Daily Mobility Exercises by Dr. Kelly Starrett › Forums › General › Bottom of wrist issues from writing

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    • 06/05/2014 at 5:01 pm #70975
      AvatarCody Blair
      Participant

      I’m currently in school and doing an intensive amount of manual writing for my math assignments, and I’ve been dealing with some nagging tendon pain on the pinkey side of my wrist. Previously I had not done much writing in my day to day life, so it’s definitely muscles I’m not used to using, so probably an overuse issue. 

      However, I did have an incident with a drill previously that jerked my wrist abruptly that may have initially triggered the injury. The handwriting seems to be aggravating it further.

      It doesn’t help that my handwriting style is pretty cramped. I’m trying to work on relaxing it with little success.

      I took a picture of the area because I don’t really know how to describe it 🙂 It’s the area just below the bony part of the wrist.

      It’s been about 5 months now and the pain is still not going away, although not really getting worse either. I can’t exactly stop doing my homework…so I can’t rest it. I’ve been trying to do all sorts of rolling on my trigger point tube and lacrosse balls on my back and shoulder area. It sometimes gives me some relief, and even feel like it’s getting better, but then gets worse again. I’m not really sure if it’s doing anything.

      It’s becoming very frustrating to say the least! It’s not completely debilitating, but it definitely slows me down and makes me paranoid of injuring it further!

      Any tips on some mobility work I can do to fix this? I’d really appreciate it! 
    • 06/05/2014 at 10:17 pm #74735
      AvatarAnonymous
      Guest

      Have you addressed anything up stream?
      forearm? elbow?
      Yes viewing on icing have changed since some episodes were done.
      Episode 316: Tricky Elbow Fixes
      Pro Episode # 32 – VooDoo Floss Series #1, Theory and Elbow
      Pro Episode # 34 – Voodoo Floss Primer: Elbow Part 2.
      Banish Your Elbow Bench, Dip, Pull Up Pain, You Don’t Really Play Golf or Tennis Do You?
      Burpee Smoked Elbows? Epicondylitis-ness? Voodoo it.
      Episode 291: Elbow Pain and Grody-Tacked Down Forearms
      Episode 273: Lateral Elbow Pain/”Tennis Elbow”, “Kimura Elbow”

      Episode 145: Wrist Flexibility
      Episode 66: A Front Rack Wrist Mob and More!
      Another option is the quick fixes on Yoga Tune Up
      A link for a free one
      Additional ones are a small fee There are 2 hand, wrist, elbow videos.

    • 06/06/2014 at 8:11 pm #74744
      AvatarCody Blair
      Participant

      Thank you! I’ll check those out when I get the chance. 

      I’ve been attempting to address things upstream, but don’t really know what I’m doing to be honest…I’ve basically just been rolling every part of my arm (upper and lower along with shoulder area) with my rumble roller, trying to focus on sore spots.
      What do you mean by icing?
    • 06/07/2014 at 11:06 am #74747
      AvatarNathan Richer
      Participant

      Kaitlin would you please elaborate on the changes in viewpoint on icing? I’ve always felt that they were too extreme on saying never to ice but rather there are times to ice and times not to ice. But would love to hear about what changes the MWOD team have made in their thinking…thanks!

    • 06/09/2014 at 11:28 am #74757
      AvatarAnonymous
      Guest

      In one of the episodes I posted I believe Kelly discusses icing as one thing to do.
      He no longer uses ice. There is other important info in the episode. Was acknowledging there is a changed thinking with that aspect.

      David—
      Below are different resources that explain it.
      2 MWODS that cover the topic of icing:
      People, We’ve Got to Stop Icing Injuries. We Were Wrong, Sooo Wrong | Community Video
      (A year later) Peoples, We’ve Got to Stop Icing. A Year Later…. | Community Video
      Original MD that coined RICE reversed his position.

      We didn’t know. Now we know better

      http://drmirkin.com/public/ezine111410.html

      A solid book on the topic. Practical experiences at several levels.
      ICED! The Illusionary Treatment Option
      More trainers reject using ice to treat minor sport injuries

      http://www.thestar.com/sports/2014/05/26/more_trainers_rejecting_rice_treatment_for_minor_sport_injuries.html

      Why Ice Doesn’t Help An Injury

      http://www.macleans.ca/society/the-end-of-the-ice-age/

      2 Articles from the Journal of Exercise Physiology
      http://marcpro.com/mp/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Effects-of-Electrical-Stimulation-Using-Marc-Pro-Device-During-the-Recovery-Period.pdf

      http://marcpro.com/mp/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Marc-Pro-study-mechanisms-JEP-Oct-2011.pdf

    • 06/14/2014 at 9:18 am #74788
      AvatarKatie Hemphill
      Participant

      Hey pnewcomb,

      Definitely hammer away at those forearms. The videos Kaitlin posted should give you all the tools you need to start making a basic stab at clearing the tension your accumulating from your writer’s death grip. One important thing to watch out for when smashing around the palmar side of your forearm near the ulna (the bone on the pinky side) is that the ulnar nerve is pretty exposed there, and you’ll damn near electrocute yourself if you jam a lacrosse ball into it. It makes smashing that whole situation a pretty big pain in the ass, but don’t let it deter you from getting at it.
      In terms of prevention, I’d take a look at how your wrist is resting on your writing surface when your furiously scribbling away. You might be jamming the base of your palm into the the desk, and this could be causing a lot of that irritation. I actually have the same problem, and start to get some shooting wrist pain in that area if I’ve been writing too long, or even using a computer mouse with a slack hand position. 
      It might be worth looking into a little wrist pad to ease the irritation and put your wrist in a more neutral position while you write.
      Good luck! Keep us updated.
    • 06/27/2014 at 7:36 pm #74881
      AvatarCody Blair
      Participant

      Hey Iron Tiger, is the ulnar nerve all the way up the arm, or more towards the elbow? I’ve definitely felt some nerve pain in that area in line with my pinky, although I rarely focus on that area or even the palmar area in general. Maybe I’ll start working on that. 

      I’ve been pretty persistent with my rolling for the past few weeks and it does seem like the pain is ceasing. Feels less vulnerable, although it does still give me issues if I lift heavy object or twist it the wrong way when picking something up (like I said, the injury originated from my drill torquing my wrist unexpectedly).
      I’ve also started paying more attention to my posture when I write and have notice a lot of shoulder tension creeping in, especially when I’m really focused. I have to keep checking in every once in a while to relax it. I’m finding it difficult to keep it relaxed though!
      One more thing to add, from time to time I’ve been experiencing some slight numbness throughout my forearm. Is this a bad thing, or to be expected from the smashing?
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