Dulcimers are inexpensive enough that it should be easy enough to give one a try. Oddly enough, I find my wrists - having been broken a few times when I was a kid - can't take the dulcimer for very long. On the other hand, I'm mostly doing chording, which puts a lot of pressure on the hand in a certain way. With a noter it's probably not as big an issue. And I don't have that trouble with guitar or banjo, so it's likely a different issue.

Try one - it's a fun instrument to learn!

Dan