Right Hand Pain: Common Causes and When to Seek Care

Frequent Diagnoses

• Repetitive strain injury (RSI): Typing, mouse, tools → tendinopathy, nerve irritation.
• Carpal tunnel syndrome: Median nerve compression at wrist → numbness (thumb, index, middle, radial ring), night pain.
• De Quervain’s tenosynovitis: Thumb-side wrist pain, Finkelstein’s test +.
• Trigger finger/thumb: Catching, locking.
• CMC osteoarthritis: Base of thumb pain, pinch weakness.
• Fracture/scaphoid fracture: Trauma history, snuffbox tenderness.
• Ganglion cyst: Dorsal wrist mass, fluctuant.
• Cervical radiculopathy (C6–C7): Neck pain radiating to hand.
• Systemic: Rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes (neuropathy), thyroid.

Red Flags

• Acute trauma with deformity
• Progressive weakness, wasting
• Night pain unrelieved by position
• Sensory loss in median/ulnar distribution

Next Steps

Primary care → focused exam → nerve conduction studies if CTS suspected → hand therapy, splinting, ergonomic modification, or orthopedic/hand surgery referral.