TFCC Wrist Injury Update

Since my last update in February, I’ve had another PRP injection for my wrist injury.

For those of you who are new here, I’ve been rock climbing for 7 years and currently work as a climbing instructor. Last year I injured my wrist while training for competition season and I haven’t been able to climb since! I’ve tried physio, chiro, and many types of imaging along the road…

My specific injury: TFCC tear in my right wrist. If yours is an impact or overuse injury, it might be worth researching this particular diagnosis. You can read my article on the TFFC here.

TFCC on left hand

Update:

Of all the topics I blog about, my posts on the TFCC get the most hits on Google. I’ve also received quite a few questions through Facebook from athletes with similar injuries…That’s probably because the wrist is especially tricky to diagnose, and there’s not much written on the TFCC.

I’m glad I can help guide you towards some topics to research and questions to ask your doctors!

Last month I was given a second PRP injection by my surgeon. PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) Treatment involves taking some of your blood, filtering it, and re-injecting some of the concentrated good stuff (the plasma) back into the area of your injury. This injection is a lighter alternative to surgery and has a low risk of reaction, since the serum being injected came from your body!

This second injection hurt a lot less than the first one and was a much quicker recovery. Once the local anesthetic wore off, it took only 2 days before my wrist was pretty much back to normal (they warn that the injected area can be quite sore for up to 2 weeks before it starts getting better).

Injection #1) Before my first PRP, I could not doing any weight-baring activities with my right hand, and small repetitive movements such as writing and chopping hurt intolerably. I taped my wrist almost 24/7, and it ached for most of the day.

I did not really notice any immediate improvement from my first PRP. I was still in a lot of pain. But over the next 3 months the aching stopped, I stopped taping my wrist, and I became able to write a couple pages pain-free.

Injection #2) The recovery from this shot was much faster, and the effects more noticeable. I’m now able to lift heavier objects, chop & write fairly well, and ride my bike (resting my weight on the handlebars was impossible before).

Conclusion: I have to conclude that, combined with responsible care & rest on my end, PRP has worked for me!

Stretch from my OT

I’m so glad at the progress my healing has made recently. Not having to manage constantly pain and restrict my activities (as much) make life quite a bit happier 🙂 Despite PRP’s success, allowing my body the time it needs to heal has been the principle factor in my recovery. I cannot emphasize enough how much patience it has taken to resist overexerting myself, and how much improvement I’ve seen as a result of this patience.

All the best in your healing! ❤

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Anatomical diagram of TFCC taken from https://www.arthrex.com/hand-wrist/tfcc-tears

**Keep in mind I’m not a health expert/practitioner! If you’re concerned about an injury, please seek the advice of your doctor. I just hope to provide a starting point for your own research/rehab.

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