Wrist pain that won’t go away

Hi, 

So I recently started having some wrist pain. A lil about me I’ve been climbing for 8 years. Started climbing In Gunnison Colorado. Good ol Taylor canyon has taught me a lot, plus some trips to the desert and black canyon. But…. A few months ago I went climbing with a friend and we were climbing some routes that were a lil harder for my grade. I knew it was desperate but never felt any pain while climbing other than the regular oh shit i feel like I’m gonna die lol. The next day my wrist felt sore. Since then the top of my wrist/hand has been a lil swollen. It hurts to mantel or put downward pressure on that wrist. This has impacted my ability to train or even just get out and climb. Has anyone had issues with this?

Also, when I was 16( I’m 33 now) I  broke that same wrist snowboarding, I fell and put my hand out like an idiot to catch my fall.

My main goal is to just learn from you all and be able to get back on the rock. I did get an X-ray and the docs said the only thing they saw was my old fracture, nothing else was out of the ordinary. Wish y’all the best.

greg 

I have similar symptoms. My PT suggested it might be dorsal wrist impingement. Basically, I have an old injury that, combined with tight forearm muscles, causes my wrist to not be 'seated' correctly at the extreme end of movement range (how your wrists are in a pushup). This causes inflammation with a lot of use which leads to more impingement and even more inflammation. Resting and using a wrist brace and NSAIDs helps the inflammation. I've been doing a lot more stretching and tissue massage on the forearm muscles, which has helped the impingement. A flex bar on a desk also makes for a pretty effective 'foam roller' for your forearms.

I have had the same thing. Lasted for a year before I saw a PT. 

He had me rest it for a couple weeks until it wasn't in pain anymore. Then I began some rehab exercises. 

The one that helped the most:

Place wrist on edge of table about waist high. Use a resistance band to put a decent amount of pressure on teh top of your wrist (right at the Capitate - i just looked that up and that seems to be the best way to describe the spot). I put the band around my foot and on the top of my wrist. Then, slowly move your elbow up so that your wrist goes into a mantle type of position. 

What he described was a bone wasn't fitting into the grove right and this helped train it to stay down and fit in the grove better when you bend your wrist. 

It will get irritated again every now and then but this was a god send for me.

Pretty terrible description of the exercise but hope this helps!

I had an issue where I had a really painful pinch whenever I put pressure on my hand essentially in a pushup position on the left side of my right wrist (thumb side).  Couldn't shake it and eventually got an MRI, turned out the tendon sheath was inflamed and basically trapping the tendon, keeping it from sliding properly - doctor gave me a one time cortisone shot to kill the inflammation (in the tendon sheath not the tendon) and it never came back.  If it's an option worth getting some imaging, I dealt with it for months and it was a quick fix.

Hi Greg!

I'm sorry to hear that your wrist pain is affecting your climbing. I'm going to attach two articles about wrist pain from The Climbing Doctor blog that is run by Dr. Jared Vagy, a PT who specializes in climbing from Southern California. If your wrist pain is on the thumb side of your forearm, the first article might be most applicable to you. If it's on the pinky side of your forearm, and located closer to your wrist the second article would be more appropriate. If neither of these sound like your discomfort then seeing a PT in your area is the next best step. As a PT myself, it is always easiest to determine what someone needs with a one-on-one evaluation since each person is so different. If you're in Colorado you're really lucky that there are several physical therapists around the state that specialize in climbing and can offer virtual assessments (message me if you need help finding one)! The good news for you is that your pain seems to be related to activity as you've described so it should be something that is manageable conservatively. The difficulty will be that it might take a while since it has been going on for so long. Try your best to stay patient! That being said, being evaluated by a PT would be more helpful to give you a concrete plan and prognosis. 

As some people have mentioned already, if the discomfort doesn't seem to have a side to it and it is more directly in front I would try the mobilization with a band that a few people have described here. That can provided temporary relief. The major caveat is that if increased demand brought on your symptoms, the true cause is likely that your tissues weren't prepared for that demand and you'll need specific strengthening exercises to make sure it doesn't come back.

Pinky sided:  theclimbingdoctor.com/tfcc-…

Thumb sided:  theclimbingdoctor.com/thumb…

Please reach out if you need anything at all! 

Hey guys just an update, I’ll be seeing a pt on Tuesday. I’ll let ya know what they tell me for exercises and prognosis. Wishing y’all an amazing year of sending, laughs and good health! 

mushq budji wrote:

Yea I’ve been avoiding moves that put too much stretch on my wrists. It’s just that it’s been over 2 months and when I slowly try to get back into power/freezes, the pain comes back. I fear it’ll never get better and I don’t want to further damage my wrists.

Frank!!!! You're slacking.

Gregory Schillinger wrote:

Hey guys just an update, I’ll be seeing a pt on Tuesday. I’ll let ya know what they tell me for exercises and prognosis. Wishing y’all an amazing year of sending, laughs and good health! 

update?

consider devices that cause the area to heal like laser ultrasound shock wave therapies?