Do you have wrist pain and feel weak? Beware of "mom hand"! Test yourself now

Do you also experience wrist pain after finishing a day's work or playing with your phone for a long time? Let's test ourselves to see if we have radial styloid stenosing tenosynovitis!

1. What is radial styloid stenosis tenosynovitis?

Radial styloid stenosing tenosynovitis, also known as de Quervain tenosynovitis, is commonly known as "mom's hand". This disease is more common in manual operators, and the ratio of male to female is about 1:5.

The clinical manifestations are mainly two aspects: one is local pain. Patients mainly experience localized pain in the radial styloid process, mild swelling, and obvious tenderness, which can radiate to the hand and forearm, and sometimes nodules can be felt locally.

The movement of the wrist and thumb can aggravate the pain, causing a feeling of soreness or weakness in the joint, as well as a sense of friction or snapping. The second is functional impairment, which is mainly manifested by limited extension of the thumb. For patients with a long course of disease, disuse of the thumb can cause atrophy of the thenar muscles.

2. How do you know if you have radial styloid stenosing tenosynovitis? A simple action can tell you:

Fist ulnar deviation test : Place the thumb on the palm, make a fist, and deflect the wrist to the ulnar side (towards the little finger). If the wrist hurts, the fist ulnar deviation test is positive. Congratulations, you can basically be diagnosed with radial styloid stenosing tenosynovitis.

3. Why does radial styloid stenosing tenosynovitis occur?

Tenosynovitis, as the name suggests, is an inflammation of the tendon sheath.

Tendons pass through the tendon sheath. When the tendon is over-pressurized, the tendon sheath will be damaged to varying degrees. Repeated trauma or prolonged inflammation will cause the tendon to swell due to compression of the thickened tendon sheath. When the swollen tendon passes through the narrow bony fibrous tube, it is like a truck loaded with large cargo passing through a narrow tunnel. It will cause locking and popping in the fibrous tube. This is tenosynovitis.

4. How to treat radial styloid stenosing tenosynovitis?

Tenosynovitis is common in people who frequently engage in hand activities. In the past, it was said that only hardworking people would get tenosynovitis. Now, people in the information age cannot do without using electronic products all year round, and they have gradually become a high-risk group for tenosynovitis. Although tenosynovitis is a minor problem, its onset can greatly affect people's quality of life. The treatment cycle is long and it is also very easy to relapse. For this reason, the medical community has also developed many methods to treat the tendon sheath.

Non-surgical treatment is a treatment method for early-stage, initial or mild cases. Treatment can be done with hot compress, physical therapy, external fixation with braces, local blockade, drugs, acupuncture, massage, acupotomy and other methods.

Acupuncture treatment can start from the meridians running through the wrist. The hand Taiyin lung meridian and the hand Yangming large intestine meridian run through the radial styloid process, and the symptoms of this disease include slight redness, swelling, slight fever, and pain in the wrist, which is consistent with the inflammatory characteristics of fire. Therefore, this disease is mainly related to the heat in the hand Taiyin lung meridian and the hand Yangming large intestine meridian in the meridians; and it is related to the heat in the lungs and large intestine in the internal organs, and the method of dissipating heat should be adopted.

In addition, the Yangchi point is located right at the wrist joint. Regular massage can treat "mouse hand" and cold wrists and arms.

If the above treatment is not effective, further surgical treatment can be considered. The surgery can be performed through a transverse or longitudinal incision of the styloid process, from the ulnar side of the sheath, to completely open the bone fibrous canal.

5. How to prevent radial styloid stenosing tenosynovitis?

The incidence of tenosynovitis now affects people of all ages. The best way to prevent it is to avoid excessive hand fatigue in daily life, maintain a scientific body posture, and carefully protect your hands when the weather changes to prevent cold.

“Be calm and empty, and the true qi will follow. Keep your spirit within, and you will never get sick.” Ensuring the stability of your body and mind and not overusing your body are important rules for preventing disease and maintaining health.

Hunan Medical Chat Special Author: Xie Qiuen, Department of Orthopedics IV (Hand Traumatology Department), First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine

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(Edited by Wx)