Sore wrist

[JoeBlow]

I've started to develop a pain on the top of my right wrist. I'm using Body Geometry ergonomic grips which have eased the pain which I was getting in my palms so I would rather not change those. I have my break levers set at a fairly steep angle but it feels comfy. Is my front suspension set too hard? Would a wrist brace help? Some of the trails I have done of late have been quite rocky and I have been practicing doing drops. Any suggestions?

Al

 

[dirt huffer]

Look up wrist strengthen and stretching videos on YouTube. If you work on computers all day, you probably need to build your strength. Wrist stretching is the best way to alleviate soreness.

Just make sure you don't get them too sore... you don't want to develop a tendonitis issue. Take breaks and a day off of riding if you need to. Tendonitis is beeeeoch to get rid of.

 

[dirt huffer]

I'd also recommend Grastoning your forearms to break up any fascial adhesions in the tissue... get the muscle and tendons gliding good so things aren't tight. Tightness will cause soreness and keep soreness lingering longer then it should.

If you dont feel comfortable Grastoning yourself, find someone locally that does it or instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization therapy (IASTM)

Graston is the shit. I love it. It's help get rid of so many aches and pains that Physical Therepy alone couldn't get rid of

 

[lumpy]

I have my break levers set at a fairly steep angle but it feels comfy.
Al

What do you mean by a fairly steep angle? The levers down low? If so, that's probably contributing to the pain

 

[JoeBlow]

What do you mean by a fairly steep angle? The levers down low? If so, that's probably contributing to the pain

My arm, top of hand to finger are all in a straight line. It feels comfy to operate brake levers, especially downhill.

 

[dirt huffer]

Like this?

 

[Mydriaze]

First, what are you calling "wrist"? Palm? Back? Do you have any pain even when you're not riding? What is your work? Can you describe the pain?

 

[JoeBlow]

My arm position corresponds with the picture with a tick. Thanks for that.

As I said the pain is on top of the right wrist exactly at the point where the back of the hand meets the bottom of the arm i.e. the point where the hand can twist upwards and almost exactly in the middle. Pain is present all the time.

 

[Mydriaze]

Hard to diagnose without doing some testing. Nevermind, let's try.
Your pain is here?

If yes, it can be a wrist bone, which can be slighty mispalced, and can do some pain. But i' don't think to be honest. You have to know that is often a place for kystic node too (don't know how to explain this in English).

If you can find a picture with the exact spot, I will/can help you.

 

[Mydriaze]

I forgot to say i'm working into medical and have my own practice.

 

[davarello]

I was getting sore hands and wrists on rides and worked out it was down to the weight load being too low and forward on the bike. Moved my saddle back about 10mm, got a higher rise bar (38mm) and fitted bigger grips (33mm) - no pain since.

 

[33red]

Many things are possible.
- Maybe you felt, at the time it did not hurt but pain came later so you did not make the association.
- You have too much air pressure so your fork is too stiff.
You should have a soft ring on a stanchion and at the end of each ride mesure how high it went and reset it low. Sometimes a different person will set it spot on or just mentioning it might be too stiff the same person will do it better.
- It might be your rebound
- It might be too much PSI
- like Davarello mentioned your cockpit need son tweeking
Some youtube video might help you

 

[JoeBlow]

Thinking about it I may have done this on a landing from a jump on Monday that was not as good as it should have been. It started out as a mild discomfort, which may be why I did not make the association but yesterday it became a little more painful. The pain seems to be in the gap between hand and arm. I've dowsed it with nurofen gel which has helped but I think I need to rest it for several days and then see what happens.

Al

 

[33red]

Thinking about it I may have done this on a landing from a jump on Monday that was not as good as it should have been. It started out as a mild discomfort, which may be why I did not make the association but yesterday it became a little more painful. The pain seems to be in the gap between hand and arm. I've dowsed it with nurofen gel which has helped but I think I need to rest it for several days and then see what happens.

Al

Early this season i felt real slow but hurt 1 hand. After that it was about 2 weeks of fire roads allmost using only 1 hand. Our body heals but we need to give it a chance. Happy trails/roads.

 

[S D]

Thinking about it I may have done this on a landing from a jump on Monday that was not as good as it should have been. It started out as a mild discomfort, which may be why I did not make the association but yesterday it became a little more painful. The pain seems to be in the gap between hand and arm. I've dowsed it with nurofen gel which has helped but I think I need to rest it for several days and then see what happens.

Al

I have exactly the same thing at the moment, It was caused by a hard front wheel landing over a kicker In Morzine,
At the time I remember thinking “shit I’ve crashed “ ? by some miracle the bike carried on and I managed to stay on it. I felt the force of the landing through my wrists at the time but we rode for three more days afterwards not really thinking about it.
It was only after we got home and had a break from riding that it started to ache and send shooting pains up my arm and down my hand during the night or when driving.
It never swelled so obviously not broken, went to physio and and he recommended keeping it moving but lay off the jumps for a while ?

 

[JoeBlow]

It was so painful in the night I swore I would go to A&E this morning but Nurofen gel and keeping it moving seems to be helping significantly so fingers crossed and a few more days rest.

Al

 

[Zimmerframe]

I forgot to say i'm working into medical and have my own practice.

Keep in mind, he's a gynaecologist. So you should be made aware that any treatments he recommends could have the side effect of your hand/wrist finding itself drawn more frequently to your man parts.

 

[S D]

Keep in mind, he's a gynaecologist. So you should be made aware that any treatments he recommends could have the side effect of your hand/wrist finding itself drawn more frequently to your man parts.

oh man that's good

 

[Mcharza]

Hard to diagnose without doing some testing. Nevermind, let's try.
Your pain is here?

If yes, it can be a wrist bone, which can be slighty mispalced, and can do some pain. But i' don't think to be honest. You have to know that is often a place for kystic node too (don't know how to explain this in English).

If you can find a picture with the exact spot, I will/can help you.

That place is exactly where I have pain

 

[Mydriaze]

Thinking about it I may have done this on a landing from a jump on Monday that was not as good as it should have been. It started out as a mild discomfort, which may be why I did not make the association but yesterday it became a little more painful. The pain seems to be in the gap between hand and arm. I've dowsed it with nurofen gel which has helped but I think I need to rest it for several days and then see what happens.

Al

There's no gap between hand and arm. You have carpal bones, fiber-"cartilage".

Early this season i felt real slow but hurt 1 hand. After that it was about 2 weeks of fire roads allmost using only 1 hand. Our body heals but we need to give it a chance. Happy trails/roads.

Your body is a Yamaha

 

[JoeBlow]

Gap was a poor description but there is a part almost in the middle which feels like a depression and is probably a space between bones.

 

[Mydriaze]

All the carpal bones are covered by ligaments. When you stretch a ligament, it's called "strain" (if I remember well). so, it's probably a wrist strain. Do you have more pain when your palm looks to the floor or when the back of your hand is looking at the wall behind you?

Try the following moves:

adduction
abduction
flexion
extension.

Post results heres. If Nurofen gel works, it means it doesn't need to go "deep" in your body (that's why we can swallow some tablets to have slow dispersion of medicament). so it's probably superficial, like I said previously, most likely a strain. Hard to help you without seeing you or testing your wrist by the way, I do my best.

 

[Mydriaze]

Gap was a poor description but there is a part almost in the middle which feels like a depression and is probably a space between bones.

there's no gap, but a small bone, less high than the other, that's why you think there's a gap. so it's probably painful cause you stretched some ligaments = strain mechanic.

 

[JoeBlow]

there's no gap, but a small bone, less high than the other, that's why you think there's a gap. so it's probably painful cause you stretched some ligaments = strain mechanic.

Your efforts are appreciated. Think I just need to rest it fir a week or so.

 

[Mydriaze]

Your efforts are appreciated. Think I just need to rest it fir a week or so.

No problem. And please, no wanking for 3 months to be sure to heal.

 

[Jeff McD]

There is a basic physiological principle that many athletes do not understand: passive therapies do not directly stimulate healing of musculoskeletal sprains and strains. Only active therapy will directly stimulate healing. Active therapy means resistance exercises.
The nervous system directs all functions in the human body including healing of injured tissues. Basically, when you perform resistance exercises after an injury, the master nerve which is the brain sends a message down to the nerves of the injury site "Quit your constant whining about pain and get busy and do your job. Doofus is trying to do a strengthening exercise, so strengthen your darn injured muscle instead of whining about it like a loser". This kicks it out of the vicious chronic pain cycle and you should always start resistance exercises very lightly at 48 hours post injury. Yes, 48 hours. During the first 48 hours you want to do frequent icing four times a day for 20 minutes, and a compression wrap if there is swelling.
Of all the passive therapies, rest is the worst. You just get atrophy which makes the healing takes longer.
Other passive therapies including ice and heat, braces or support wraps, anti-inflammatory meds, and then the heavy hitters, massage therapy, acupuncture, acupressure, and chiropractic do not directly stimulate healing of the injury. Don't get me wrong, I love my chiropractor & visit periodically to keep loose in old injury sites, but all passive therapies only have been found to give temporary improvement. For full rehab you must re-strengthen the injured musculoskeletal tissues as well as stretching exercises to recover full normal range of motion.
In your case, you need to do both wrist curls and reverse wrist curls and you might find it will take as long as 12 to 16 weeks to heal. However you should start to see some improvement rather quickly. Start with light weights of course at first and progress upwards. Never work the same muscle group more than 2-3 times a week. You cannot do strengthening daily.
Also always remember that initially ice is your friend. Yes the anti-inflammatory gel can dull the pain but you are just masking the pain, whereas ice actually encourages circulation into the injured area, a bonus that the meds don't have.
And for all the idiot trolls who can't resist, yes I know I said that ice is a passive therapy but I did not say that you should never use any passive therapies to assist with the active therapy. I said athletes should understand that active therapy has to be the most important focus of rehab.
So get on the weights and you should start to see some improvement soon.
One last thing, some injuries around the joints are severe enough that complete healing is just not possible. As soon as you quit the weightlifting exercises the pain soon returns, even years later. For these injuries you must continue the weightlifting exercises two or three days a week for the rest of your life. Doing this will keep your strength in the injured tissues as high as possible indefinitely, and keep the pain at bay. I have several severe injuries that I have to do this for and it has become a routine three days a week in order to keep me on the mountain bike. Also in order to be able to sleep at night without pain waking me up, ha ha.
Good luck.

 

[dirt huffer]

As soon as you quit the weightlifting exercises the pain soon returns, even years later. For these injuries you must continue the weightlifting exercises two or three days a week for the rest of your life. Doing this will keep your strength in the injured tissues as high as possible indefinitely, and keep the pain at bay. I have several severe injuries that I have to do this for and it has become a routine three days a week in order to keep me on the mountain bike. Also in order to be able to sleep at night without pain waking me up, ha ha.

Have you tried Graston? I was in the same boat after i stopped lifting, having lifted for 14+ years. I had so much facial adhesion in my chest and where my pec tendons attach to the shoulder. I couldn't scrub dishes or clap my hands - it was that painful. 2 months of very aggressive and painful Graston sessions twice a week healed me up after several years of debilitating pain.

That, along with a lot of doorway stretches. I've become a big fan of Graston and self-administer it now whenever i have a spot that bothers me. I've ditched the foam roller as it's for wimps... Lol