I've got some major stiffness in my left wrist. My grip is now really weak and I can't touch my thumb to my 4th and 5th fingers. Skullcrushers, dips, and push presses kill me right now. So far I've been icing it and wearing a brace on this rest to keep it straight. I'm taking about 15g/day fish oil and so far it hasn't gotten worse.
Does anyone have any ideas on something else I can do without having to go to the doctor. 3months ago he gave me a cortizone shot and look how much that helped - the pain has returned.
Sorry to hear about that, I know how you feel, been there.
Here’s what might help. First of all I think you are overdoing the Fish oil. I would cut it in half. Secondly, add something called “methylsulfonylmethane” to your daily regime. It’s refered to as “MSM” for short. four or five thousand mg. per day should do it.
Next, I think 1,500 mg. of Glucosamine per day is always a good idea for joint protection. While it may not directly help your tendons, who knows?
Finally, a real important supplement that has made a huge difference in my training is called “Wobezyne.” This is made up of enzymes that supposedly help breakdown various food particles for better digestion. I know when I am taking it that my joints and tendons seem to be virtually pain free.
I have taken all of the above for very long periods of time with no negative side effects.
Good Luck,
Zeb
Some good tips on this site as well:
Most conventional doctors are worthless in this area. I’ll have doctors assign me clients with knee pain and diagnose it as Patellar Femoral Pain Syndrome, and say fix it. The translation is “This person is hurting in their knee and I don’t know what to do. You take care of it.”
Go to a Physical Therapist. They are masters of the neuromuscular systems.
Tendonitis is a bitch. I got a bad case of it several years back by overdoing weighted chins, constantly upping the weight from week to week and wasting time and effort with curls.
The worst thing you can do is to continue doing the exercises/movements that irritate and aggravate it. That’s what I did at first, thinking it was not too bad and that I could train through it. Big mistake.
Perhaps the second worst thing, however, is to just let it rest completely. Sure, eventually the tendonitis will pass (several weeks, not days, will be necessary), but you run a high risk of aggravating it again when you resume training. The reason is that the inflammation in and around the tendon causes the muscles nearby to weaken. So when you hit the weights again, the muscles near the tendon are still weak, and the cycle of irritation starts all over again. Or so it has been explained to me, and my experience seemed to bear this out.
It sounds like your grip has weakened as result of the inflammation.
The key thing is to start rehabilitating the injured joint by exercising it with very light weights and a light workload to start off with, and then very gradually increase the weights and workload. That will gradually strengthen the muscles around the tendon, and thus break the vicious cicle.
So in my case, with tendonitis on the inner elbow, I started by doing several varieties of exercises for my forearms, working them in all manner of directions. The key is to start very, very light, but do the exercises consistently. Just resting will not be enough, at least if you wish to recover sooner rather than later.
And, yes, unfortunately going to a doctor is often a waste of time, unless he is a sports doctor or understands athletics.
I was first told to take anti-inflammatories, rest it, and then given a brace. Nothing really helped. Then after a couple of months, I found a sports trainer who explained the problem, started me working my forearm and wrist, and had me back tackling the weights in no time. True knowledge of sports injuries makes all the difference.
Good luck!