Chronic Wrist Tendinitis

[vato1980]

Hi every one,

I was a bodybuilder for the past 7 years pressing big weights. due to over exercise and over stress on my wrist I was suffering from Wrist Tendinitis for the past one year, within that year I visited three doctors and all of them gave me the "1st prescription " some anti-inflammation medicine and asked me to stop working out for one month or so, I followed their instructions But couldn’t find any result, then I went for the 2nd level, Cortisone Injection, I had two of them my weight jumped like anything and I gained more than 10kgs again no significant result It will kill the pain for 10 days and again it will come back as before. I had X-ray and MRI and nothing is wrong except some "effusion or minor inflammation". I went to a physiotherapist and I was goin for 2 hours every other day for the past month, In that he used to gimme ultrasound, short waves, electrical pulses, hot packs, cold packs, and stretching exercise. I found some improvements, but not to the extent that I can work out, pain was less but didn’t disappear. I was really fed up with that, then the doctor suggested using laser and he claimed it will heal my wrist after three sessions though it is more expensive but nothing could be more expensive than my hand. I went for laser and the pain was disappearing like he said "BUT and only BUT" pain came back after couple of days when I put some stress on my wrist. I can't believe that I did all of that and I quit gym for the past 6 months with no result. I am really very very disparate any one can tell me what to do ???

[CapnKrunk]

Did you ever try wearing a wrist brace during these times of healing to make sure you don't stretch your tendons and over use them while they feel like they're better?

[Beachmaster]

Wrist injuries are very difficult to heal and can take a long time to improve. Have you been evaluated by an Orthopedic Hand/wrist Surgeon because they may have a different perspective regarding your injury, the diagnosis as well as treatment interventions.

[vato1980]

i did use braces that will reduce the pain and give more support but it will weaken the hand too. i am currently using those hope it will help

[barneygym]

Sorry to hear that bro, any sort of injury is a nightmare.

...I went for laser and the pain was disappearing like he said "BUT and only BUT" pain came back after couple of days when I put some stress on my wrist...

Did you go straight back into the gym two days after treatment? How much training have you been doing in the last year?

[vato1980]

well i tried to do push up's after two days of treatment...that was a mistake i think.......


this how it all happened...I was goin to the gym in Nov.2007 then one day i slept over my hand in a wrong position " my hand was stretched under my head whole night, i felt pain next day morning, nevertheless i carried on goin to the gym and putting more stress, after two months it started to swell then i went to the doctor and he advised me to stop working out for a month, i did but the pain was still..then he asked me to stop working out until i find improvement..but frankly i went back to the gym i was putting slight pressure on my hand i.e 50 % of my weights...then i visited another doctor..that guy gave me cortisone injection and he told me i can go to work out like before after two days...after two weeks pain came back but it was reduced to 50% i thought it is cortisone that will do the effect...i visited the doctor again ..when he told me to stop working out for one month and gave me some anti-inflammation pills, after that i couldn't find any improvements, then the doc. asked me to do MRI, in that nothing was wrong except some "effusion" in tendons. the Dr, gave me a second shot of cortisone and he told me that he cant give me any more cortisone after this shot . by chance i met a physiotherapists who told me he can help me out and it might take one month to heal in that i didn't touch i single weight except the ones i used to exercise with in physiotherapist clinic. i found more improvements with these session that all the past period but not to the extent that i can go back to the gym. he tried ultrasound, short waves, electrical pules, hot and cold packs. recently i was really fed up so he told me we can go for laser i did 4 session so far. yest. i did one i hope that will be my last one.
even though the pain might reduce but i think this area of my hand will give me trouble for the rest of my life coz it is very sensitive.

I am trying to figure out what was the main cause for the injury of my wrist i think it was military press. i was using that exercise for nearly one year with heavy weight and in that i was bending back my hand. i will never do that again i think it should be straight in all the presses exercises.

I competed in two power lifting events .I got a the first place in one of them and the second place in the other one. I started bodybuilding since i was 15 it was a life style rather than a sport, I think it is the biggest mistake to always look to increase the weights you are lifting coz if our muscles can carry that weight our tendons, joints, etc. will suffer from that in the long run. weights shouldn't be our target we can do more reps, do slow motion reps. i gained around 20 kgs of fat within one year. I used to look like a bodybuilder now i look like a fat ass.
forget about "go hard or go home" lets be real.

[barneygym]

I'm not a doctor or a physio, but I'd say take at least 2 months off. One month of rest and ice, perhaps even with a wrist support during the day, then start a very light stretching and strengthening program for 2 weeks, gradually upping the weights (1-3lbs) for another two weeks, continuing to ice 2 or 3 times a day. Also, get a decent joint support supplementation going - glucosamine, chondroitin, MSM, fish oil and maybe even cissus.

For an injury that's been bothering you for this long, it's going to take some serious effort to get over it. It's not just going to go away, and you are going to have to work at fixing it. It sucks, but would you rather have 2-3 or even 6 months of rehab, or possibly years of on/off pain and no progress? I'm recovering from a shoulder injury (which turned into tendonitis) at the moment, and my rehab is going well now I'm taking it seriously (see my recovery log thread).

Best of luck mate. Oh, and congrats on the 1st and 2nd in your contests

[LozPainkiller]

yeah I feel you bro it sucks so much.

I started to get wrist pain from the ball of my wrist up into my forearm when I did bicep curls with anything like a dumbell or an EZbar. I didnt think anything of it so carried on but the pain was getting worse and eventually it hurt to do anything involving my forearm. In the end I had to just accept it and took 3 weeks from the gym. I went to the doctors and they gave me anti inflamitorys for the first week but it just masks the pain. The first 2 weeks I wore a splint, did NO weights whatsoever and iced it twice a day, sometimes 3 times. The past week I have been lifting light weights on my wrist to strengthen it back up and am now taking a combination supplement of MSM, Chondroitin, and Glucosomine.

It's definately getting better and stronger and is now virtually painless but I'm just worried it will return when I get back in the gym

[Finnegan Bell]

It's definately getting better and stronger and is now virtually painless but I'm just worried it will return when I get back in the gym

Its good to know that it goes away with ice and rest. Means its not chronic. Did a PT tell you how to stretch your forearms/wrist?