Hand, wrist, and joint pain are common complaints as patients age. Years ago, patients had their hands treated with paraffin wax and other heat treatments; however, these methods failed to improve the condition in the long term. Excedrin and many other pain relievers advertised their arthritis strength formulas for temporary relief of pain. Yet, the medications made patients more chronic since they did not address the reason why their joints in the hands, wrists, and thumb hurt. The health care system addressed this with specialists who ran tests that could be painful, yet they too often failed to find a long-term solution to your worsening pain as the years went by. This is because the system model evaluated where you hurt, but had little understanding of the mechanisms behind why you hurt. Eventually, people develop numbness in the fingers and perhaps circulation issues as well. The specialists would often try to treat the hand pain with injections, surgeries, and other invasive methods that may have relieved the symptom, but did not solve the problem. As these problems worsen, patients often develop shoulder problems, elbow pain, and even problems in the neck, shoulders, and back. What is everyone missing? Was the hand and joint pain a symptom of a larger issue? Why does the modern system of medical specialists fail so many patients? The problem with diagnosis by evaluating symptoms is that the fascial system controls movement through the joints and the nervous system. It begins from the feet up, and we are constantly adapting; however, did we adapt well to that old injury, the growth spurt when we were younger? Our body mechanics, as we mature, are constantly adapting, and those inherited traits show up in both good and bad ways. In the world of musculoskeletal care, simplicity leads to better diagnosis and treatment. You cannot one size fits all body mechanics as we are all different. In the medical system, they use the complexity of tests, specialists, and health care by committee. This fails spectacularly with most musculoskeletal problems, which raises costs, causes chronicity, and more pain as we age, and then we are told joints went bad over time. The arthritis we view on that X-ray is a history of malfunction rather than the problem, although over time, it can eventually become the problem as well. A simple holistic evaluation and a deep history will lead to an understanding of the mechanisms behind why you ache. This is impossible to do in the medical system that has you seeing many people who are looking at you as your parts, rather than all of you. In other words, by adding complexity, we have made the medical treatment paths for something as simple as arm and wrist pain inefficient and ineffective. You cannot one size fits all body mechanics as we are all different. We have different ways we have grown, adapted to our body styles, and different sexes are structurally different. Understanding arm, wrist, and hand pain begins with a thorough history and exam. When was the last time you saw a doctor who did a deep history of not only where you hurt, but also questioned you about other parts of your body? Did they ask about surgeries? Did they examine your lower body and your structure? Did they show an understanding of how interconnected the body is through the fascial system? Did they examine it with an understanding of how things work, and were they able to explain it to you and show you why you were in pain? It does not take a village and multiple specialists to evaluate your hand, wrist, and thumb pain. Nor does it require an X-ray in most cases unless there was trauma involved. Thorough evaluation and a great history often will include other parts of the body that you would never consider; however, the body is an integrated system designed to adapt. Pain in the hands, arms, and shoulders is from poor adaptations elsewhere. This is why we must be thorough and use a primary care approach to establish the right diagnosis and treatment. There is one profession that performs primary care for the musculoskeletal system and is capable of performing a proper history and evaluation of your pain. This profession understands motion and mobility and why a lack of proper movement causes pain. These doctors are known as chiropractors. Why think of chiropractic first for your hand and wrist pain and numbness? When hand pain is improperly diagnosed and treated, the problems in those areas worsen over time as we age due to a lack of care. Chiropractors see these cases as they become chronic on a regular basis. Why not just keep things simple and see the chiropractor first? Chiropractic offices are filled with people who were often failed by the medical system’s approach to their painful chronic conditions. Patients are often surprised by how much their chiropractor understands how the body is supposed to move and function. Sports-certified or diplomate-level chiropractic physicians have even more training in neurology, orthopedics, soft tissue evaluation, and have on-the-field skills, which we often see at sporting events. We helped Johnson and Johnson save thousands of dollars after years of therapies to people’s arms and wrists for carpal tunnel syndrome failed to improve these patients. Our office averaged 10 visits per case to resolve the pain and improve how these workers functioned at work. I was also the medical director for USA Track and Field in NJ for 26 years and have attended hundreds of events and treated thousands of athletes over the years. The athletes knew the chiropractor would be the best provider to help them perform better and stay out of pain. What was so different about the chiropractic approach? Patients were evaluated and usually treated the same day, and many patients saw improvement over a few visits and continued improvement with the rehabilitation methods given to them by the doctor who did their initial evaluation. Care is appropriate, evidence-based, safe, and effective, with a high degree of success with patients who follow their care plans. They are trained to refer to the medical system when needed, and since the evaluation is usually more thorough because they evaluate your function rather than a series of protocolled tests. Care often avoids X-rays, MRI’s, and other tests that are not needed in many cases. When a trial of care is not showing improvement, chiropractors order MRI’s as well. The good news is that most patients improve without the need for medical care or approval and monitoring by a medical specialist. As patients improve, they refer others for care as well. Which is the true cause of your thumb pain, wrist pain, and arm and shoulder pain? The chiropractor is often your best first choice to resolve these problems without the use of medications, injections, and surgeries that address the symptoms, but not the problems behind why you hurt. Mechanical problems in the lower body are the most common reason for hand, wrist, and thumb pain, and over time, these problems will also cause shoulder, neck, and many other problems. Chiropractors treat people and understand the underlying causes of why you hurt. It is not unusual to see a chiropractor for one problem and, by treating the cause, solve many other symptoms you have lived with for years. For hand, arm, and upper body pain, including thumb pain, think chiropractic first. How chiropractors treat these conditions. Manipulation of the spine and extremities to improve how you move. Myofascial release treatment and methods, such as the Graston Technique to improve the flexibility and elasticity of the muscles and fascia. Exercises to improve function and improve how you move and readapt. Foot orthotics to correct imbalances from the feet up. Often, these imbalances, along with improper shoe sizing, can be a cause of upper-body pain. If you have hand pain and it is now progressing to numbness and you are dropping things, the specialist you need is a chiropractor. Keep it simple, think chiropractic first.