What is a scapholunate ligament injury?

The scapholunate joint is a small joint between two carpal bones at the wrist crease, namely the scaphoid and lunate bones. The scapholunate joint is very important for the stability of the wrist joint. It is often injured during sport, for example, if you fall heavily onto your hand. It can also be injured through chronic overuse, for example, for those who are involved in manual work or lift heavy weights in the gym. It causes localised pain at the wrist, which is often made worse with gripping and weight bearing through the hand, such as during a press-up.
Obtaining the correct diagnosis is essential with scapholunate ligament injuries as a delay or missed diagnosis can result in chronic wrist pain and inability to weight bear through the wrist. Chronic scapholunate ligament injuries can also lead to osteoarthritis. Diagnosis is made using clinical assessment and diagnostic ultrasound. An MRI scan may be required depending on the mechanism and extent of the injury on ultrasound.
Treatment will depend on the severity of the ligament injury. Non-surgical treatment involves physiotherapy, including activity modification, splinting, exercise, and manual therapy. A referral to an orthopaedic surgeon may be required. If the pain does not improve and the ligament injury is a partial tear (not a full tear), then an ultrasound guided steroid injection can be carried out.
What are the symptoms of a scapholunate ligament injury?
The symptoms of scapholunate ligament injury are:
Pain and swelling at the wrist joint
Pain aggravated by weight bearing, for example during a press up
Wrist instability and weakness

[@davidrichards4677]

Broke my scaphoid tripping over a hurdle and the trainer said I was fine so I spent 2 months over the summer working construction and mountain biking, thinking it was a bad sprain. My Lunate shifted about 45° in the wrong direction

[@user-td3sl7wj9v]

How did you know that it wasn't a sprain? Thank you

[@davidrichards4677]

@@user-td3sl7wj9v 4 mm gap between both poles of your scaphoid means its broke

[@jesussaves7843]

Hi I’m actually looking for information about a condition where the pain is located at the other end so the bone under the little pink that is sticking out a bit. Have had pain for months now and my doctor in the Netherlands told me to just put some pain relief ointment on it and the physio I went to recently said to tape it and do some light wrist excercise. I wonder if I can co Tinie with general strength excercises at the gym as I only noticed relief when I stopped doing these. Still don’t know what is the actual diagnosis.

[@bryanrodriguez9226]

This was very helpfuo esp the picture thank you

[@CompletePhysio]

You're welcome, glad it helped! If you would like more up to date videos and information please like and follow our channel, or you can find lots of blogs on our website. complete-physio.co.uk/blogs/

[@msprabhu82]

In my mri shows no tear but still my wrist hurt. My injury is before 3 years. What to do

[@zachct4536]

Iwas going up a case of stairs to my apartment, tripped and caught myself with my left hand and managed to tear this ligament. Got an mri and X-ray and the X-ray showed gapping. Getting surgery in 3 weeks.

[@teamsuck7684]

Best of luck! Hope it goes well

[@gajendrasinghkanyal3766]

How did it go?

[@Legionistakudema]

Lost of time and money it will tear again

[@awakenedservant]

Ive had this for 3 years now , i was an amateur boxer and always did training.. so for these 3 years still no improvement, i might have to get it surgically repaired. Scaphoid dissociation..

[@CompletePhysio]

Hi, I hope that you have managed to get your injury sorted. If you found this useful please follow our channel for more videos.

[@valkymia3708]

Hey man, what have you done for it? I got mine from boxing as well and I have times when it feels like it's improving then out of no where it is bad again. I no longer can do jiujitsu because of this issue.

[@awakenedservant]

@@valkymia3708 no but I'm contemplating it as we speak .. it's been a long time for me as well .. I just worked out again and did the bag for a bit with push ups .. I feel like my wrist pain has stretched all the way up my arm .. I don't know if this is a sign of arthritis already because of the scaphoid issue ...

[@awakenedservant]

@@valkymia3708 same for me as well .. I stopped bjj and boxing I'm 33 but had dreams to get more fights and compete and sideline be a coach but ever since .. I feel like God is telling me He has something else better for me man ..🤣 I will try out every other means and surgery will be the last resort ..I am now using hot massage oils and massaging my wrist area , in hopes it will increase blood flow in the area to encourage recovery.. it sucks bro 🥲

[@valkymia3708]

@@awakenedservant I had an mri done on mine and it looks like mine was a minor tear on the inside of the scaphoid ligament. There is a thicker spot on top and a thinner side on bottom with some stuff in between the bones and that inbetween stuff is where my tear is. Mine has been bad for about 6 months now and I've been doing physical therapy at my orthopedics for a few months now with limited results. Doctor will probably give me some steroid injection there to see if that will fix the issue, if not I might be looking at surgery. I don't know about yours but I can still exercise so long as the exercise isn't demanding stabilization from the scaphoid. (I.e. I can do knuckle pushups rather than a normal grip) and any similar types of movement where the wrist doesn't flex. Theoretically I could get back to muay thai as long as I overdo it on the wrist wrapping for support so it's impossible to move. Jiujitsu is still completely off the table though. Have you found anything that helps yours?

[@Ccubed92]

Hurt my self in a car fire as a firefighter and worked for a whole month before getting checked out and fiund out i had this and other tears

[@CompletePhysio]

We hope that you are getting the right treatment now and are on the mend!

[@geethalokre1303]

Sir.I had plaster for 6 weeks. now i am not able to twist my hand i have swelling and cannot fold my finger. I got x-ray done.the report says soft tissue swelling is seen around the wrist joint.kindly help

[@CompletePhysio]

Hi, Recovery from a hand or wrist injury can take time. You will need to seek some support from a good Physiotherapist who has experience treating this condition. If you are London based, we would be very happy to see you in one of our clinics, please get in touch. complete-physio.co.uk/contact-us/

[@Legionistakudema]

I torn my ligament i had surgery 10 weeks cast and second operation for remove wires so i was able to move little bit my wrist after like 3 months..... ligament last for 1 month and tear again so i lost 4 months and lot of money for nothing, surgery is just lost of time and money

[@CompletePhysio]

That sounds incredibly bad luck!

[@ayshathanjala5131]

😁

[@dondada803]

I have had this for like 7 months now still feels sore like it happened yesterday. Can NOT bend it foward properly or backwards AT ALL. Never once got it checked out at all. I really wanted too as soon as it happened but the hospital is far and no one in my family cares enough to take me and im getting really worried about it. Its to the point were at night im like having anxiety/panic attacks over it i want some fucking help man. No one gives fuck tho

[@davidrichards4677]

You may have broken your scaphoid. Your wrist could collapse later in life if you get AVN. I neglected my fracture for too long and the lower part of my scaphoid died. My bone is almost healed after 9 months, with the help of a bone stimulator. Don't wanna freak you out, but it's pretty important. If it's not broken, attach a therapy band to a heavy object and try flexing your wrist to gain strength

[@Puya008]

I hope since then that you managed to get to a hospital and get some investigations, it's important. Sad that your family doesn't care enough to help you get there, hope you will find people who will take care of you

[@Ccubed92]

You will need surgery

[@CompletePhysio]

Hope that you managed to get some professional medical help, it sounds like you have had a significant injury which needed to be treated. Very sorry to hear that you have been in so much pain and distress. We are glad that you found the video informative and wish you all the best.

[@zwinkyecstasy]

Where do you live? Be firm with them and say you are in alot of pain andnif not take bus train or whatever on your own. You need a athroscopy surgery. Ligament injuries are serious let your family know that