Wrist pain - care and advice appreciated

Hi everyone,

I've recently developed some degree of pain in my wrist, and I wanted to ask for some help on how to manage it.

It developed a week or so ago, it doesn't bother me during normal rotation but it does hurt quite a bit when I rotate my hand outwards (like the action of pouring something into a glass), and it hurts quite bit more when I'm holding the focus pads/kick shield for a training partner. When I'm at work I also use the keyboard alot - trying to keep my wrists straight when typing.

I'm always careful to use hand wraps, and wrap them quite solidly - good support without being too tight. I also wear one of those Elastoplast neoprene wrist supports that have a thumb hole and wrap around the wrist in one easy go.

I've had this sort of pain before, it's more often than not temporary, but I'd really appreciate any advice on how to manage this without having to forsake training.

I do have a Power Ball, which I've found quite good at building wrist and hand strength, it says on the box that it can be used to gently "rehabilitate" wrist injuries - but I have no experience of this and am thinking of trying it.

Thanks for your time and help

The key to effective rehabilitation, is to first get conclusive diagnosis of the problem. There are many factors here (direct impact, impact absorbtion, repetetive movements) and so more than one possible cause. You need a medical diagnosis.
Common sense is to lay off, and rest your wrists as much as possible, or at least limit yourself to movements/exercises that cause you no pain. You can also apply ice and heat to the area regularly to stimulate localised blood flow/repair.
Mobilisation (wrist rotation within comfort zone) is also a good idea.
Find out what the cause is, then you can go about how to fix it

Like Cord said, the best thing you can do right now is get a thorough assesment done---either by your family physician, or better yet, a physiotherapist who is familar with sports-related injuries.

The first thing that comes to mind is poor form when throwing a hook---most wrist injuries boxers sustain are due to this. Even with hand wraps, stress due to a slighty bent wrist can exacerbate existing imflammation; and it sounds like you have a chromic condition.

Get is checked out and figure out the cause!

Thanks for the good advice, of course you are both right in what you are saying. I'll make sure to see my doc and see what she thinks, perhaps they can refer me to a sports physician if it needs. Poor form when throwing a hook is a definite recipe for pain, luckily my instructor always, and I mean *always* picks up on if I'm not aligning my wrist properly - so thanks to good training I should be able to avoid that.

Thanks again, I appreciate the time and effort

you know vanderlei silva from ufc how in beginning of the fights he always does the wrist thing do that before you punch n etc..or was it chuck liddell I dunno its either one of them.

Some closure for those interested! If not then skip the rest, because it's 2 minutes you'll never get back.

On all of your friendly advice I went to see the Doctor, and he told me the pain doesn't seem to indicate a chronic condition. He said the cause is more likely to be the increase in intensity after a period of lesser intensity in training. Some non-steroidal anti-inflammatories prescribed and I should be okay.

An interesting point. I always warm up muscles/joints prior to training, but not when I'm at work which involves a lot of typing. I feel a bit silly for not catching on sooner.

Anyway boring myself, thanks for the advice guys