Radial Nerve Injury

Definition:
Damage, harm, or loss to the radial nerve particularly as the result of external force.

Symptoms
  • Abnormal sensations in hand or forearm (dorsal hand, radial surface, 2nd and 3rd fingers)
  • Difficulty straightening the arm at the elbow
  • Difficulty bending the hand back at the wrist, or even holding the hand
  • Numbness, decreased sensation, tingling, or burning sensation
  • Pain
  • Wrist drop
Causes
  • Improper use of crutches
  • Broken upper arm bone
  • Long-term or repeated constriction of the wrist
  • Pressure caused by hanging the arm over the back of a chair
  • Pressure to the upper arm from arm positions during sleep or coma
  • Pinching of the nerve during deep sleep, such as when a person is intoxicated
  • Long-term pressure on the nerve, usually caused by swelling or injury of nearby body structures
  • Lead poisoning
Treatment
  • ROM and stretching to hand
  • Hand intrinsic strengthening
  • Upper extremity strengthening
Radial Nerve Injury Phase I

Purchase Phase

  • Foam Wedge In Flexion
  • Foam Wedge In Abduction
  • Elbow Supination Stretch
  • Thoracic Stretch 1
  • Wall Clocks
  • Full Anterior Stretch

Radial Nerve Injury Phase II

Purchase Phase

  • Standing Posture
  • Sitting Posture
  • Wall Slides
  • T Band Wall Push W ER
  • Superman Holds

Radial Nerve Injury Phase III

Purchase Phase

  • Ulnar Radial Deviation
  • Rice Wrist Flexion And Extension
  • Wrist Curls
  • Rice Wrist Pronation Supination
  • Rice Hand Opening Closing
  • Eccentric Wrist Flexion
  • Eccentric Wrist Extension