Sore wrist on one side

[Raiyah]

For a while now my left wrist has been a bit niggly. Not a massive pain just achy. Fine when lifting weights but if I place my hand flat and push my bodyweight on it the pain flares up stronger. Just feels stiff aswell. Been seeing a physio which helps and im confident it'll get better with more sessions. The only thing im concerned about is the fact that im treating the symptoms not the actual issue itself. Physio will fix my wrist with time but as soon as i stop going it'll just come back again. I think my grip with the left hand might be the issue. The strength is there it just doesnt seem to be a hundred percent comfortable when i clamp down. I feel it most in curls and used to feel it in bench pull too when i did those. Pretty much purely on the left keeping in mind. Also I should add i dropped the weights super low and although it does get easier to lift with less strain still didnt solve my problem

Anyone experienced anything like this?

[Dinahlady]

It's good that you're seeing a physio and good that you're questioning the bigger picture as well. It could be a number of things but a lot of wrist issues can be from overall mechanics due to tightness/"muscle imbalances" in the upper body and/or issues around the shoulder joint. 

What does your workout routine look like - are you doing more pressing compared to pulling and how long have you been training for/training with your current split? Do you have an office/computer job? 

Do you do much mobility or stretching work for your pecs/shoulders/upper body? 

The stiffness can be inflammation in the joint which is hard to get rid of if you keep on using it and aggrivating it. Short term use of Anti-inflammatories and resting it a bit with some light/short upper body workouts untill it clears up a bit might help and give you time to work out a bit of a shoulder/pec/lat/tricep/thoracic stretching and mobility routine and give time for the physio stuff to work a bit.

Someone like OnlyHuman might be able to give a more helpful post than this! 

[OnlyHuman]

What diagnosis the physio gave you? (What did he/she says is wrong?) 

Intresting that treatment does resolve (partially?) your problem tho... so they must be doing something right. I be intrested to know what they actually do to the wrist or neighburring body parts... 

Wonder if you had a fairly recent injury (or previously a more serious one) to the elbow or shoulder joint on the same side? 

Does your wrist, top of your palm aprear visually different (swealling, lumps and bumps etc)?

Do you remember how it started? Anything happened that started it?  

 

 

[Raiyah]

I've had postural issues before with my upper back and scap. Seen a physio for that about a year ago now and it doesn't give me any grief anymore. Was just naturally a bit hunched over which was exaggerated when I started lfiting. Probably from sitting on the floor playing video games too much when I was younger haha. Spent a good amount of time strengthing my back and getting that thoracic extension and loosening up the chest and shoulders and no more issues. Maintenence is key though, i'll still go see a massage therapist every now and again just to keep it at bay.

Dinah. I do a upper body Mon/Thur lower body Tue/Fri with cardio abs on Wednesday. I work in retail. we bit of hunching over but kind of hard to avoid in any case considering everything that's happening is in front of us. Hell I've got my arms forward typing on this keyboard right now haha.
Lots and lots of stretching of everything since injuring my scap a year ago. Especially along pec minor and shoulders. Havent really been one to focus too hard on chest and arms either. Back is pretty built up by comparison purely coz I enjoy those exercises. Physio for it must of been going for a month now and it's definitely working it's more that i'm certain it'll come back if I dont sort it.

OnlyHuman. The physio said it's just really stiff through my wrist and the mobility doesn't seem to be at 100%. Just doing a bit of manipulation around and on the wrist itself and loosening up and breaking down the muscle through the forearm which is also quite tight (And where I personally think the problem comes from which is why I think grip might be my issue). No joint issues i'm aware of and no visual swelling or anything.

Nah there didn't seem to be anything that set it off I was just sitting down one day and thought "weird my wrist seems niggly today" and i haven't been abnle to shake it since.

Really appreciate the input guys cheers.

[OnlyHuman]

I agree with your assesment (the posibility of your problems coming from your tight forearm muscles) and some of the things you say kind of confirms it to me. If you have tight forearm muscles they can impact the quality of movement of your radial bone proximaly (the elbow end) that in turn will give you problems on the distal end (the wrist end). I wonder if your wrist problem is more on the side that is close to the thumb? 

If we assume correctly and your problem is from muscular origin .... it is not surprising that when your physio works on it you get relief that last for a while, than comes back. 

Tight muscles can "overload" joints. Close to them or in neighburing areas that they have anatomical relationships. So it seems to me that in your case reducing the muscular tension gives you relive from your joint problem... but when once again they become hypertonic/tight your problem re-apperas. 

The reduction of excess muscle tension eliminates (takes it below the "set point where you personally experience...)  your joint "problem". Than for one reason or an other muscle tension / hypertonicity increases and your problem re-appears. 

This is an intresting situation becasuse in some asspects your physio does treat the source of your problem (muscular) but in some aspects maybe you guys haven't figured out what pre-dispose you to over working these muscles. Eg... work? Do you do a lot of manual labour etc

An other thing you will need to realize is that if it is indeed muscluar origing there is a lot you can do for your self in order to get rid of it (keep it under the "set point") where it becomes problematic. Self soft tissue and regular stretching, life style or work ergonomic changes come to mind... at the end of the day you will naeed to take some responsibility for this ( I mean no offence!) and realize that you only see your therapist for 1/2 an hour once a week ... or something like that. Ask them what you can do for  your self in your own time to make some progress, keep it away. 

I hope I made my point/explanation clear enough. You need to remember this is over the internet and a thorough evaluation would have to involve a case history taking, physical examination etc... thus a lot of this is based on "assumptions".

Regardless.. I hope you get better soon. Good luck.