Wrist problems are more common in hand-intensive sports and sports that entail gripping an object such as a tennis racket or golf club. Most injuries are due to repetitive overuse. Wrist fractures can occur in sports with high-energy falls, such as snowboarding, skiing, and skating.
The wrist and hand are complex anatomic structures that allow a wide variety of positions and functions. This is necessary to carry out the complex tasks that are required from the hand, such as writing, grasping, and picking up very small items.
The wrist is composed of seven carpal (mid-hand) bones that are joined together and stabilized by joint capsules and by ligamentous structures. Disruption of the ligaments generally requires high-energy trauma, but when it does occur it can be very debilitating. An eighth carpal bone lies within one of the flexor tendons of the wrist and glides over another carpal bone as a 'sesamoid bone'.