Youre also likely to feel some pretty consistent pain when you try to move your wrist around [5]. Know the technique: Know the technique very well before carrying out the activity, since an incorrect technique of lifting weights can cause sprains, strains, fractures and other painful injuries. For a mild sprain, you can take nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to help the pain. [5] 6 Take over-the-counter pain relievers. 17:16 Like the guys have already mentioned, you run the risk of causing more damage and it isn't worth it. This lets them rule out other injuries, like a wrist break or strain. If you sprained your wrist, you felt pain when you landed not just soreness hours after. About 10 days ago, I sprained my wrist while doing some forearm curls at the gym. However, if you choose not to seek a diagnosis from a doctor, its important not to underestimate the seriousness of your injury. Working Out with a Wrist Injury - BrianMac It may be difficult, but the best thing to do is rest and give your body the chance to heal on its own. Hopefully you don't have any of those issues but it's better to be safe than sorry and it gets your back in the gym quicker with the correct medical advice. Your injured wrist, as well as the hand and arm on that side, feel as strong as the uninjured wrist, hand, and arm. Here's what you may experience as you go through treatment. In this case, recovery can last 6 to 12 months, depending on your injury. Even if you are not training for a sport, there is always a possibility of damage. All rights reserved. These strains and sprains can be treated with a few simple interventions, which include protection, rest, ice, compression, elevation, and over-the-counter medications. - Lamentations 3:22-23, ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------. Located out of the area? Can You Lift Weights After Your Wrist Heals? | livestrong You can sprain your wrist during accidents like slipping on ice or tripping over an object. Hey everyone! As you can see below, a regular push-up can place the wrist in a painful angle if you have any swelling in the joint. Is Lifting Weights Causing Your Wrist Pain? Mark McGwire, First Base for the St. Louis Cardinals, Strains, Sprains and Other Sports Injuries: 3 Questions, Exerting extreme pressure on the wrist or twisting it, Skiers, especially when they fall while still holding a pole, Feeling a popping or tearing in the wrist, Arthrogram, a special type of X-ray or MRI done after a dye is injected into the wrist, Grade I: Pain with minor damage to the ligament, Grade II: Pain, more severe ligament damage, a feeling of looseness to the joint, and some loss of function, Grade III: Pain, a completely torn ligament, severe looseness of the joint, and loss of function, You feel no pain in your wrist when it's at rest, You can work out and grip and move objects -- like a ski pole, bat, or racket -- without pain. Place one end of the bandage on the inside of your wrist. Join an existing conversation, or start a new thread to ask your question. Tenderness, warmth, bruising, and swelling are all also common wrist sprain symptoms. Grade 3, or a severe sprain: This indicates that the ligament has a . Rest days are essential for your physical health and your mental health as well. Consider taking magnesium and B complex supplements as well. Laila Ajani. Try these 10 exercises to help prevent. Even if it is just a sprain, its important to allow it to properly heal before resuming normal activity. So you sprained your wrist. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. Your wrist is much more complex than it might seem with a quick glance down at your arm. Do You Have Elbow Pain When Lifting Weights? - Sporty Doctor Following a workout program or keeping track of your workouts in a journal or app is a great way to ensure your joints are not overly stressed. You can sprain your wrist in any direction: extension (like I did), flexion, or ulnar or radial deviation. What you should do instead: Seek medical advice if your injury hasnt started healing after a couple of days. Most wrist sprains get better with immobilization and rest. every two weeks instead of every week). You'll definitely find it difficult to work with the weights you normally toss around at the gym, and you will likely even have trouble when lifting things around the house or at work. About weightlifting and hand injuries - Fabio Tandioy Realistically, it's the advice that every active person dreads to hear but you do need to take time off. Lift the weight off of the ground and hold it in front of your hips as if you were doing a deadlift. If youre certain you do have a sprain, it is important to consider its severity. Heres how: Wrist sprains are categorized based on their severity. I was surprised that a few weeks after my last session, my pain was pretty much gone and my strength and range of motion had returned and I was cleared to ease back into the activities I had to stop. Carpenters and plumbers may develop ulnar wrist pain because they often must use tools in small spaces that require awkward positioning of the wrist. Follow the dosing instructions on the medication package and check with your doctor to be sure the medication is safe for you. Existing patients, click here. After you sprain your wrist, plan to rest and protect the joint from further injury for up to 10 to 14 days with a light immobilization brace. For most people, a sprained wrist is both inconvenient and uncomfortable. Start to move your fists around in circles by moving at your wrist. Physical fitness and moving your body throughout the day are necessary, but rest days are equally important. Video of the Day Fracture Rest up. The content of this article is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, examination, diagnosis, or treatment. To learn how to strengthen your wrists so you dont strain them again, read on! Warming up: Cold muscles are more likely to be injured than warm muscles. Luckily I didnt fracture any of the carpal bones, but the sprain resulted in tightness that lasted for months afterward. 1998-2023 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Spread your fingers wide, keeping your wrist and fingers straight. Immediately following your injury, you will need to take it pretty easy. To speed the healing, you can: Rest your. Request an appointment using our secure online form. and our Merely enough strength to keep it from tilting from neutral on the push stuff, confirm in neutral of course. What you should do instead: Perform stretches and strengthening exercises to help prevent future wrist sprains. Wrist sprains are hard to prevent, since they're usually caused by accidents. The ligaments have completely torn. Wrap diagonally across your palm, between your thumb and pointer finger again. Hold a light weight, like a 2-pound dumbbell. He now dedicates himself to helping active people eliminate pain and improve mobility. Try to keep your arm elevated for the first few days after the injury. You do a well laid out routine with all 6 of those - your biceps and triceps will feel like they got a workout - because they did. Wrap around once. And the pull stuff is just grip, so while still forearm and those tendons, not the same as forearm curls. Eric Wong (aka Coach E) is the founder of Precision Movement and has a degree in Kinesiology from the University of Waterloo. More severe sprains will require medical treatment, while mild sprains will usually resolve pretty quickly with a little TLC to get rid of lingering mobility issues. Once it heals, there's typically significant muscle atrophy, according to chiropractor Bruce Comstock in his book "Weight Training Safety." This may generally be a good idea; however, taking too much medication may cause unwanted side effects and potentially be unsafe. Lets say you took a fall, but you arent sure if the aftermath caused a sprain. Now, are you doing isolation exercise for those muscles, which almost certainly use the forearms and wrists at end of lever? Wrist Sprains: Symptoms, Causes & Treatment - Cleveland Clinic Alternatively, try wrist curls, which can strengthen the muscles around the joint of your wrist. National Library of Medicines list Whether you are dealing with a strain, a sprain, or a broken bone, there are still lots of ways you can keep up with your workouts while letting your wrist recover. Any use of this site constitutes your agreement to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy linked below. Wrap an ice pack with a clean towel, then place it on your wrist for 20 minutes. Trust me none of my wrist sprains have kept me off the ice for too long! document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Not sure what service you need or what injury or syndrome you may have? How to wrap a sprained wrist After your injury, apply ice to reduce swelling. If your wrist sprain is mild, it might get better without medical help. This list of four things to avoid doing when you have a sprained wrist is a good starting point, but as with any other type of injury, follow your doctors recommendations. This is the most serious type of wrist sprain. What you should do instead: Apply ice and elevate your wrist above the level of your heart.