Simple Fixes That Help Wrist Pain From Typing All Day

You might think that a desk job wouldn’t put too much stress on your body. But office jobs can negatively affect or damage your body, especially your hands and wrists. If you type all day at a computer or spend a lot of hours manipulating screens, you may notice increasing problems with wrist pain due to the accumulated physical stress.

What can you do to relieve wrist pain after typing all day? Dr. Michael Blackwell and the orthopaedics experts at the Center for Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, located in Tomball, Kingwood, and Conroe, Texas, offer simple, effective solutions for hand and wrist problems. Let’s review a few simple strategies for improving your symptoms and keeping your wrists in good shape.

The connection between typing and wrist pain

If your wrists ache in the evening, and your symptoms worsen after typing all day, there’s a good chance you’ve developed carpal tunnel syndrome. This common condition causes wrist pain at first, but as it worsens, you may feel symptoms all the way up your arm into your shoulder.

To understand why typing makes your wrists hurt, we need to take a closer look at the musculoskeletal structure inside. Within your wrists, ligaments and tendons form a narrow tunnel. Your median nerve passes through this area.

Small, highly targeted hand and finger motions, like typing or manipulating a cursor, cause repetitive stress to this part of your body, resulting in swelling and compression of the median nerve. That’s what causes your wrist pain – and that’s exactly the part of your body you need to strengthen, stretch, and support to resolve your symptoms. 

Even if you have a different type of wrist strain or sprain, similar strategies are likely to relieve your pain and discomfort.

Strategies to relieve wrist pain during and after the workday

Here are some simple fixes for wrist pain that you can use to get yourself through the day, or recover from work in the evening. Regular practice improves your results.

Rest

While it may not be practical for you to take a long break from typing at work, you can improve your wrists’ condition by taking shorter breaks throughout the workday. Stop for a stretch break every hour or so, and don’t add to the strain on your wrists with unnecessary social media scrolling during your rest periods.

Wrist stretches

When you stretch your wrists, stretch both your flexors and your extensors. 

Start by holding your arm straight out in front of yourself. For a wrist flexor stretch, move your hand from a palm-upward position to point your fingers down. For a wrist extensor stretch, move your hand from palm-downward to point your fingers down. 

You should repeat both of these stretches several times, holding for 10-20 seconds each time. You may also benefit from wrist range-of-motion exercises.

Wrist bracing

A brace for your wrist can help you keep functioning with less stress on the parts of your body that need rest and support. Ask Dr. Blackwell if you should wear a wrist brace or finger splint. You may need bracing during the workday, or while you sleep at night.

Cryotherapy (icing)

To relieve swelling and inflammation, use an icepack wrapped in a towel, applied for 20 minutes at a time.

In addition to these at-home treatments for wrist pain, Dr. Blackwell offers in-office corticosteroid injections that can improve inflammation. In severe cases, you may need an orthopaedic surgery procedure such as a carpal tunnel release or ligament repair.

For a personalized consultation about your wrist pain, contact the Center for Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine online or over the phone today.