Arthritis in the wrist is a medical condition that causes inflammation of the wrist joint, followed by wrist pain and stiffness as well as loss of range of motion of the joint.
There are two predominant forms of arthritis that affect the wrist – osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Other, less commonly encountered forms are gout, post traumatic arthritis and psoriatic arthritis.
According to a report released in 2021, around 13.6% of American has wrist arthritis and about 2.5 million Americans (0.75% of the population) suffer from rheumatoid arthritis. Another 0.28% of the population suffers from gout (another form of inflammatory arthritis, discussed below) in the wrist.
Unfortunately, there is no fundamental cure for this chronic disease. Doctors can “treat” mild forms of wrist arthritis by trying to reduce the impact of the symptoms on the quality of life and by trying to slow their rate of progression. They do this by using a combination of activity modification, physical therapy and pain relief medication. However, as the condition progresses, it may become necessary to use surgical intervention to manage the symptoms.
The wrist comprises 10 bones:
You can see the arrangement of the wrist bones in the illustration to the right.
The bone ends in the joint are each covered with a tough but slick substance known as bone cartilage. The cartilage helps the bone ends to glide smoothly and painlessly over each other in the wrist joint, and prevents direct bone to bone contact.
This is the most common kind of arthritis generally and wrist arthritis specifically. It primarily affects the elderly population, although it can occur across all age groups.
Osteoarthritis is caused by wear and tear of the cartilage covering the bone ends in the joint, causing the bones to rub directly against each other. The result is wrist pain and stiffness – the signature symptoms of arthritis in the wrist. When it appears, this type of wrist arthritis tends to occur on one side only (i.e. either the left or right wrist).
The main risk factors that increase the chances of someone suffering from wrist arthritis are:
This form of wrist arthritis is a result of the body’s immune system mistaking the synovial lining of a joint as a foreign substance and trying to destroy it. Since the purpose of the joint lining is to lubricate the joint, its destruction tends to cause wrist stiffness and pain when you attempt to move the joint.
This form of arthritis tends to affect females more than males and it also tends to occur simultaneously in both the left and right wrists.
Other, less commonly observed forms of the condition are:
Some people with wrist arthritis experience no symptoms at all. Others who do experience symptoms may experience them with varying severities from person to person. Symptoms may also vary greatly from day to day for the same individual.
However, speaking generally, the symptoms of wrist arthritis, when present, include the following:
If you are experiencing some or all of these symptoms, you should seek medical advice as soon as possible. Treatment of wrist (and other forms of ) arthritis is best started as early as possible to have the most success in managing the condition.
To diagnose a case of wrist arthritis, your doctor will probably discuss your symptoms with you and review your medical history. You may be asked what activities or times of day make your pain worse. Previous wrist injuries listed in your history will be of particular interest.
The next step will probably be to physically examine your wrist(s) to understand the exact location of the swelling and pain.
The doctor will try to assess your wrist range of motion by asking you to flex and extend your wrists in various directions and report any pain you may experience while doing so. The results of these tests will help in the differentiation between wrist arthritis and other causes of similar wrist pain such as carpal tunnel syndrome.
If your doctor believes that the arthritis may be of an inflammatory nature (e.g. gout) blood tests may be ordered to look for serum antibodies that this type of arthritis may produce.
Most doctors will first try to treat wrist arthritis by using non surgical methods. Only if these are unsuccessful will surgical options be considered.
These will include some or all of the following:
These may include:
The three main types of surgery to treat wrist arthritis are:
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