push-ups and wrist strain

[Nestor]

I'm writing this partly as warning for others who might be doing pushups, and partly to see if anyone has any advice as far as avoiding this problem in future. 

About six months ago I started doing push-ups and chin-ups at home.  When I started I was very intent on doing things the right way and read several articles and watched several you-tube videos about proper form and so forth.  The first day--but I think I was still recovering from my CMV illness--I was capable of only six push-ups and one chin-up!  By November I was doing about forty chin-ups and ninety push-ups. 

Then the trouble started.  The day after doing push-ups I would notice my left wrist hurt, and it got worse as time went on.  I looked this up and found lots of people complaining about the same thing online.  The solution suggested was not to put one's hands flat on the floor, with wrists rising perpendicular to hands--this is not a comfortable position for the wrists--but with fists on the floor so that the wrist rises straight from the fist.  I did this but the next day the pain was horrible.  Then I stopped doing pushups and chin-ups altogether. 

About a month passed.  Mostly I felt pain in the wrist every morning when I woke up.  On two occasions I struggled with a very difficult-to-open jar and the next day the pain was far worse.  Also picking up very heavy things with the left hand was painful.  That is still the situation now.  I think it may be improving now but if it is it is doing so very slowly.

A few days ago I saw my doctor about this.  She said that in addition to the question of the position of the wrist, there is also the question of what part of the body is doing the work in push-ups.  The hands should not be straining.  Most of the work should be done by the chest and the abdomen.  If you feel tension in the hands or arms, you are doing it wrong, she said. She also suggested doing fewer push-ups, more slowly, and thus with more attention to good form. 

Then came the bad news.  Wrist strain heals very slowly and for at least another month I am not to do any push-ups.  Chin-ups too put strain on the wrist and I should avoid them.   

This is not high on the list of human suffering and I feel a little embarrassed for going on about it here, but it comes at a bad time.  For six months I was growingly frustrated with the lack of any improvement in my shape while doing these exercises.  Triceps were visibly growing but neither biceps nor chest.  Then, finally, I thought I was seeing some development in those areas--and that's when this happened.  It's been a month since I did either exercise and if I have to wait another month any muscles I did develop will have been lost by that time and I'll be starting over again.  And even if I do start all over again I'll be paranoid about this happening again. 

Has anyone else had this sort of thing happen?  How did you deal with it? 

[Matty the Damned]

MtD

[Ann]

I've had wrist problems through the years starting with a fall while shovelling snow nearly 30 years ago where I awkwardly fell more on my left wrist than my outstretched hand. I didn't break anything but I must have damaged the ligaments.

Because I had to keep going to work and because my work involved lifting, I never got to rest my wrist properly and it turned into carpel tunnel syndrome and I could ignore it no longer. Unfortunately, all that could really be done was to put it into a wrist support and not use it for a period of months. (if I recall correctly, there is an op or some other costly treatment available for this condition, but I didn't have insurance) During that time, I started having problems with my right wrist due to over-use while compensating for my injured left wrist.

This went on for a few years, so be careful and get a wrist brace to help immobilise it and let it rest as much as you can before it gets worse. Get a proper brace - they look like strange half-gloves with a metal strip in the palm - don't just wrap it with an ace bandage. Ace bandages made mine worse.

Ever since then both of my wrists tend to be a bit weak. My right wrist gets sore quite a bit from using the computer mouse so I have to be careful that my wrist is supported when on the computer.

During the time that I was a commercial fisherman, ironically I had no problems with my wrists at all. I think it was because through the activities I engaged in, notably working with lifting ropes on the drum-end of the winch, my arms became very muscular without putting any stain on my wrists. Maybe you should look into exercises to strengthen your arm muscles that do not put the strain on your wrists that push-ups will. But let your wrist heal first.

[Hoover]

To avoid writs issues, we do push-ups on a mat and use push-up handles.
With traveling and now the flue, we have not worked out in 3 weeks!
It is sad how quickly how all our progress disappears in just a few days.
Sometimes I wonder if it is worth the effort.

[GSOgymrat]

In my experience the only thing you can do it not put stress on your wrist and allow it to heal. It can be frustrating how long it can take.

[Nestor]

Hello,

It's been in the back of my mind forever to update this, and to thank those who commented very helpfully here, and now, while I'm sharing all my other good news, seems like a good time to do it.  

First moral: if you've got a problem, please do not ignore it as it gets worse and worse and worse.  A stitch in time saves nine!  I've learned that the hard way with everything from toothaches to this wrist problem.  

The wrist pain started to emerge sometime in November after I was intensively doing pushups.  I ignored it, and then when someone said "give it a rest for a while", I stupidly interpreted that to mean "don't do pushups for two days."  Finally it got unbearable, and I started this thread.  Anyway I didn't do pushups, or any other exercise involving my hands, throughout January and February--God knows in March I had enough other problems to worry about--and gradually the wrist pain got less and less--until it started getting worse again.  The problem? Thai massage!  There's a moment in a Thai massage where the masseur bends your wrist backwards to work on your fingers--not the right thing for someone with a strained wrist!  Please, if you have any problem, make sure to ask a masseur to avoid the area.  

Then there were other moments when life suddenly did things to make my wrist strain felt--like when I was sharing a bed with a guy, having my arm around him, and having him suddenly roll over, twisting my wrist in the process...The guy was definitely worth it,  but I think that set the wrist healing back a a week or so!

Anyway by April the pain was clearly never going to go away entirely and I decided to go back to the gym.  And it was the right decision!  At first the pain got worse again, and all kinds of gym movements--not so much the exercises themselves, but things like putting a barbell back on the rack after I'd used it, made my wrist hurt a bit more at first, until I figured out how to do those things very carefully.  But as I strengthened my arms, just as Ann suggests above, that seems to have solved the problem!  And quite frankly now I do not remember when I last felt wrist pain, but it was some time ago.  

One thing I have not even thought about doing, however, is doing pushups.  I may never do another pushup in my life; for now at least it's just bench presses instead, and I'm making pretty decent progress with those!!!!  so again, whatever exercise or sport you do, please take precautions and beware of hurting your joints.  They are fragile!  Thanks again to those who gave advice.