Q:I am a 30-year-old high-level tennis player and I have been having problems with my right wrist for three months. A hand specialist ordered an arthrogram and an MRI scan and told me that I had a tear of my TFCC. He said that if rest doesn't help, I might need surgery. What is the TFCC and what are my chances of it getting better?

A: A very common injury in tennis players caused by repetitive stress as well as changes in racket technology is an injury to the triangular fibrocartilage complex (TFCC). This is an area on the outside of the wrist that is a combination of cartilage and ligaments that, when torn, can cause pain and weakness when striking a tennis ball.

Many times these injures respond to non-surgical treatment in terms of pain relief and lead to a speedy return to sports activities. However, if symptoms persist, surgery may be required to fix the TFCC. A hand specialist with experience with sports injuries in tennis players will have seen many of these injuries and will know how to best treat them.

Dr. Harlan Selesnick is the Miami Heat physician. E-mail: jockdoc69@aol.com.

Join the discussion

Note: If this is your first time using our NEW commenting system, you will have to LOG OUT and then LOG BACK IN.

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.CommentBody@

@Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@