handwraps for wrist support (while grappling)?

[pauli]

the situation:

my right wrist (and to a lesser extent, the left one too) is prone to injury. typically, the cause is something like posting on a flat hand with force directed towards my pinky; flat handed pushups are also a common culprit. the symptoms are mild/moderate pain when repeating the motion, bending my hand backwards and rotating towards the pinky, or squeezing a fist (or gripping something). i think it amounts to a mild sprain. i remember this issue dating back at least 20 years, and i'm 27. symptoms may persist for a few hours, or up to a day. it's not something worth actual medical attention, as i live with it, and it hasn't gotten any better or worse through varying activity levels over many years.

now, when i say i live with it, i do not mean to say i don't want to try and prevent it - i was only able to participate in about 30 minutes of the two hours of class i was at tonight, which was impetus for me to finally ask here about what i've got in mind.

my thought is that if i can provide some moderate support to my wrist on days when it's acting up (or i suspect that it may do so), i can lessen the impact on my training. i was thinking that handwraps would be ideal for this purpose, but i have no actual experience with them. another alternative would be a one size fits many wrist brace, but that doesn't seem best.

a: do you guys agree that wrapping my wrist with a hand wrap makes sense in this instance?

b: what sort of wrap might be best? i've gathered that they are available in both stretchy (cotton/poly) and nonstretchy (cotton) varieties, of varying lengths and widths, possibly with varying methods of attachment, at varying prices, and in many laundry staining colors.

(oh, and for the peanut gallery: my wrist is bad, not limp.)

[ojgsxr6]

I have used boxing wraps for judo the normal ones, not the cool stretchy ones. They helped me a lot. What helped me really work alot of the kinks out in my wrist was Tigerbalm-ing my wrist then wrapping them. But don't wipe the sweat from your eyes afterward, it doesn't wash away.

[Gypsy Jazz]

(oh, and for the peanut gallery: my wrist is bad, not limp.)

It sounds like we might be in a similar situation. I have some hypermobility in my wrists as a result of over stretched ligaments, and this sort of this happens to me when I do push ups if I'm not careful. To prevent it, I act like I'm doing a wrist curl into the floor the whole time to keep my wrists from over extending.

The only treatment I know of is physical therapy/exercise. Try working some wrist stability exercises such as wrist curls (palm up and down) as well as thumb up (very small motion) and pinky up (let arms hang by sides and push pinky side towards the sky).

I personally have been advised never to grapple again, so I don't know the effect it will be, but it's worth a shot.

[Teh El Macho]

I have a similar situation (osteoarthritis in my right wrist due to a fracture and several dislocations). The doc said there was nothing to do other than to manage it. It sounds darker than what it really is, so don't worry Gypzzy. It's all in the management of the injury.

To the OP:

I've always used sports tape. I tape the **** out of my right wrist, not too tight but enough to stop my hand from fully flexing by itself (once you post your hand, the tape will let it post but will stop a hyperextension.) Plus, it helps to tell your partners whenever your wrist is acting bitchier than usual.

For quite a while it was the type of pain that I could just suck it up, but almost two months ago, I really fucked it up while doing a bench press. Couldn't even post my hand flat on the floor. My PCP prescribed some NSAIDs but they didn't do ****.

My chiro suggested to use cold laser therapy (which I previously mentioned here), and it seemed to have helped. Also, I've been icying the affected area, mondays through fridays (when I drive to work) for 20+ minutes (when I go to work and when I come back home.)

I place an ice pack on my wrist and wrap it with a hand towel and then let it rest on my lap while I drive. That's about 2+ weeks of doing that, and now I can post my hand and do about 20 push ups (from not being able to do a single one.)

So these are my suggestions (take them with a grain of salt since your condition may be different from mine):

1. Ice it. Be consistent about it. Ice it every day, twice if necessary until it goes away or at least become manageable. Icying it only when you remember won't do ****.

2. Ask your doctor or chiro if he/she has a cold laser therapy machine and see if he can use it on your wrist.

3. Wear a wrist brace during the day and at night when the pain gets bad. If there is no need to extend/flex the wrist, then don't. This helps tremendously if you have the habit of overflexing/extending your wrist while you sleep.

4. When you are not icying your wrist (or 1 hour after doing so), use a hot pad or icy hot/tiger balm. Do this diligently.

5. Use sports tape when you grapple or do any exercise that may extend/flex your wrist (works for me.)

6. If you like to do push ups, switch to knuckle push ups (on a padded surface like a rubber zigzag mat). Once you get the hang of it, it becomes much more comfortable than push ups with the palms planted on the ground (though I'm gonna give Gypsy's recommendation of curling the hands a try.)

7. If you can't do a normal number of push ups with your hands planted without feeling a bad ass pain (7+ in a scale of 1 to 10), maybe that's a sign to take a break for a few weeks and baby that injury.

8. Have your PCP get an xray and get his opinion. He'll go "ZOMG, you can't grapple anymore", but at least he'll tell you exactly what you have (osteoartritis, tendonitis, whatever.) Know what you have and take care of it accordingly.

[Gypsy Jazz]

For me it actually as grim as it seems unfortunately, but I'd like to try to keep the thread on track.

Another tip I forgot to include was to wear a wrist splint/brace while sleeping when the pain is bad. With me because it has to deal with loose ligaments, I can easily tweak my wrists. If it is a similar situation, this helps enormously by allowing proper healing to take place, rather than half-assed sleep tweaks plus some recovery from the sleep.

Also possibly worth a mention are weight lifting gloves with good wrist support. I've never done anything with them beyond trying them on in stores, but they might be a good alternative to having to wrap up every time you want to roll.

[Rhyos]

Chiming in on the wrap at night bit. Job has me going through some carpal tunnel which may need surgery, but I've found that using some boxing wraps at night helps the whole following day. I recall a pdf floating around discussing different wrap techniques. Does anyone have that?

[pauli]

well, i swung by modell's today and got a pair of 108" cotton wraps for $4. hopefully the excessive amount of velco doesn't scratch my training partners; i may have to tape it.

if i get more, i might have to look at the stretchy ones.

[pauli]

it worked, but goddamn did that thing smell. apparently new does not mean clean.

[andrewa]

Pauli, what is your job? Do you do a lot of typing or do you use a mouse a lot? You could have a repetitive strain injury.

[pauli]

i do have a repetitive strain injury in my wrist (crops up every couple years, and i've usually remedied it with an imak smartglove), but the sprains i'm trying to prevent with the wrap predate my first encounter with a mouse, and are more from impact than repetition.