I hurt my wrist practicing the piano on Saturday. What should I do for it?

I take my son to an orthopedist every couple of months for injuries. I don’t believe in messing around with teens and bones/joints.

Please go to the doctor. An orthopedist. They will do x-rays and evaluate you. They will come up with a treatment plan and follow-up to make sure you are improving. They will write an order for physical therapy, if necessary.

Let it rest. Wear the brace at night and for comfort during the day. You can alternate icing and heating it – 20 minutes on, 20 minutes off. It might be carpal tunnel but time will tell; it sounds from the suddenness like it is more likely a sprain.

But I agree with @Cupcake. Talk to your doctor.

OK, thanks… I’ll see when we can get to the clinic. I’m just about on a first-name basis with some of the nurses. ;)

My son fell in gym on Tuesday. His wrist hurt more as the day went on. I brought him to the Orthopedist at 6:40pm (their urgent care clinic closes at 7pm). They took x-rays and diagnosed him with a sprain. He has a proper brace and a note excusing him from gym. He is to keep the brace on for 2 weeks solid, then up to an additional week as needed. He has a follow-up appointment in 3 weeks.

He was out of the office at 7:15pm.

Believe me… it is out of many sprains and broken bones that I give this advice. We’ve been to the pediatrician, urgent care, emergency departments, etc. Your best bet (quickest and cheapest) is directly to the Orthopedist.

Good luck!!

Wear the brace and let it rest. Carpal tunnel is usually from repeated action and usually does not come on suddenly, it happens over time. Either way, carpal tunnel, sprain, muscle strain, prescription is rest the wrist. Rest includes not lifting anything heavy. After a week or two of having it basically immobile and not lifting anything, then you can start using it again, but still no heavy lifting and no extreme usage for several days as the muscle stregnthen again. You can also take ibuprofen for a few days initially to relax the muscle and decrease inflammation. Two pills (400 mg) every 6 hours. Three pills if you weigh over 140 pounds. But, if rest seems to be working well, then taking mediciation could easily bebtotally unnecessary.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor.

I have to ask: Is this a major pain, or a minor pain? Is it a sharp pain?

At age 16, it is unlikely to be carpal tunnel syndrome. Remember that the hand is a whole lot of very small muscles (and tendons, and other connective tissue), to say nothing of the bones. So excessive practicing can over stretch (or run raw, or otherwise inflame) a muscle or a tendon.

Rest is a good idea. A brace is fine for immobilization, but don’t try to practice and wear the brace, because the two will work against each other.

A good way to reduce inflammation is to take Advil, but not every person’s body can tolerate it (it can upset your stomach and/or cause constipation), so check with a parent or doctor.

Best thing you can do is not stress the muscles there.

You should see a doctor. It’s possible you’ll have to stop practicing until it heals (or it won’t heal). Also, you should have iced it not used a heating oad after injuring it.

Oh, about the ibuprofen/advil make sure to take it with food and a glass of water, I don’t care if it is two crackers, some food to help prevent any adverse stomach irritation as mentioned by @elbanditoroso above.

Thankfully, the pain isn’t really a problem, because I can’t take ibuprofen or advil (they give me heartburn). We’re planning on getting in to a doctor soon, and I’m taking it easy. Thanks, everyone :)
@marinelife Seems like I always manage to do the exact opposite of what I’m supposed to do in these situations – I use heat when I should use ice, and ice when I should use heat! :/

@RandomGirl Then next time don’t use heat or ice. Ice is usually when an injury immediately happens, but there are conflicting theories on heat or ice on these sort of things 24 hours after the injury.

Take Ibuprofen and stay off the piano for two weeks .
Also writing and typing etc ( activities that aggravate ) stop doing.
I had to use a wrist brace then a elbow brace etc but it did nothing for me!
I was off work for five months until all feeling came back into my hands,as before that I had lost Alll feeling and use of my hand!
Some people just continued to use there wrists and ended up permanently loss of the use of there hands!
I was diagnosed with tendonitis and carpal tunnel but later I believe it was bursitis?
Still do not know yet.
I had been on Ibuprofen for five months and did not realize that this promoted weight gain due to the lower metabolism!
So use it for short periods of time.
I used heat pad too for relief, which felt better for me. Some people use ice,if that works
you?
I had overworked my hands doing too many hours at my job plus using my hands in other activities like embroidery ,writing,keying/typing,household chores ( cleaning oven,washing dishes,windows etc) which can also take a toll on your body too.
I have since quit my job and retired last year as my wrists still cause pain at times and I now have Arthritis too.
It is much better now that I have eliminated all causes so far
I rarely take meds for pain now except in certains situations where I had over used my wrists and body ( hiking) too much.
Good luck, but if after two weeks of rest you find that pain returns then go see a specialist to determine its true cause.