at TOC specializing in hand and upper extremities, recently appeared on the Greg Tish Show on Real Talk 93.3 on July 24, 2023 to talk about wrist pain.

When asked if carpal tunnel has become more frequent due to things such as typing and texting, Dr. Alvarez noted that while it’s difficult to tell, he notices people seem to be more aware of arthritic pain now days because of the movement required for technology.

Dr. Alvarez cleared up a common misconception about carpal tunnel. He explains that often people assume that carpal tunnel is wrist pain, however, carpal tunnel is actually a pinched nerve in the wrist that causes numbness, tingling and burning pain in the fingers and hand. He points out that if you’re experiencing wrist pain, it’s probably not carpal tunnel.

Dr. Alvarez recommends making an appointment at TOC if medicine is not helping or your pain impacts your day-to-day life. He notes that similar to knee related pain, cortisone shots can be injected into the wrist which often eases pain for patients. However, if the cortisone shots are not working, surgery can be done to reconstruct the joint. Additionally, Dr. Alvarez noted that wrist surgeries are one of the more commonly successful surgeries.

Additionally, you may think that resting your wrist for extended periods of time may help your pain in the long run, however, Dr. Alvarez explains that this is false. He stated, “immobilizing anything for too long can be detrimental. Bones get weaker, ligaments get weaker, joints wear out faster.” He then explains that motion in the wrist creates lubrication that keeps things gliding better, and if you immobilize it all the time you can become stiff.”