Starts visit one
Pain
Take the tendons out of the fight.
A thumb spica splint molded in the clinic rests the irritated tunnel while hands-on work brings the swelling down.
What We Treat
De Quervain’s tenosynovitis treatment in Vancouver, WA.
A sharp pull right at the base of your thumb every time you grip, twist a jar or pick up your kid. That is a tendon that has outgrown the tunnel it runs through, and it is very treatable.
Sound Familiar?
Does this sound like your thumb and wrist?
- A sharp pull along the thumb side of your wrist when you grip or twist
- Swelling you can actually see or feel along that same tendon line
- Pain that flares hardest when you pick up a baby, a coffee mug or a phone
- A catching or creaking feeling when you move your thumb away from your palm
- Pain that started or worsened after weeks of repetitive lifting, texting or new-parent tasks
- A wrist brace from the drugstore that helps a little but never fully settles it
Two or more? Keep reading.
Why It Happens
Two tendons, one tight tunnel, one very unhappy thumb.
Two tendons that move your thumb away from your palm share a narrow tunnel at the thumb side of your wrist. Repeat that motion enough, lifting a baby, scrolling a phone, gripping a tool, and the lining around those tendons can thicken and become irritated. The tunnel does not get any bigger to compensate, so every pass of the tendon through it gets more painful, not less.
This is why rest alone often disappoints. The tendons are still swollen the next time you use your thumb, so the same motion reignites it. A cause-first evaluation identifies how irritated the tendons are and what is loading them all day, then builds a plan around calming that specific tunnel down. Your hands are how you work, hold your kid and sign your name. You do not get to shelve them and wait.
The Honest Truth
An irritated tendon tunnel does not calm down on its own schedule.
If you keep waiting
- The tendon lining keeps thickening every time you repeat the motion that irritates it
- You start avoiding your thumb entirely, which weakens the grip around it too
- A drugstore brace keeps managing the flare without ever addressing what caused it
If you start this week
- You leave visit one knowing exactly which tendons are irritated and why
- A thumb spica splint molded to your wrist here, not guessed at off a shelf
- A plan with an endpoint: you always know which phase you are in and what is left
Nobody regrets starting too early. Read our reviews and you will find people who wish they had come in sooner.
How We Fix It
Four phases. Built for an irritated thumb tunnel.
Every plan has an endpoint. Here is what the four phases look like for De Quervain’s.
Once the pain settles
Prime
Get the tendons gliding again.
Thumb and wrist motion return gradually, so the tendons slide through their tunnel instead of catching against it.
Once the motion holds
Perform
Rebuild the grip you have been avoiding.
Graded strengthening for thumb and grip, loaded the way lifting a child or a tool actually loads it.
Before discharge
Prevent
Change what irritated the tunnel.
We change how you carry, lift and grip so that tunnel stops taking the same repeated hit. That is the endpoint, not another appointment.
In the month since I started going to Gabbert Clinic, I’ve had great care from Amy. As a result of a car accident 5/5/22, I have been struggling with DeQuervane’s syndrome and been unable to use my right hand for normal day-to-day functions. For the first time in 1 1/2 years, I am being able to do things with my right hand that I haven’t been able to do since the car accident. I have hope, for the first time, that I will eventually have normal, pain-free use of my right hand again.
Shared by Candace S. · De Quervain’s syndrome
Where you start: a sharp pull every time you grip or lift
Where the plan ends: picking things up without bracing for it
De Quervain’s tenosynovitis
Pain to Prevent
Questions, Answered
What people ask before booking for De Quervain’s.
No, and the difference matters for treatment. De Quervain’s is irritation of the tendon lining, not the joint itself, so it responds differently than arthritis does. Your evaluation sorts out which one you actually have, since the pain can feel similar from the outside.
We know that is usually not optional, so we do not just tell you to stop. Your therapist teaches you a different way to lift and grip that keeps the irritated tendons out of the motion while they calm down, alongside the splint and hands-on work.
That depends on what the evaluation finds, so we tell you after we look, not before. What you get either way is a plan with an endpoint. You will know which of the four phases you are in, Pain, Prime, Perform or Prevent, and what is left before you are done. No open tab of appointments.
Book Your Visit
Ready when you are.
Request a time and a real person from our front desk calls you back to get you scheduled. No phone tree. No ‘someone will reach out.’ Just a plan.
- Hours Mon–Fri 7:00am–5:00pm · Sat–Sun closed
- (360) 989-1200 Prefer to talk now? Call us.
- One-on-one with a licensed Occupational Therapist, every visit
5.0 · 146 Google reviews
Your request goes straight to our front desk
Step 1 of 5
Request sent.
That’s the hard part done. We’ll call during clinic hours to get you on the schedule and tell you what to bring.
Visit Us
Care this good, this close.
Gabbert Clinic
- 7710 NE Greenwood Dr # 150, Vancouver, WA 98662
- (360) 989-1200
- Fax: (360) 583-3442
- admin@gabbertclinic.com
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Mon–Fri 7:00am–5:00pm
Sat–Sun closed