Triggering: Long term damage to wrist?

[Hallelujah]

Basically, I'm a bit worried about whether I've done some lasting damage to my wrists. My left is worse than my right, but I tried to kill myself earlier this year, and have done some pretty bad self harm that left me unable to use my hands properly for a couple of weeks after. They're all healed now, just badly scarred, but I keep getting some pretty nasty aches and pains from the scar sites upwards...they're sharp but achey, if you understand what I mean, and they radiate underneath my wrist and up through my palms and fingers.

I just want to know - without visiting my GP - if I've unintentionally screwed myself over and messed up my hands for good. I'm still dextrous, it just hurts from time to time. Plus, is there anything I can do to stop the pain? I don't take painkillers often, so for now I've stuck with warm baths and compresses, massaging them and practicing some physio exercises.


P.S. I did seek medical attention at the time, and was told on one occasion that there might have been some structural damage to nerves and such - I didn't just leave them untreated.

[volleyballchick751]

I had similar pains and when I asked my gp, she said it was the nerves healing and growing back. It eventually went away. I hope yours does too.

[escape_thereal_world]

I had the same thing happen to me too, after a suicide attempt. For almost a year later they were still giving me pains. Then one day, it just stopped. It very well could be your body is still healing. It is common for up to a year AFTER the scar has formed to feel pain. Since it is still healing, there is a lot more blood in that area right now, which can lead to bruising easier. I would suggest keeping it padded for awhile (it's not necessary all the time, but if you are doing anything active I would suggest it).

Arnica cream can help with bruising. Otherwise, there isn't too much you can do.

Although, if it is red or bubbly (raised up.inflamed) it is likely they are infected. This can cause blood poisoning. But if it is not red or warm to touch, then it is likely just healing still.

[LittleMiss]

Sounds like it could be nerve damage, I would definitely see your doctor as they can do proper diagnostic tests to find out whether it will heal or not

[OMFG!You'reActuallySmart!]

From a basic view, each nerve in the wrist (there are 3 main ones although they branch out) innervate different parts of the hand, with none of them innervating the entire hand. Only the median nerve innervates the thumb as well as the index to part of the ring fingers on the palm-side (it also is the one affected most commonly in carpal tunnel syndrome). The ulnar nerve innervates the pinky finger and part of the ring finger on the palm-side. If the back of the hand is affected as well, then you scored a hat trick and affected the radial nerve.

You're not completely screwed, although nerve damage takes a fairly long time to heal. If you want it tested, try opting for a nerve conduction study (NCS) as it measures the velocity of transmission along the nerves. It would be expected the velocity of transmission is slower in one of those 3 nerves compared to your other hand (assuming you haven't cut that wrist up as well). This can be used to grade the efficiency of the nerves and be used in part to detect any syndromes.

[LittleMiss]

Originally Posted by The Man And XX Master

From a basic view, each nerve in the wrist (there are 3 main ones although they branch out) innervate different parts of the hand, with none of them innervating the entire hand. Only the median nerve innervates the thumb as well as the index to part of the ring fingers on the palm-side (it also is the one affected most commonly in carpal tunnel syndrome). The ulnar nerve innervates the pinky finger and part of the ring finger on the palm-side. If the back of the hand is affected as well, then you scored a hat trick and affected the radial nerve.

You're not completely screwed, although nerve damage takes a fairly long time to heal. If you want it tested, try opting for a nerve conduction study (NCS) as it measures the velocity of transmission along the nerves. It would be expected the velocity of transmission is slower in one of those 3 nerves compared to your other hand (assuming you haven't cut that wrist up as well). This can be used to grade the efficiency of the nerves and be used in part to detect any syndromes.

If I can just add something to that, the medial nerve also has a branch that supplies the palm of the hand however, this branch goes over the carpal tunnel and is not affected by CTS.
If you're experiencing tingling or pain in the your palm, thumb, index and middle finger, it's most likely that you've only damaged the median nerve - which is likely due to the nature of your injury.
But yeah, see a doctor and they have lots of tests that they can do to test the nerves.

I did transmission testing in one of labs, it's an interesting Test. Feels kinda weird but it's also kind if funny to see your hand/arm twitch when the electric current goes through haha.
(even funnier when we hooked up a guy who was ultra keen and gave him five really short pulses stthe highest setting. His face was priceless! Then he asked to do it again )
but you'll have a doctor do that and he'll be a lot more sensible that a bunch of medical students