Sports Injuries

Golfing wrist injuries are common with treatment requiring 1-3 months of rest and immobilization and if tears are present surgery. Can chiropractic treatment help avoid surgery, expedite recovery, and rehabilitation?

Golfing Wrist Injuries

Golfing Wrist Injuries: According to a study, there are over 30,000 golf-related injuries treated in American emergency rooms every year. (Walsh, B. A. et al, 2017) Nearly a third are related to a strain, sprain, or stress fracture.

 

• One of the most common causes of wrist pain is overuse. (Moon, H. W. et al, 2023)
• Repeated swinging generates added stress on the tendons and muscles, leading to inflammation and pain.
• Improper swing techniques can cause the wrists to twist uncomfortably, resulting in inflammation, soreness, and injuries.
• Golfers who grip the club too tightly can add unnecessary strain on their wrists, leading to pain and weakened grip.

Wrist Tendonitis

• The most common wrist injury is an inflammation of the tendons. (Ray, G. et al, 2023)
• This condition is often caused by overuse or repetitive motion.
• It usually develops in the leading hand from bending the wrist forward on the backswing and then extends backward at the finish.

Wrist Sprains

• These can occur when the golf club hits an object, like a tree root, and makes the wrist bend and/or twist awkwardly. (Zouzias et al., 2018)

Hamate Bone Fractures

• When the club hits the ground abnormally it can compress the handle against the bony hooks at the end of the smaller hamate/carpal bones.

Ulnar Tunnel Syndrome

• This can cause inflammation, and numbness, and is usually caused by an improper or loose grip.
• It causes nerve damage to the wrist from repeated bumping of the golf club handle against the palm.

de Quervain's Tenosynovitis

• This is a repetitive motion injury below the thumb at the wrist. (Tan, H. K. et al, 2014)
• This causes pain and inflammation and is usually accompanied by a grinding sensation when moving the thumb and wrist.

Chiropractic Treatment

Given the nature of these injuries, medical attention should be sought out for image scans to look at any damage and properly immobilize the wrist. Once a fracture has been ruled out or healed, golfing wrist injuries can benefit from chiropractic and physical therapy. (Hulbert, J. R. et al, 2005) A typical treatment may involve a multifaceted approach involving various therapies including:

 

• Active release therapy, myofascial release, athletic taping, corrective exercise, and stretching. 
• A chiropractor will examine the wrist and its functioning to determine the nature of the injury.
• A chiropractor may recommend using a splint to immobilize the wrist, particularly in cases of overuse.
• They will relieve pain and swelling first, then focus on strengthening the joint.
• They may recommend a regimen of icing the hand.
• Adjustments and manipulations will relieve pressure on the nerves to reduce swelling and restore mobility.

Peripheral Neuropathy Successful Recovery

 

General Disclaimer *

The information herein is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified healthcare professional or licensed physician and is not medical advice. We encourage you to make healthcare decisions based on your research and partnership with a qualified healthcare professional. Our information scope is limited to chiropractic, musculoskeletal, physical medicines, wellness, sensitive health issues, functional medicine articles, topics, and discussions. We provide and present clinical collaboration with specialists from various disciplines. Each specialist is governed by their professional scope of practice and their jurisdiction of licensure. We use functional health & wellness protocols to treat and support care for the injuries or disorders of the musculoskeletal system. Our videos, posts, topics, subjects, and insights cover clinical matters, issues, and topics that relate to and directly or indirectly support our clinical scope of practice.* Our office has reasonably attempted to provide supportive citations and identified the relevant research study or studies supporting our posts. We provide copies of supporting research studies available to regulatory boards and the public upon request.

 

We understand that we cover matters that require an additional explanation of how it may assist in a particular care plan or treatment protocol; therefore, to further discuss the subject matter above, please contact Dr. Alex Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900.

 

Dr. Alex Jimenez DC, MSACP, CCST, IFMCP*, CIFM*, ATN*

email: coach@elpasofunctionalmedicine.com

Licensed in: Texas & New Mexico*

References

Walsh, B. A., Chounthirath, T., Friedenberg, L., & Smith, G. A. (2017). Golf-related injuries treated in United States emergency departments. The American journal of emergency medicine, 35(11), 1666–1671. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajem.2017.05.035

 

Moon, H. W., & Kim, J. S. (2023). Golf-related sports injuries of the musculoskeletal system. Journal of exercise rehabilitation, 19(2), 134–138. https://doi.org/10.12965/jer.2346128.064

 

Ray, G., Sandean, D. P., & Tall, M. A. (2023). Tenosynovitis. In StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing.

 

Zouzias, I. C., Hendra, J., Stodelle, J., & Limpisvasti, O. (2018). Golf Injuries: Epidemiology, Pathophysiology, and Treatment. The Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, 26(4), 116–123. https://doi.org/10.5435/JAAOS-D-15-00433

 

Tan, H. K., Chew, N., Chew, K. T., & Peh, W. C. (2014). Clinics in diagnostic imaging (156). Golf-induced hamate hook fracture. Singapore medical journal, 55(10), 517–521. https://doi.org/10.11622/smedj.2014133

 

Hulbert, J. R., Printon, R., Osterbauer, P., Davis, P. T., & Lamaack, R. (2005). Chiropractic treatment of hand and wrist pain in older people: systematic protocol development. Part 1: informant interviews. Journal of chiropractic medicine, 4(3), 144–151. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0899-3467(07)60123-2