Love to garden but have wrist or hand pain?

Maybe you have popping and/or clicking in the wrist especially when turning your palm down? The wrist is a complex structure of 8 tiny wrist (carpal) bones arranged in two rows, the radius and ulna forearm bones, and the complex movements/articulations between the individual bones and even between rows! Because of the complexity of the articulations there can be many reasons for wrist, hand, or forearm pain. Don't assume it's "just arthritis"! A hand therapist is an upper extremity expert and specialist with advanced training in treating hand, wrist, elbow, and shoulder conditions and, if you haven't yet seen a physician for a diagnosis, can be your first stop on the path to assessing your wrist and hand pain and how it affects your daily tasks - no prescription needed. A qualified hand therapist will start by taking a full history of the condition, and then progress to assessing range of motion, sensibility, strength, palpation of those tender areas and performing a series of special tests to narrow down the problem and refer you to a hand doctor if warranted.

In addition, a hand therapist can recommend activity modifications, special braces, and /or tools to help you in your recovery. Here I am using an ergonomic trowel with a wide handle (decreases tight gripping - good for carpal tunnel sufferers, or if you're prone to trigger finger/s or have thumb basal joint arthritis or RA) as well as having the blade at 90 degrees to the handle to have the forearm in a stronger neutral potisiton (thumb up, rather than palm up or palm down - good for wrist pain). Rosie, our 19 week old pup, approves!