Hand and wrist pain represents itself by limited range of motion. Weakness and lack of strength in the hand and wrist is a symptom of muscle knots in the forearm flexor and extensor muscles. Functions of the wrist and hand involve flexing and extending the hand and wrist to and away from the body and moving the hand to the left and to the right. Examples of hand and wrist movement include lifting and handling objects requiring strength (milk jugs, suitcase lifting, and child lifting), striking and pulling actions (golf, tennis, and gardening).
Repetitive movements (gripping too tight, prolonged use of a keyboard and hand held electronics) is one in a list of perpetuating factors causing muscle overuse which lay down trigger points throughout the hand, wrist, arm, shoulder and neck muscles.
Did you know your hand and wrist is an extension of your neck and shoulders? Wrist, hand and arm pain can be debilitating, frustrating and fearful with inability to function. However, the situation is usually supported by poor posture, rolling the shoulders inward and a head forward position. Trigger points are active in the pain area (hand and wrist) but there are also latent trigger points in the surrounding and supporting areas (neck and shoulder, rhomboid muscles, scaleni muscles, cervical muscles and sternocleidomastoid/SCM muscles) that are just as or more important. Until all the trigger points and perpetuating factors are addressed the pain will come and go, resulting in a diagnosis of Myofascial pain syndrome commonly known as Chronic Pain.
Myofascial Trigger Point Therapy begins by using compression and direct pressure on the neck, cervical, shoulder muscles identified. The compression starts with the shoulder, neck, cervical and SCM. The direct pressure is held for 3-7 seconds and released by a straight up movement then moving on approximately and 1” to a ½” following the line of the muscle. This technique is repeated on the entire arm, shoulder, wrist and hand.
All Myofascial Trigger Point Therapy work (deactivation of trigger points) is followed with ROM (range of motion stretches). The stretches for the areas deactivated as described are head and neck stretches/flexion, extension and rotation, upper back stretches/anterior, posterior, arm and wrist rotation, flexion/extension. The stretches are done in repetition of 3’s repeated a minimum of 3X’s a day. The stretches are the key to retraining the muscles to stay relaxed after trigger point deactivation. The feedback resulting from following Myofascial Trigger Point Therapy self help technique is maintaining ROM, functional capacity, including no pain or reduced pain.
For additional help to learn how control your Chronic Pain and perpetuating pain factors through Myofascial Trigger Point Therapy contact Carla Hedtke, Myofascial Trigger Point Therapist on this website. Or call 920-373-5002.