Update On My Rehab...

[mad about lifting]

Hey Guys!

Well I have been doing sand work outs ( stick your thumb into sand and move) and see only minimal gains. It was been only 2 weeks since I started so Ill have to be paitient. I do 2 sets with 5 reps.

See, the problem arrises when I use my index finger and thumb for grip. E.G putting the buckle on my pants, opening a bag of chips, dat kinda thing. If all the fingers and palm are used, I hardly feel any pain. Well, I think I will also start light pinching. Any ideas on reps and sets on that?

OK, I got a friend going to Toronto and was wondering where he could get a Squeezer? Does anyone here know where it is avaiable ( not online, but stores?)

Thanks

Ash

[Vise]

i would highly recommend buying mung beans. they are a chinese bean used for hand conditioning in kunk fu. this is not what you would be using them for though b/c the make an excellent recovery/rehab device. i love my bucket of mung beans for they really make my hands feel like new after/between rough workouts or injurys. even the dust created from the churning of the beans is good for your hands (helps revitalize them). i can describe benefical exercises if you decide to go for it. what is the nature of the injury (rsi, strain, etc.)?

[mad about lifting]

Tell me about the mung beans...

Anyone else here got any advice to my earlier post?

Ash

[mad about lifting]

Guys, I could really use help here, please.

Ashley

[chrisof4]

Ashley,

Please give us a little more information. I know you probably put all of this in an earlier post, but I can't find it right now. Let us know:

1. Background of your injury (e.g., how did it happen, what are the symptoms, where does it hurt, etc.). The more info, the better.

2. How long have you been injured?

3. What are your symptoms now? Is you injury the same, better, or worse.

4. What has your rehab regimen been? Rest? Doctor? Exercises?

I am sorry to make you rehash this, but I want to make sure I have all the info.

[Vise]

go to either a chinese market of a health food store to find them. i love churning my hands in them (feels like a massage) and i believe exercise w/the beans are the best active rest around. i think i might write an article titled "the tao of mung" that entails all of the exercises you can do. here is a site that mentions them. don't bother w/iron palm though:

http://hcs.harvard.edu/~htctc/lecture_rsi.html

Edited June 28, 2004 by Vise

[mad about lifting]

Re: chrisof4

Hi,

Thanks for taking the time to look into my problem. Here is all the infomation you need.

1. Background of your injury (e.g., how did it happen, what are the symptoms, where does it hurt, etc.)

Well, this was actually an injury that took place when I was 14. I punched some guy and didnt make a good fist, so my my thumb moved in the wrong direction. For about a week, the area under my thumb, on my palm side was blue black. I let it heal and everything was fine. Fastfoward to 2004, I am 20 and train muai thai (thai kickboxing). Funny thing is, the same thing happened. That one time during training, didnt make a perfect fist, and thumb moved in the wrong direction.

Now let me try to explain the nature of the movement. Make a fist with your left hand. Notice how the thumb sits nicely under the index finger, and you are able to wiggle just a bit of your tip end thumb? Now with the tip end open, creating a little space between your thumb and index finger, gently with your other palm push your thumb in, using a bit of force. See how your thumb knuckle moves up and down? The pain felt should be 1/2 inch to the left of your thumb knuckle. That is where it hurts for me, besides the opponens abductor brevis too.

2. How long have you been injured?

First injured when I was 14, fully recovered. Now its been about 4 weeks.

3. What are your symptoms now? Is you injury the same, better, or worse.

Unable to fully flex my thumb and do all the movements, restricted by slight pain. Not as bad as the first time though. The hardest is when I try to open my pants buckle or a bag of chips. This is because I am only using my thumb and index finger, putting lots of focus on my opponens abductor brevis muscle.

4. What has your rehab regimen been? Rest? Doctor? Exercises?

Rehab, rest and alternative medicine.

My goal for using this board is to increase the strength of my fists and hands.

Thanks

Ashley

[AP]

Here's some things that might help:

1) Wearing gloves or mittens at night. They help to add circulation to the area to aid healing, even if they come off during the night they can still be a great help.

2) Icing the area and/or contrast bath with heat and cold.

3) Thumb exercises. You could strengthen the area using plate pinches or pony clamp/TTK/Supergriper squeezes if this doesn't hurt to do. These are also good areas to focus on in the future to help prevent reinjury. On the more rehab-like exercises, you could use rubber bands to stretch and work the thumb in every direction. Don't work into too much pain of course.

[chrisof4]

I don't have much to add to AP's comments about recovery, except continue to rest and let it fully heal. Once it is healed, I might recommend the following items to build up your thumb strength.

1. Begin working out with block weights. These are really hard on the thumb and will help you build up strength in that "pincher" movement. Plate pinches would probably be good too, and maybe even better because often they keep your pinch grip narrower.

2. Go to the hardware store and get a "Pony" clamp. This is just a spring loaded clamp similar in shape to a gripper. Using your thumb and fingers, try to close the pony clamp and make the handles touch. Sometimes these can slip from your grasp and might go flying a few feet, so don't do this near your face. Get the brand name clamp, as their springs are harder.

If the pain does not get better soon, I recommend seeing a doctor to make sure you did not tear something that will not heal on its own. After four weeks, there should be noticeable improvement, and if not, I would be concerned.

[mad about lifting]

Vise,

Thank you for the link, as I found it very intresting. I do have a few question though. Do you use the beans and the hot compress? For the beans, what is the tempo used? Do you do any of the workouts slow, or is there a certain speed you use? Tell me your expericences with the hot compress because I think I can really benefit from it.

Ashley

[Vise]

i've never tried the compress but i wouldn't be suprised if it worked great (eastern medicine can suprise you). here is some good exercises w/the mung beans (experiment with tempo, find what helps you best):

1. with wrist supinated thrust hand into beans and churn away from body; repeat in opposite direction with hand pronated (i like about 20 reps)

2. thrust hand in beans with fingers spread and resist the force of the beans pushing fingers apart. close finger and repeat

3. thrust fist in beans and open hand (extensors)

4. with hands in beans, do thumb circles

5. with hands in beans just move your hands and wrists around (its a great massage)

6. w/finger partially in beans rake back and forth

for your finger/thumb injury i would insert your hand in the beans and work on pinching. remember, this is rehab and it should not be painful. i do this when watching tv. good luck w/your recovery.

-ryan

Edited June 30, 2004 by Vise

[mad about lifting]

Vise,

So you think pinching the beans witll help with rehab? About crushing, should I attempt to actually crush them, or just simulate it?

Ash

[Vise]

you would be able to crush/pinch them to dust or anything but still go thru the motion. the bean dust that gets on your hands from the beans rubbing together is really good for your hands so try not to wash it off for awhile. for the pinch exercise, insert your extended finger and thumb in the beans and pinch. as you get stronger, have your fingers deeper and more impacted by the beans. don't forget to work extensors a lot (they very often get very little attention).

[mad about lifting]

eemm....i am still new at this, so where are the extensors and how do I work them?

Ash

[FrankyBoy]

Extensors

You really learn where your extensors are and what they do as soon as you have an radialis injury. That nerve feeds all the extensors in the arms.

But of course you then learn how to train them.

Finger extensors

Place your palm on a table and stretch your fingers up. Those extensors can be trained using a rubber band or a bucket of sand.

Hand/Wrist Extensors

Don't know the appropriate latin names so I better explain what the different muscles do:

Hand Extensor 1

Place your palm on a table and lift the whole hand but let the wrist on the table. These muscles are used doing reverse curls. Those muscles can be trained doing dumbbell (or barbell) wrist curls using the overhanded grip.

Hand Extensor 2

Place your side of the hand (where the pinky is) on a table and lift the whole hand but let the wrist on the table. These muscles are used doing hammer curls. Those muscles can be trained using a lever bar or a sledge hammer.

Hand Extensor 3

Place your palm on a table and rotate the hand/forearm so that the palm is top.

(As if you want to take a soup plate = supinator). use a lever bar and rotate your forearm.

Hope that helps.

Good luck with your rehab.

[mad about lifting]

FrankyBoy,

Thanks a lot! You helped me understand what I was looking for earlier. About the sand bucket, do i bury my hand until I can't see my fingers? Is there any other method?

Thanks so much!

Ash

[Vise]

finger extensor work: force a fist (gently, not a punch) until you cannot go any further, now open your hand. you can also "flick" your hand open with your fingers only partially buried.

[mad about lifting]

Ok, here is an update.

Went for kickboxing and my hand is a little painful now. Well, I think it has to, since putting it under strain will cause some form of pain because this is a healing muscle. My master recomended sleeping with a hot water bottle on the injured part. So I am going to start that tonight. My next plan is to get the mung beans and start rehab.

Ash

[mad about lifting]

Vise,

Is mung beans the same as soy beans?

Ash

[Vise]

no they are different

[mad about lifting]

Ok, this idea seems to be good, since my damm palm just won't heal!

Any other articles you use? What kind of injuries have you treated with this method. One more thing, what is your routine like? I think I should follow the same.

Thanks

Ash

[Vise]

i do it while watching tv and only count reps to do both hands evenly. my favorite exercise is the churning thrust:

shape hand like that "old man moving a mountain" on the tai chi page and thrust supinated hand into beans, grab and twist wrist while removing hand. repeat with same hand but pronated. this is one rep. i like to do 20 reps with each hand and switch to another exercise. i don't count sets but keep my exercises continual. a method is keep doing your exercises during commercial breaks, then stop when what you're watching comes on.

i just read an article on a.r.t. (active release technique) and it looks very promising. i was also recommended it by a personal trainer who is a friend of mine. if you got the cash, i'd go for it!

a.r.t. article (ignore the body/brainquicken garbage though)

the a.r.t. homepage