TFCC Injuries

It's been almost 4 weeks now since I injured my wrist, and after popping my 16th Celebrex (celecoxib) capsule today, there's still some dull pain even though I have regained my wrist's full range of motion. This triangular fibro-cartilage complex (TFCC) injury is disabling, and sure takes hell of a long time to heal completely!


The TFCC is a small piece of cartilage and ligaments on the little-finger side of the wrist, located just past the end of the forearm bone (ulna). Cartilage is a tough rubbery tissue that acts as a cushion for the joint. The ligaments are strong bands of tissue that attach the cartilage to bones in the wrist. The ligaments or cartilage can be torn during a wrist injury.


So how did I injure this little small piece of pain in the arse?
Answer: A violent twist to the wrist while handling that Yamaha Virago 500.

Of course, that's not the only way to have your TFCC torn. You could also achieve the same damage by falling on an outstretched hand (if you're lucky, you could break some bones in the process too!), a direct blow to the little finger side of the wrist or hand, or even when you're playing racquet games.

Once you've torn your TFCC, the symptoms are easy to spot. First, you will experience pain on the little-finger side (ulnar side) of the wrist. Secondly, there's a characteristic clicking sound or feeling of a catching sensation when moving the wrist. These 2 symptoms, coupled with a history of trauma, is enough to warrant you a course of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (ie. NSAIDs, eg. celecoxib, ibuprofen) for 3 weeks. But if you think that your surgeon is incompetent or has nothing much to do, you could ask for an X-ray, an arthrogram, or even an MRI just to be sure!

Here's how a TFCC injury looks like on a radiograph (that is, if you're good at interpreting one):


But it's just a small tear, why the long healing time? That's because only the peripheral 15-20% of the TFCC has a blood supply (Wheeless' Textbook of Orthopaedics - TFCC Anatomy). You may wanna read more on this at Wheeless' Textbook of Orthopaedics Online on TFCC, and TFCC examination.

To the guys who kept asking me "What the fuck happened to your wrist?" or "What the fuck happened to your biceps strength?" in the gym, that's what happened. And it's not in the biceps, fuck-heads!

Related post: The Diagnosis