Causes of Wrist Pain

Wrist pain can interrupt daily tasks like writing, lifting, typing, or even holding a phone. It often arises from overuse, poor posture, or nerve compression—and may worsen without proper care.

Wrist pain can limit everyday activities, like typing, carrying, writing, or holding a phone. It often starts as mild discomfort or tingling, but can become more serious if not treated. One of the main culprits is overuse—repetitive actions often lead to one or both wrist tendons losing their normal flexibility and/or getting damaged, thereby causing tendon inflammation (tendonitis) and/or creating areas of abnormal nerve pressure to the wrist. It has been noted that neck and shoulder posture plays an important role in the overall efficiency of function in the arm and wrist. Forward head and rounded shoulders not only hinder function, they lead to alterations of the arm and wrists position, putting more strain on the wrist joint. Over time the wrist muscle become sore, static, and tight from overuse. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is one of the more common examples of misuse and strain: the median nerve becomes compressed in the actual tunnel, causing numbness, tingling or weakness in one or more of the fingers of the hand. The lack of grip strength, poor wrist ergonomics, or not using forearm support only adds to the mischief caused by the arm and wrist posture during tasks. Most times the cause of the complaint is not limited to the wrist alone, but it usually involves larger postural or mechanical issues.