Is an occasional tender spot on the palm of your hand something to worry about?
Before you start panicking and letting your health anxiety get the best of you, you’ll first want to remind yourself of all the stress that your palms are subjected to on a daily or near-daily basis.
Something as benign as being new to using a machete to whack away weeds could cause a tender spot in the palm.
If the tenderness is periodic and not accompanied by other symptoms such as pins-and-needles, tingling or skin changes such as peeling or redness, you need to figure out what it is that you do on a periodic basis that coincides with the development of the discomfort.
Nevertheless, there can be a few distinct causes.
“It depends on what the tender spot is due to, as there can be several causes such as injury to the hand or repetitive movements that may cause strain; carpal tunnel syndrome,” says Brynna Connor, MD, Healthcare Ambassador at NorthWestPharmacy.com and a family medicine practitioner.
In carpal tunnel syndrome, there’s compression of the median nerve at the wrist.
Carpal tunnel syndrome. Shutterstock/Alexonline
This can lead to pain in not just the wrist and fingers, but the palm. There may also be tingling in the palm.
“Repetitive movements of our hands that may cause strain and tenderness. or carpal tunnel syndrome, are very common because so many of us are on our computers and phones so frequently or work jobs which require repetitive hand movements,” says Dr. Connor.
Have you hit anything lately with your palm? For example, in a brief fit of angst, perhaps you gave a good palm-heel to a wall.
Perhaps you recently clapped aggressively? Maybe you’ve taken up a new sport such as golf? Have you been doing something different in your strength training routine?
The key words here are “occasional” or “periodic.” This on-and-off nature suggests that an external cause is at play rather than a disease process such as peripheral neuropathy.
Occasional tenderness in your palm is nothing to worry about as long as there is no accompanying skin changes, lumps, swelling, tingling, numbness or weakness in the palm, wrist or fingers.
Brynna Connor, MD, serves as the Healthcare Ambassador at NorthWestPharmacy.com, the world’s most reviewed and independently five-star rated online pharmacy. She owns a private practice in Austin, Texas and is board certified in family medicine.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
.
