Wrist Pain and Shoulder Dislocates

I noticed pain in the medial aspect of my wrists (flexor carpi ulnaris tendon and extensor carpi ulnaris tendon by an anatomical drawing from the internet) which seemed to be caused by shoulder dislocates. When I did shoulder dislocates with a pronated grip (palms are facing forward away from me at the top of the movement) I could complete the movement but my arm did not have sufficient external rotation to leave my palm facing backwards when I bring my arms to rest behind my back. This lack of rotation then seems to put strain on the medial aspect of the wrist.

I stopped doing the dislocates until the pain went away (3 days), waited 4 more days, and then tried doing only a portion of the exercise, to limit the ROM. At the time, there was no pain, but 24 hours later my wrists are sore in the same area.

The forums suggest: 1. a rice bucket for wrist injuries, 2. resting until there is no pain/not training with pain, 3. exercising the wrist extensors to balance flexors. In addition to these ideas, does this problem suggest technique errors with my dislocates, or are there other ideas about how to prevent or rehabilitate this injury?

Thanks for any insight.

 

 

- Improve the iMs from PE1-4.

- Use a longer dowel for your dislocate work.

- Where are you in terms of the wrist prep?

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Thanks Coach -- regarding wrist prep, I am recent to GB training for ten weeks, currently at PE1 Week 6 for the PEs of Foundation and Handstand - I cycled back after week 6 as I felt I needed more prehab time. So I have been doing the prescribed wrist stretches from HS twice a week for ten weeks, and I have been doing the three stretch classes once a week each in that time as well.

Which iMs of which PEs 1-4 are most useful? Can this be remedied with more shoulder mobility? It seems as though it is the lack of external rotation increasing the tension on the wrist.

 

And should I take time off of wrist stretches generally? They don't cause pain, but I'm wondering if the tissue needs more rest to fully heal. Many of the exercises in the stretch, foundation, and handstand classes require supporting weight with hands or fists, requiring wrist stabilization as well. Also doesn't cause pain, but is this part of why my wrists aren't getting better?

Maybe I should take some number of weeks off and swim or something instead? GB is my goal and priority, so I prefer doing whatever helps me get back to health as soon as possible, including taking time off. Thanks for advice.

 

If they don't cause any increase in pain keep doing them.

Following this advice, I did not attempt more dislocates or do RC/PE1 or RC/PE1>iM, nor First Knuckle Pushups or Fingertip Pushups from HS, all of which also caused discomfort. I continued with anything that did not cause discomfort from F1 and H1 and 2.

Nonetheless, the pain got worse, with a sudden sharp pain while driving, that then continued to bother me in other activities. My current thinking is that I should just stop training for perhaps two weeks and have bought a wrist brace I will use when doing anything that might strain my wrist. Though I was advised continuing was safe, it doesn't seem to be. Interested in any thoughts. Is two weeks enough of a break? Does anyone feel the break would be counterproductive? I was thinking I could keep doing the stretch classes while wearing the brace, and maybe swim a few times a week, which also doesn't seem problematic.

Also, I would advise any beginners thinking about shoulder dislocates to hold off until they have experience with the first four iMs of the Freestanding Handstand. I was very cautious trying them, had read the wrist prep and intro material maybe five times before starting, consulted the blog post on weighted mobility extensively, and still ended up injured. 

What is the best way to recover now? Thanks for any insight.

Reading about the wrist prep is not the same as progressively training the wrist prep.  

You went too hard with too much intensity on very unconditioned wrists.  For example the wrists were not capable of coming down all the way to the back on dislocates without pain.

Treat the painful wrist as a sprain.  This will require a minimum of several weeks to heal.  Use ice and heat daily.

When training recommences greatly reduce ROM and intensity.  Do not train thru pain when joint pain is involved.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer