Tumbling Hand Pain

[jacqui_perez]

Whenever I tumble I get a really bad pain in my hands (back of the palm...between my wrist and fingers, kinda close to the knuckles). It always happens after just a few bhs and seems to just come out of no where. It gets to the point where I am holding back tears even doing handstands and cartwheels. I've tried multiple ways of taping them for more support but nothing seems to help...any tips?


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[Matt Faherty]

Have you seen a doctor to rule out an injury like a fracture or ligament sprain?

 

[Cheeranswers]

I definitely don't suggest this but a few years ago this would happen to me CONSISTENTLY. I did nothing about it and it did just go away eventually. My coaches suggested it could have been a strained wrist, so I would just really stretch my wrists before tumbling. try flattening them against the floor and leaning your upper body forward over top of them so it's stretching, then do the opposite with your fingers pointed towards yourself and lean your body backwards. Also try to flatten them on the back of your hands to floor, as well as holding your hand together and rolling them out (if that makes sense). Good luck


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[cheer25mom]

It could be that you are not getting your arms far enough back in your handspring. Of you land more on your fingers and not truly on your palms you can put excess stress on your wrist and cause the pain you are describing. Next time you do handsprings, try to notice what part of your hand is contacting the floor first. If it is your fingers and not your palm, you may need to push through your shoulders more so that your palms take your weight and not your fingers.


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[jacqui_perez]

Have you seen a doctor to rule out an injury like a fracture or ligament sprain?

Yeah, I did, but it was really hard for the dr to diagnose it because it only hurts when I'm tumbling and for a few hours after. He took an X-ray and everything came back normal, so there's not much else he can work with since it doesn't hurt when I go in.


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[jacqui_perez]

I definitely don't suggest this but a few years ago this would happen to me CONSISTENTLY. I did nothing about it and it did just go away eventually. My coaches suggested it could have been a strained wrist, so I would just really stretch my wrists before tumbling. try flattening them against the floor and leaning your upper body forward over top of them so it's stretching, then do the opposite with your fingers pointed towards yourself and lean your body backwards. Also try to flatten them on the back of your hands to floor, as well as holding your hand together and rolling them out (if that makes sense). Good luck


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It could be that you are not getting your arms far enough back in your handspring. Of you land more on your fingers and not truly on your palms you can put excess stress on your wrist and cause the pain you are describing. Next time you do handsprings, try to notice what part of your hand is contacting the floor first. If it is your fingers and not your palm, you may need to push through your shoulders more so that your palms take your weight and not your fingers.


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Thanks for the suggestions! I'll definitely try these out


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[Matt Faherty]

Yeah, I did, but it was really hard for the dr to diagnose it because it only hurts when I'm tumbling and for a few hours after. He took an X-ray and everything came back normal, so there's not much else he can work with since it doesn't hurt when I go in.


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Okay just needed to be sure before giving you any real suggestions. Wouldn't want to tell you to do a stretch or strengthening exercise when it turns out it was fracture all along and made things worse. That would just be no good for anyone. When it comes to injuries, always, always, always, seek out a medical professional.

The fact that the pain comes and goes with activity is consistent with a repetitive stress/overuse injury such as tendinitis. Tendinitis is a swelling of connective tissue from repetitive or excessive movements. I'm no medical professional, but if I had to put money on it, I would be willing to bet that doctor probably said something similar to you at one point or another.

Short term ways to deal with discomfort include taking an anti-inflammatory pain medicine, such as Advil prior to practice, making sure you warm-up and stretch your wrists well before tumbling, and making sure you ice your wrists for 20 min after every practice.

Long term solutions include strengthening of the wrists so that they can handle larger loads for longer periods of time. The best exercises to do this would be weight baring exercises that do not have a heavy impact. An example of a good exercise would be bear crawls, push-ups, headstands, and handstands . A bad exercise would be back handsprings, due to the high impact created from blocking through the shoulders. You could also use exercise bands, and hand weights to perform other specific wrist strengthening exercises. Though, your best solution would be to see a physical therapist or athletic trainer who can design a specific exercise prescription to best suit your needs.

Best of luck! Hope you feel better.
Coach Matt

 

[jacqui_perez]

Okay just needed to be sure before giving you any real suggestions. Wouldn't want to tell you to do a stretch or strengthening exercise when it turns out it was fracture all along and made things worse. That would just be no good for anyone. When it comes to injuries, always, always, always, seek out a medical professional.

The fact that the pain comes and goes with activity is consistent with a repetitive stress/overuse injury such as tendinitis. Tendinitis is a swelling of connective tissue from repetitive or excessive movements. I'm no medical professional, but if I had to put money on it, I would be willing to bet that doctor probably said something similar to you at one point or another.

Short term ways to deal with discomfort include taking an anti-inflammatory pain medicine, such as Advil prior to practice, making sure you warm-up and stretch your wrists well before tumbling, and making sure you ice your wrists for 20 min after every practice.

Long term solutions include strengthening of the wrists so that they can handle larger loads for longer periods of time. The best exercises to do this would be weight baring exercises that do not have a heavy impact. An example of a good exercise would be bear crawls, push-ups, headstands, and handstands . A bad exercise would be back handsprings, due to the high impact created from blocking through the shoulders. You could also use exercise bands, and hand weights to perform other specific wrist strengthening exercises. Though, your best solution would be to see a physical therapist or athletic trainer who can design a specific exercise prescription to best suit your needs.

Best of luck! Hope you feel better.
Coach Matt

Thank you so much!


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