Wrist Pain

[Jonas]

Hi!

Being an overly enthusiastic newbee (been riding a couple of weeks or so, 2-3 times a week), I may have gone to hard at it. After a longish session (4hrs?) of hopping around my left wrist hurted like hell (eh, well not quite really) the day after, it did feel sore riding home but there was no real 'pain'.

This was two weeks ago and resulted it me taking a break until yesterday (longest two weeks ever). I bought some wrist supports (Rehband something) designed for "light overexcertion" and "preemptive use", which i used during yesterday ride.

Before getting warmed up it was not very comfortable to ride/hop, after a little while it felt ok (I think the support helped out) but with occational discomfort. After about 2hrs I could definitely feel it was time to stop, which I did.

Today it feels like I'm back to where I was 5 days ago or so. Bending the hand feels uncomfortable/mildly painful (more so with resistance) and there is more crackling than usual.

So what do you recon:

1) Doctor ASAP

2) Ride with wrist support unless it's very painful and only for shorter periods till it wears off

3) Lots and lots of stretching

4) Quit wining

5) Other

Waiting for two more weeks for it to possibly wear off is not on option unless a doctor says so.

[nmt_oli]

Sounds to me as if youve just got over-exited( (Y) ) and sprained them. It will take a good few weeks to fully recover. I did my ankle in on a trampoline a couple of months back, couldnt barely ride for a week (in terms of commuting) and couldnt ride trials at all for at least 2 weeks. It still feels a bit dodgy occasionally, but is now prety much normal.

Give it time to swell, do its stuff and heal. Use the support bandage thingies even when your not doing anything, as they help support it while recovering, and generally speed things up. If you do want to ride, try not to do more than say 15min-20 min sessions at a time, and stop if you notice your wrists hurting at all, otherwise youl only go backwards.

See a doctor if you want reasurance, or if it persists for more than 3-4 weeks. If it was more serious than a sprain then im sure you would have felt it by now! I thought my ankle was broken as i couldnt put any weight on it at all! but it turned out to be just a sprain.

Remember the strength will build up, a lot of riders on here would have no problem riding for the length of time you did (4 hours a session, regularly) but thats because we have been riding for a while, so the muscles and tendons and things have naturally beefed up. If your new to any sport youve gotta start slow unfotuantely, as its likely it will use muscle groups you otherwise rarely use.

As frustrating as it is- all you can do is wait!

Edited November 16, 2005 by nmt_oli

[Deonn h]

I got wrist pain when I started trials.Due to all the hopping around ect.I think it`s just normal, it will start to wear off soon and your wrists will just get used to it. (Y)

[lankyri]

thats what happened to me a month or two back, hopped up wall and wrist goes crack, so i go and get a wrist support from mates house and carried on (stupid thing to do) next day i go to hospital as im in so much pain luckly no brakes or frature just alot of fluid i think, it kept me off my bike for at least 2 weeks before i was confortable hopping around and still i cannot rotate my wrist all the way around it sucks i can ride but i cant do my weights or upper body excersise (sp)

but yeah all you can do is wait theres no point trying to ride if you are going to be in pain and hurting yourself even more

[physio]

Hi!

Being an overly enthusiastic newbee (been riding a couple of weeks or so, 2-3 times a week), I may have gone to hard at it. After a longish session (4hrs?) of hopping around my left wrist hurted like hell (eh, well not quite really) the day after, it did feel sore riding home but there was no real 'pain'.

This was two weeks ago and resulted it me taking a break until yesterday (longest two weeks ever). I bought some wrist supports (Rehband something) designed for "light overexcertion" and "preemptive use", which i used during yesterday ride.

Before getting warmed up it was not very comfortable to ride/hop, after a little while it felt ok (I think the support helped out) but with occational discomfort. After about 2hrs I could definitely feel it was time to stop, which I did.

Today it feels like I'm back to where I was 5 days ago or so. Bending the hand feels uncomfortable/mildly painful (more so with resistance) and there is more crackling than usual.

So what do you recon:

1) Doctor ASAP

2) Ride with wrist support unless it's very painful and only for shorter periods till it wears off

3) Lots and lots of stretching

4) Quit wining

5) Other

Waiting for two more weeks for it to possibly wear off is not on option unless a doctor says so.

ok heres the thing

if you didnt actually fall on the wrist in an awkward position or over exert the wrist joint when falling in it, then its unlikely that you have actualyl sustained any damage to either the bone structure or the associated ligamentous structure

what usually happens in this sort of situation is that the tendons and ligaments around the wrist have been hyperextended. they arent used to the pounding that youve given them as theyve never been through this sort of exercise before (guess youve always had girlfriends :( )

the additional cracking and clicking that you are feeling is usually associated with an injury to the soft tissue in the wrist, wrists tend to crack after a bad sprain or fracture. however as you havent actually injured it, we can only assume that it is just a "wear and tear" problem

there are a few things to take into consideration here just as a precaution

1. did you fall onto the wrist and potentially damage anything around the joint? if so get it xrayed as scaphoid fractures are very common and feel just like a sprained wrist

2. if the wrist feels loose and cracky dont just wear a support, itll make the ligaments and muscles weaker as they will rely on the support and itll actually have a counter productive effect. you should only wear wrist supports as a last result

3. get yourself some wrist exercises to strengthen up the joint, squeeze a tennis ball in the palm of your hand once a day for 20 mins to help both of them. make sure you squeeze the hell out of it

4. get it looked at if you get pain, and even if it feels just like sprain pain, its far easier to fracture something in your wrist than to actually sprain anything in your wrist. many many people go around thinking they just sprained it and after about 3 weeks eventually go get it checked out only to find that they fractured it.

5. dont stretch them!! think about it, they gone loose and cracky because they already been stretched so done stretch them any more mate, strength is the key

however looking back at your post i would advise you get it looked at, you may have some trauma to the joint that may need investigation if you suddenly jarred the wrist. if i was you, i would get it looked at.

if you need any more advice email me silord@hotmail.com

si

[Si-man]

Just do alot of wanking with both hands to strengthen your wrists up :S :(

[Jonas]

Thanks for all your advise so far!

I can't remember falling hard on the hand or recall any one instance where I reacted to something out of the ordinary happening to the left wrist. Perhaps though minor things can cause more damage when you're tired (wrist will give more easily) and warm (don't feel pain as much).

Support is not my usual approach and needless to say I'll ditch it as soon as I'm feeling good again. They don't add too much support - mainly warmth, which may be good since winter training for me takes place inside(!) a mountain with ~10 degrees celsius.

Stretching does make it feel better - for a short while at least... that doesn't necessarily make it a good thing I guess.

It doesn't really feel loose or weak, it's more that whenever I do anything that requiers any effort or bend the hand far, it hurts.

Perhaps you're right - checking it out might be the way to go since its been 3 weeks now any day. Althought not to confident with doctors, last time when I "sprained" my thumb, the doctor said it would heal in a couple of days, 2 weeks later I went to another doctor (they sent me back and forth, took X-rays, etc) and the vertict was "we should have put a cast on it the the first day now it's to late"... so now my thumb is "ruined" for life - a lot less power and restricted movement. Won't risk them f*cking it up even worse with surgery as now I can at least use it.

I've at least decided to quit trials until it's completely pain free, no sence in prolonging the misery. I think I'll try and get a doctors appointment - not the easiest thing. I may do some XC riding in the weekend, with support if I get too bored.

When it heals I'll see if I can get something to squeeze...

Dunno about all the wanking - wouldn't that cause hairy palms => bad grip => bad for trials? :(