Backcround:
I have delicate, girly wrists and hands. This has caused me to have some issues lifting, especially when I’ve gotten carried away because the rest of me is sure it can lift X amount, but my grip strength is not up to snuff. I probably should have wrist straps, but I thought I was doing ok, at least until the weight started to climb.
About a year ago I was deadlifting and nearly dropped the bar, but kept my grip, and got a little bit of a wrist injury. It was hard to pick up anything heavy or support myself in the push-up position. I took it easy and got over it fairly quickly (less than one month).
Current injury:
Fast-forward to a few months ago. Lifting had taken a backseat for awhile due to school and planning a wedding, but I was getting antsy so I squeezed in a session. I was deadlifting and hadn’t lightened the load from the last time I had lifted, and was pleased to see my body was capable. However, my already tenuous grip strength was not. I started to lose my grip on the bar, and instead of just dropping it, I tried to keep hold (dumb dumb dumb). My hands weren’t having any of it and the bar slipped, jerking on my fingers.
I have not seemed to be able to recover from this one. I admit, I aggravated it when my husband and I were moving out of and into a new apartment, but it’s been another month and a half since then. In fact, it seems to be getting worse, despite my best efforts to not use the wrist for lifting anything heavy. We haven’t moved my gym equipment in yet, so I haven’t had a chance to do more than go for the occasional jog. I bought a wrist brace which I thought was helping, but apparently not.
It feels inflamed (doesn’t really look it, though), tender to the touch, and I can’t extend it without a lot of pain. It is mostly concentrated directly in the inner wrist, from the midline out toward the side my pinky finger is on. Anything that pulls on the fingers is painful.
So, has anyone had this injury before? Who do I see? A physiatrist? Sports medicine? GP D.O. who does OMM? Any basic rehab exercises?