Hand and wrist almost shares the same causes. The major etiological factors comprises of:
Fractures, dislocation or injury: A fracture or dislocation of one of the bones in the hand is a common cause of hand pain. This is usually associated with severe pain, and often there is inflammation and tenderness in the area.
Gout: Gout is a type of arthritis that involves the formation of monosodium urate crystals in the body, due to the accumulation of excessive uric acid in the bloodstream. When these crystals are formed near or inside the joints of the fingers or wrist, they can cause severe hand and wrist pain.
Carpal tunnel syndrome: Carpal tunnel syndrome involves compression of the median nerve that carries messages of sensation and movement to the hand. This can lead to sensations of pain, numbness, or tingling in the hands and fingers. In most cases the thumb, index finger, middle finger and ring finger, are affected. It tends to develop gradually and is often worse at night-time.
Osteoarthritis: Hand pain can be caused by osteoarthritis, which is a condition involving inflammation, swelling and bending of the joints. It can affect any joint in the body and commonly affects the joints at the middle and end of the fingers and the base of the thumb, leading to pain in these areas.
Rheumatoid arthritis: Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that involves the destruction of the cells that line and support the joints, which can lead to pain and inflammation in the hands and wrists. Hand pain caused by rheumatoid arthritis is often described as throbbing or aching and is usually worse in the morning, or when the joints have been inactive for an extended period of time.
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: Lupus is an autoimmune disease that can lead to inflammation and destruction of the joints in the wrist and fingers, which can lead to wrist hand pain.
Ganglion: Ganglions most frequently develop on the wrists, hands, and fingers, causing pain.
De Quervain’s disease: De Quervain’s disease is a painful condition that affects tendons where they run through a tunnel on the thumb side of the wrist. The sheath surrounding the tendon becomes swollen and thick, and moving your thumb will be very painful.
Tenosynovitis: Tenosynovitis is pain and inflammation of the sheath that surrounds a tendon. It’s a relatively rare cause of hand pain that can affect the wrist or the fingers.
