AN ULTIMATE CURE FOR TFCC RELATED WRIST PAIN:

The WristWidget

What’s TFCC, how do you test if it’s TFCC and how to heal without surgery.
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BASIC INFO

TFCC & WRISTWIDGET

Triangular Fibrocartilage Complex (TFCC) is a combination of connective tissues, which connects the radius, ulna, and little finger in a triangular shape. More popularly known as the wrist meniscus.
It functions to keep the bones of the wrist in a compact form. The soft fibro-ligament tissue provides cushion and support to the carpal bones and helps to stabilize the arm.

Symptoms of the TFCC injury include pain at the circumference of the wrist, especially on weight-bearing. Loss of grip and clicking sounds from the wrist can also be due to TFCC injury.
The most accurate way to determine TFCC damage actually is called the Weight Bearing Test. The weight bearing test is a measure of how much weight you are able to pass through your wrist and hand.

Weight Bearing Test can be used to diagnose the triangular fibrocartilage complex tear because TFCC is the only condition that affects the weight-bearing tolerance of the wrist. This test is more reliable to diagnose Triangular Fibrocartilage Complex injury than MRI and radiography and much less expensive.

WEIGHT BARING TEST

HOW TO DIAGNOSE A TFCC TEAR

WARNING: The Weight Bearing Test is designed to quickly and easily determine if the pain in your wrist is caused by a TFCC injury. TFCC complaints can be acute (accident) or gradual (wear). For acute or severe wrist complaints, we recommend that you see a family doctor or hand therapist.

If a break has been ruled out, you can take the weight bearing test. If it is actually a TFCC injury, you will immediately feel a pain reduction and can push more weight.

YOU NEED:

  • A WristWidget or two strips of non-elastic band (sports band) of approx. 1.5 cm wide and longer than your wrist circumference.
  • An ANALOGUE scale. For the treatment recommendation, it is desirable that you have measurements. The test can also be carried out without an analog scale. Then you have no values, but you can feel whether it works.

WHY NOT A DIGITAL SCALE?

Think of it this way... A digital scale measures static weight. A 10 kg bag of sand will weigh 10 kg. We’re actually looking for how much weight your wrist can bear, or perhaps better stated, your pressing ability. With an analog (non-digital) scale, you can see visually where your abilities lie and what the consistent weight bearing number is for your wrist. (For your convenience, we’ve added them to our inventory in the Mebocare shop). Your results on a digital scale gives you an untrue value for the severity of your injury.

THE TEST

Place scale on the floor, or the seat of a solid chair.Place palm in the center of the scale, fingers pointing towards 12:00, elbow over the wrist. When pressing on the scale, remember NO Pain. You are simply determining your ability.

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1

TEST THE HEALTY WRIST

Test the healthy wrist first (record the results).

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TEST THE INJURED WRIST

Slowly! Stop at the edge of pain – any pain! (record the results).

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PUT ON THE WRISTWIDGET

Or take 2 pieces of non-elastic tape- squeeze wrist together without compression on the ulnar head.

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RETEST

Many desktop publishing packages and web page editors now.

If you have a TFCC injury there should be an immediate increase in weight-bearing ability, and your pain should be greatly relieved.

If you did NOT notice a big difference in the amount of weight you can bear with and without tape, or there is not a marked difference between the two wrists, then you probably do NOT have a TFCC injury and the WristWidget won’t aid in healing.

And then...

If you did the test and immediately felt less pain, you want it to stay that way. You want to do sport again without pain, work in the garden or do small household chores. You want a solution to these annoying stitches in your wrist. Then we have good news!

<strong>A wrist band, the WristWidget TFCC bandage, was specially developed for this injury. </strong>The WristWidget holds the wrist firmly in place so that the TFCC injury can heal in peace. Without irritation of the wrist and without loss of wrist function. The WristWidget is made of nylon and cotton, is waterproof and thanks to the hook and loop fastener closes well around the wrist without exerting pressure on the elbow.

And there is also a treatment protocol with exercises and tips that you can use at home:

TREATMENT PROTOCOL

WHAT'S YOUR WEIGHT BEARING RESULT?

 Injured wrist test results WITH tape/WristWidget

SEVERE / SIGNIFICANT INJURY

Expected recovery time in this phase ~ 3 months.

  • Wear your WristWidget 24/7
  • Protect your wrist – No lifting anything over ONE POUND (yes, we mean 0.5 kilo)
  • If you can get a referral for a Muenster Splint, this would help in your recovery. It eliminates motion of the elbow and rotation of the wrist. It requires a prescription and an oppointment with a hand specialist and/or handtherapist.
  • If you don’t have a muenster splint, wear another stiff wrist splint/brace OVER the WristWidget to prevent flexion (bending) of the wrist. Make sure it doesn’t compress or squeeze the ulnar head (wrist bone). Use the wrist splint every night until your weight bearing tolerance is 20 kg.
  • If you don’t have swelling, you can use a heating pad on the wrist, or alternate hot/cold water over it.

Goal

To reach a Weight Bearing of 20 kg.

MODERATE INJURY

Expected recovery time in this phase 1 ~ 3 months.

YAY! 20kg is considered a “functional” wrist. This means that you should be able to function around the home, for the most part. Things like dishes, dressing, making a bed etc. should not hurt.
This does NOT include carrying children, animals, heavy bags of groceries etc. This is a light functional wrist. 

  • Protect your wrist – No sports, heavy lifting or strengthening until results are at 29 kg.
  • Wear the WristWidget 24/7. You do not need to wear the big wrist bulky splint
  • Your task is to protect your wrist. Let it heal. Don’t aggravate it!

Goal

Weight Bearing >29kg: mild injury.

MILD INJURY

Expected recovery time in this phase 1 ~ 2 months.

Being categorized, as ‘Mild Injury’ means your wrist is stable and you can load it for athletic endeavors. This took over 10 years of research to determine! Don’t let this give you a false sense of security: you’re not healed. No push-ups, no bicep curls, no rotated pull ups. Yet. Beginning to exercise too soon will set back your healing process!

This next phase is important because often people think they are healed and go back to normal functioning without the WristWidget®. They fall back below 29kg for weight bearing tolerance and symptoms resurface. It is imperative to the healing proces that you work to unwind all of the imbalances in your toso, shoulder, neck, elbow and lastly wrist. You need to stretch daily. See https://www.wristwidget com/pages/videos

  • You should stretch the spine, neck, shoulder and elbow ALL while integrating pronation and supination. Start with NO load and stretch everything. Then add a 0,5 kg weight. Then a 1 kg weight. Etc.
  • You want all of your muscles to stretch equally and smoothly. What you will notice: there are certain positions (without moving the wrist( where you can get your wrist to subluxate. These are important to note.

During this time, you must avoid bicep curls, push ups, pull downs with the wrist

  • Your goal is to take 2-4 weeks to focus on the imbalances that this injury caused and there are many, especially when you have had the injury for a long time.
  • Strengthen instead: the triceps, the rhomboids, the lats and especially start planks on your elbows, not your hands. Get your core muscles working together. Squats and ab work helps a ton.

In this healing phase, you should continue wearing the WristWidget until your weight bearing is normal (equal to your uninjured wrist) and there is NO clicking. You are not done with the healing process yet. The main goal is to be pain-free and with equal weight bearing tolerance on the injured wrist compared to the uninjured side.

  • You need to wear the WristWidget for ALL loading activities – essentially all day.
  • You can remove it at night.
  • Then on a daily schedule, start the 3 Stretches for TFCC Rehab & Recovery (Pronator Stretches).
  • Conduct Weight Bearing Test on your wrists every 7 days.

Goal

Weight Bearing Test Results equal to your injured wrist.Once a taped wrist matches the uninjured wrist, then remove the WristWidget and continue the weekly testing until both wrists are equal. And then:

Congratulations!

You now have a fully recovered TFCC injury. Appreciate your health because YOU have defied what we know in medicine to be the inability of these to heal. You have succesfully healed your TFCC! Enjoy the process. The body is amazing.