Is there a doctor in the house

I'm looking for medical advice from a trained person...orthopedist, tennis coach/trainer, physical therapist. Back in August I slipped on the baseline, fell and injured my wrist. A few weeks later I was in to see my internist for my annual and he X-Rayed it.....said he did not see any breaks....said the injury probably stirred up some existing arthritis. I have continued to play but do wear a brace. The wrist is not swollen or discolored but the pain persists. It hurts during tennis and afterwards. I do ice it. Should I see an orthopedist for another opinion? It has finally cooled off in Florida and I do not want to miss any court time. Suggestions appreciated.
slopoke

Is it the TFCC?

http://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/sma/sma_trifibcc_sma.htm

Dr. Robert, BS extraordinaire, PhD ordinaire, M.D. thinaire

chess9 said:

Is it the TFCC?

http://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/sma/sma_trifibcc_sma.htm

Dr. Robert, BS extraordinaire, PhD ordinaire, M.D. thinaire

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Thanks for the response. Immediately after the fall, most of the pain was in the little finger side ot the wrist. Now it seems to be the wrist in general. It does not hurt all the time, just when I put weight on it and when I hit the ball and afterwards. Ice and rest help. I'll be playing tomorrow. I'll check for localized pain.

Sounds like TFCC, but it can't be accurately diagnosed without arthroscopy. Rest, ice, cortisone, re-hab, and some luck. Let's hope it isn't torn.

-Robert

slopoke said:

I'm looking for medical advice from a trained person...orthopedist, tennis coach/trainer, physical therapist. Back in August I slipped on the baseline, fell and injured my wrist. A few weeks later I was in to see my internist for my annual and he X-Rayed it.....said he did not see any breaks....said the injury probably stirred up some existing arthritis. I have continued to play but do wear a brace. The wrist is not swollen or discolored but the pain persists. It hurts during tennis and afterwards. I do ice it. Should I see an orthopedist for another opinion? It has finally cooled off in Florida and I do not want to miss any court time. Suggestions appreciated.
slopoke

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How is this going to heal if you continue to play? The first thing is to stop playing completely until the pain goes away. You are transmitting an immense amount of force through your wrist as you violently throw your racquet at the ball, then hang on through impact, then have to brake the forward movement.
You may want to make an appointment with an orthopod with an interest in sports medicine and wrist problems. This may be a "hand surgeon" as the wrist is considered part of the hand. Hopefully just the rest followed by a period of rehab and a slow return to the game will be all you need.

wristwidget.com-wrist brace specially designed for TFCC tears. read about it in michelle wie's book (famous teen golfer). she had the same injury. the site tells you to perform a simple test to see if the brace will help you.

slopoke said:

I'm looking for medical advice from a trained person...orthopedist, tennis coach/trainer, physical therapist. Back in August I slipped on the baseline, fell and injured my wrist. A few weeks later I was in to see my internist for my annual and he X-Rayed it.....said he did not see any breaks....said the injury probably stirred up some existing arthritis. I have continued to play but do wear a brace. The wrist is not swollen or discolored but the pain persists. It hurts during tennis and afterwards. I do ice it. Should I see an orthopedist for another opinion? It has finally cooled off in Florida and I do not want to miss any court time. Suggestions appreciated.
slopoke

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If this happened in early August you are potentially 3 1/2 months out from the injury. My guess is that you did not have a significant (visible by an internist on plain film) fracture, not because of the XRay result but because it would have been symptomatic enough to make you seek attention way, way sooner than a few weeks.

You don't mention your age but it seems unlikely that the original injury was a bony one given your description of the circumstances of the fall. It seems much more likely to be a soft tissue injury. This is more troubling in that they are notorious for turning into chronic, vexing problems.

Noone online can substitute for an exam, but wrist injuries specifically are notorious for having a separation of healing from symptoms, that is folks can be fully healed from the injury and have pain symptoms due to scarring from the healing process. Naturally people will assume that they are still injured, erroneously and hold off on their rehab, a mistake.

Good luck.

I'm having a lot of wrist and hand issues. One of the issues was a problem with numbness and pain in the lower 1/2 of my hand. The ortho thought it could be the hamate causing irratation to the ulnar and ordered an MRI. Here's some info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamate_bone

chess9 said:

Is it the TFCC?

http://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/sma/sma_trifibcc_sma.htm

Dr. Robert, BS extraordinaire, PhD ordinaire, M.D. thinaire

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I played two sets today and made a mental note of the pain area. It is definitely on the little finger side of the wrist. Guess a minor injury to the TFCC is likely. For what it's worth, I'm 75 and no longer heal fast. I'll try the widget brace. If the pain reaches the point that I cannot play, I'll look for a hand doctor. Thanks for your input. slopoke

GO SEE AN ORTHOPOD AND GET AN MRI. NOT EVEN DR ANDREWS THE ORTHOPOD TO THE $100 MILLION DOLLAR ATHLETES WOULD GIVE YOU ADVICE WITHOUT AN EXAM AND AN MRI. everyone here is well meaning in sharing their own experience and knowledge gained from reading or anecdotally but not even a doctor can give the best advice for YOU without an exam at the least and for most sports injuries an mri or some other diagnostic test. just my 2 cents but real worth is priceless. i may be conceited in this but this is the best advice for injuries one can give someone on these boards is go see a doctor. thats what they do and have spent their life doing it.in my humble opinion. im sorry of i turned anyone off but as you can tell i feel VERY SYTRONGLY about this.

larry10s said:

GO SEE AN ORTHOPOD AND GET AN MRI. NOT EVEN DR ANDREWS THE ORTHOPOD TO THE $100 MILLION DOLLAR ATHLETES WOULD GIVE YOU ADVICE WITHOUT AN EXAM AND AN MRI. everyone here is well meaning in sharing their own experience and knowledge gained from reading or anecdotally but not even a doctor can give the best advice for YOU without an exam at the least and for most sports injuries an mri or some other diagnostic test. just my 2 cents but real worth is priceless. i may be conceited in this but this is the best advice for injuries one can give someone on these boards is go see a doctor. thats what they do and have spent their life doing it.in my humble opinion. im sorry of i turned anyone off but as you can tell i feel VERY SYTRONGLY about this.

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I agree with everything you say. I know from having the knife on both shoulders that surgery will knock me off the court for months. I'm trying to put invasive treatment off until summer. Winter in Florida is the best time to play. I'll baby it along for awhile with rest, ice and Aleeve and try to make it through the season. Thanks to everyone for your comments. They are appreciated. I'm going to research TFCC now. slopoke