Starts visit one
Pain
Protect the healing ligament.
A custom splint stabilizes the wrist while swelling drops, so the ligament heals in a supported position.
What We Treat
Wrist sprain and strain treatment in Vancouver, WA.
A fall, a twist, a hand that caught you the wrong way. The brace helped for a while, but weeks later the wrist still is not the one you trust your full weight on.
Sound Familiar?
Does this sound like your wrist since the fall or the twist?
- A wrist that still feels unstable or wobbly when you lean your weight on it
- Swelling that lingers weeks after the fall, twist or injury that started it
- A sharp catch on a specific motion, like turning a doorknob or pushing up from a chair
- A brace you have been wearing for weeks that never quite lets you take it off for good
- Grip and push-up strength that has not come back to what it was before
- Being told the X-ray is clear, with no explanation for why it still does not feel right
Two or more? Keep reading.
Why It Happens
A clear X-ray does not mean an uninjured wrist.
A sprain is a stretched or torn ligament, the tissue that holds your wrist bones in the right relationship to each other. A strain is the same kind of damage to a muscle or tendon. Neither one shows up on an X-ray, which only images bone, which is why a wrist can come back “clear” from imaging and still be genuinely injured. The ligaments and small stabilizing muscles of the wrist take real time to heal, and they need to be loaded correctly during that time, not just rested.
That gap, between a clear X-ray and a wrist that still does not feel right, is exactly what a hands-on evaluation is built to close. We test the specific ligaments and motions involved, then build a plan around restoring stability, not just waiting out the calendar on a brace.
The Honest Truth
An unstable wrist does not stabilize itself.
If you keep waiting
- The small muscles that stabilize the wrist keep losing strength while you avoid loading it
- An unstable ligament raises the odds of re-spraining the same wrist again
- You keep relying on a brace instead of a wrist that can hold itself up
If you start this week
- You leave visit one knowing exactly which ligament or tendon is involved
- A custom wrist splint molded here if the joint still needs protecting
- 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 a sprained or strained wrist.
Every plan has an endpoint. Here is what the four phases look like for a wrist sprain or strain.
Once the pain settles
Prime
Restore full, pain-free motion.
Guided motion work returns the wrist’s full range without asking the healing ligament to do more than it is ready for.
Once the motion holds
Perform
Rebuild the stability you lost.
Graded strengthening for the small stabilizing muscles around the wrist, so it holds your weight with confidence again.
Before discharge
Prevent
Test it against a fall again.
We load the wrist the way a stumble or a catch actually would, so you know it holds before you find out the hard way.
Amy is wonderful. I come here for overuse pains and strains, and I feel lucky to have met her on my journey. Her energy is inviting and I trust her with my hands. I work in esthetics so my hands are my life. She has helped diminish pain each time I go and I find her very knowledgeable discovering different therapies per my concerns that are a changing. I feel like each time my hand gets better I uncover a new part that needs attention cuz its been hiding pain. By the end of this, I feel like my wrists will have had a full circle therapy. Five Stars. Bonus 6th star because I find myself wanting to do the exercises/stretches because they are short and sweet.
Shared by Ayla J. · Wrist strain
Where you start: a wrist you brace out of habit, not confidence
Where the plan ends: a wrist you lean your full weight on without thinking twice
Wrist sprains & strains
Pain to Prevent
Questions, Answered
What people ask before booking for a wrist sprain or strain.
An X-ray images bone, and a sprain or strain is soft tissue damage to a ligament, muscle or tendon. It is entirely possible, and common, to have a completely clear X-ray and a genuinely injured wrist. A hands-on evaluation checks the soft tissue an X-ray cannot see.
That depends on the severity of the sprain or strain, so we tell you after your evaluation, not before. A custom splint fabricated here fits and supports better than a one-size brace, and we remold it as your wrist changes through recovery.
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