I just got out from a long meeting with my doctor. 15 weeks ago, I was working out, and in a lazy attempt to adjust weights from an overhead rack, REALLY messed up my wrists. There was intense pain and inflammation for several days. Any pulling or pushing motion resulted in pain. I saw a doctor, who did an X-ray and said there was no damage (stupid I know). Well, after 12 weeks of sitting my wrists and wearing braces, I re-evaluated the injury. Still significant pain.
I had an MRI at the request of a wrist specialist who I saw and he just reported back the results to me a few days ago. I went in today to discuss the issue more. He basically said that the two injuries will probably never heal, and recommended cortisone shots in the RC joint. When I asked if I would be able to workout again he kind of shrugged and said ya it should be fine. WTF?!! I tried to further the point but to no avail. My question is what should I do?? Take the cortisone shot to relieve pain, but possibly injure it further. Wait it out. Or just start working out again, because the injury is “probably not going to to lead to loss of function in the future”
Any help or advice would be appreciated. I love lifting weights, and dont want to make the wrong move that would leave me unable to do so in the long term.
I tore my TFCC. Just start pumping yourself full of Glucosamine and Chonondroitin. It will start to work about 15-30 days after you start taking it. Make this part of your daily supplementing routine for the rest of your life…seriously…it’s kept my joints great so far (knock on wood). Give your wrist a rest for a while. Judging from your avatar, you won’t atrophy away with a couple weeks of rest for your upper body. Basically, do whatever you can without pain, and SLOWLY work your way back into exercises that are hurting you now, as long as they don’t hurt.
I assume yours was worse than mine, so you may need very large doses, and it may take a much longer time to heal. Mine took 4 months before I was able to do supinated chins.
What are your goals? (Why do you lift?) You may be able to keep making gains depending on what you’re going for.
I have been taking glucosamine all fifteen weeks and MSM as well. I will continue to take them. I lift for size and strength, but mostly I just enjoy the feeling of working out. Its fun for me. Did you wait to workout until pain was completely gone? Or just somewhat better.
He also said that there was some damage on the ulnar side cartilage. He mentioned that it was probably the Ulnar Collateral Ligament but might be some tendon damage as well (couldnt clearly depict from the MRI).
[quote]Detroitlionsbaby wrote:
I have been taking glucosamine all fifteen weeks and MSM as well. I will continue to take them. I lift for size and strength, but mostly I just enjoy the feeling of working out. Its fun for me. Did you wait to workout until pain was completely gone? Or just somewhat better.
Thanks a lot for your response.[/quote]
I did whatever I could without any pain. At one point, I actually had to not use my left hand for anything for about a week, not even washing with it in the shower. I found that I healed much faster by not using it if it hurt at all. This was REALLY REALLY DIFFICULT. And a pain in the ass. But it worked.
I went to all dumbells for upper body since they allow greater freedom of motion. This let me load the wrist with minimal torque. Then I eased back into barbells when it didn’t hurt anymore.
I’d say try to find variations of the lifts you would like to do that will minimize or eliminate pain: Pulldowns instead of chins, DB bench instead of Barbell, Crossed arm front squat instead of back squat or clean-grip front squat…etc.
Also, look at how you hold your wrist while performing exercises. For instance, make sure you don’t let your wrists cock back while pressing. The load should always be directly in line with your forearm.