Help! Hand and wrist pain

[Guest guest]

Hello. I'm new to this club and a relative

newcomer to Ashtanga, although I have practiced various

kinds of yoga at various times throughout my life.

<br><br>After dabbling in the occasional class, I recently

decided to also start doing a modified primary series

several days a week on a consistent basis at home, with

wonderful spiritual and physical results.<br><br>Yet, since

I started, I have been experiencing pain in my left

wrist, hand and thumb, especially during sun

salutations. The pain lets up after practice, but I have

residual symptoms including carpal-tunnel like tingling in

my fingers.<br><br>I should mention that I am a

regular rock-climber (not to mention a professional

writer who types all day long) so the tendons in my

wrists and fingers tend to be overdeveloped and tight.

At first, I thought the pain was due to this, but if

I stop doing yoga it goes away. <br><br>A teacher

suggested lowering into chatturanga on my fists, but this

seems contrary to the nature of the pose and messes up

the flow of things. <br><br>I would be most

appreciative if anyone has answers to any of the following

questions:<br><br>1) Have you ever experienced hand or wrist pain in

your yoga and if so what did you do about

it?<br><br>2) Is it possible a simple position adjustment would

help? No class teacher has ever said my position was

wrong, but I wonder if not spreading my palms or

changing my elbows would make a difference. <br><br>3) Is

it possible this is a natural part of getting used

to doing the practice on a regular basis and I

should just work through the problems? Or could I end up

with tendinitis if I push it?<br><br>4) Is it likely

that combining ashtanga, rock climbing and writing is

just too much pressure on the wrist tendons?

<br><br>Thanks in advance for any ideas or suggestions. There

seems to be a lot of wonderful help and support on this

board, and I'm looking forward to being a

member.<br><br>Warm regards,<br>Robyn

[Guest guest]

Dear robyn_jl:<br><br>What I usually notice is

that in the downward facing dog people have a little

space between the palm and the floor. According to

David Swenson your palm should be pressed into the

floor and fingers spread out, the palm pressing against

the floor might relieve some pressure from the wrist.

Also have the hand shoulders width apart. Let me know

if that is the case.<br><br>I had a wrist injury and

after the sun salutation it would allow me to go thru

the primary series with no problem after some time it

healed and no more pains. <br><br>Have a good

practise<br>Reinaldo Liem

[Guest guest]

Robyn,<br><br>I was a rock climber for years

before I started astanga. I don't climb any more, for

reasons which I've described here before. I have

challenges in astanga which come from the things I used to

do (as does everybody) In my case these included a

torn knee cartilage from a bouldering fall years ago -

after four years I still have to be very careful about

attempting padmasana (lotus). I also had very stiff

shoulders from all the upper body strength work in

climbing, which made sun salutations really strenuous for

the first few months. (My climbing days went back to

the early 80s, when we thought doing hundreds of

pull-ups was a clever idea. Thankfully things aren't so

primitive any more, but I'm sure climbing must still tend

to tighten the shoulders). I've never had any wrist

trouble in first series, though. I expect to have

difficulty when I get to mayurasana in second series, which

involves weight on the hands with the wrists bent

backwards.<br><br>I agree with what Reinaldo said - I've always been

taught that it's important in downward dog to press the

bases of the index fingers down, which keeps the palms

flat, spread the fingers wide, and try to rotate the

shoulders so that the outside elbows point down rather than

sideways. <br><br>I don't imagine combining climbing and

astanga yoga would directly overstress the wrist tendons,

as climbing uses them in completely different ways -

not much gripping and pulling in astanga. But if you

are doing a daily yoga practice whilst also trying to

train and climb anywhere near your limit, (and do a day

job!) I expect the general level of mental and physical

stress & exertion might quickly become too

much.<br><br>Do you do forearm stretches before you climb? You

really should - just bending the wrist back for a while

is good, or kneeling with the hands on the floor,

wrists pointing away & fingers pointing towards the

knees. This is really important to avoid injury and

tightness. Doing some exercises to strengthen the backs of

the forearms is also a good idea to balance things

out - e.g. reverse wrist curls with light weights.

[Guest guest]

Robyn,<br><br>I have practiced Astanga for about

5 years now, and only recently have begun to suffer

from chronic wrist pain, particularly when I

practice.<br><br>Someone suggested to me that I should attach an external

mouse to my laptop computer because the amount of

pressure that I need to use on the keyboard pad mouse

might be straining my thumb, and thus causing my wrist

problems.<br><br>I only did this last week, but I noticed that when

I practiced on Sunday and yesterday I had

considerably less pain.<br><br>Since you spend alot of time

writing (as I do), perhaps a mouse change might

help?<br><br>Let me know what you find...I'm curious.

<br><br>Would love to stay in touch in the hopes that one of us

finds a cure for wrist pain incurred during yoga

practice!<br><br>Feel free to write to me

directly.<br><br>Namaste,<br><br>Jen Press<br>jpress1

[Guest guest]

Thanks so much to all who answered my call for

help about hand and wrist pain. I DO notice especially

during jump-backs and jump-throughs that I sometimes

"cup" my hands rather than keep them flat. I will try

to stay aware of this and see if I can correct it.

<br><br>I also find it interesting that some people are

experiencing wrist and hand pain years into their practice.

Having read about a bit about carpal tunnel and other

hand syndromes, I do wonder if growing bigger, broader

forearm tendons (an obvious side-effect of multiple arm

balances/sun salutations) can in some people cause problems

since there is so little room in the wrist for all the

"stuff" that needs to be there (I have particularly tiny

wrists). Maybe it's just a matter of REALLY concentrating

on counter-poses like stand-hands . . .<br><br>The

interesting thing to me is that I have been typing

extensively and climbing regularly for years, but never had

wrist problems until I started doing the regular

ashtanga practice. I still think it might be a synergistic

effect of all three. I think my forearms may be in a

general state of shock! Still, I'm hopeful that once they

start getting used to everything, they'll be happy.

<br><br>I also was very intrigued by a statement Alan

Little made about how maybe climbing, working and doing

yoga practice was more mental and physical stress than

a person can take! It interested me because in part

I started doing regular yoga practice because I

find it balancing and stress-releasing. Maybe it has

to do with how intensely you do all three. I'm a

pretty intense person by nature but I try to keep that

in check . . . <br><br>I DON'T climb at my limit

(especially because my technical limit unfortunately way

surpasses my psychological limits), but I do train for

improvement and the ability to do long, interesting routes. I

DON'T do three hours of ashtanga practice every day,

but I do attempt to get in some version of the

primary series several days a week. (I also occasionally

do other forms of yoga, including a free vinyasa,

just flowing into poses naturally). As for work, well,

let's not get into THAT . . .<br><br>I wonder, though:

do you believe that this yoga only works for people

who make it the focus of their lives or is it

something a person can integrate into an already full life?

<br><br>I'll be interested to hear what people think about

this! <br><br>Again, thanks for all the advice. I'll

let you know how things are

improving.<br><br>Best,<br>Robyn

[Guest guest]

Being a yogi/yogini can exist at many levels. A

person could give up all worldly things and go wander in

India like the other Sadhus. The theory behind this

life style is lengthy but to boil it all the way down,

it is to eliminate all worldly distractions in an

effort to obtain liberation (see God or whatever you

want to call it) in this lifetime. Another avenue is

to practice yoga and go about your daily life as a

"householder". <br><br>I've had the privedge to hang in India a

bit, practiced w/ big unknown yogis, mediatated at the

fires while bodies were creamated, pondering this flesh

and bone existence and its connection with spirit.

I've also had the experience to run and play several

business ventures and sports at a very high level,

bringing my yoga training into this world. I never mention

the yoga during these events, just practice mula

bandha and deep relaxation while actively working w/

others.<br><br>In my opinion, do yoga practice and take it to the

streets. Anyone can be a saint in class or in a coffeshop

telling tall yoga tales. Try using it in an extreme or

daily life situation so the world can benefit. As head

of a local rescue team, I've had the opportunity to

use my yoga pranayama in mouth to mouth resuscitation

trying to bring someone back from the edge of death. On

the other end of the spectrum, I teach my children by

example, letting a life of yoga practice guide me through

a myriad of day to day issues. To not bring the

yoga from the class room into the world is a great

loss for you and those around you. Do you think you

can handle three events at one time? If so, don't

limit yourself. The practice can be exhausting in the

beginning, but as the nadis purify and the mind becomes

clear, more prana is coming.<br><br>Guruji is always

very interested in those who have jobs and work hard.

I remember after a pranayama session him saying,

"yes, you do, after 5 years, much working, you not

getting tired." He's right, the yoga creates more prana,

some would say to use it in the world is wasting it. I

say it is sharing the secret of our practice with

others not so fortunate to have been called. Love and

live your life.<br><br>Yours in yoga.

[Guest guest]

Robyn,<br> The pain in your wrist and hand are a

symptom of your shoulders being out of position.<br>The

shoulders are rounded which stretches the ligaments,

tendons and muscles beyond there normal<br>limit. None of

activities you are doing would be<br>a problem if you get

your shoulders in proper<br>position by rebalancing

your muscles. Although<br>I believe the Primary Series

to be of great<br>benifit, I don't know a way to

modify it to<br>deal with your problem quickly. However,

a friend<br>of mine has learned a system which can

fairly<br>quickly deal with getting the shoulders (and

hips)<br>into better position which will relieve

your<br>symtoms. The body is so carefully balanced

and<br>functionally interrelated that the place where<br>we feel the

pain is usually a long way from it's<br>source. This

is particularly true of the hands<br>and wrist. You

can e-mail me at shantiom1 if you would like

me to get<br>you in contact with him.

[Guest guest]

Takeitup 2000,<br><br>Thank you for your thoughtful, complex -- and honestly

inspirational -- answer to my question. <br><br>Robyn

[Guest guest]

Robyn,<br><br>Quick reply here...<br><br>I'm a

humanitarian aid worker in Luanda, Angola, I've been here for

about a year and a half. My work schedule is demanding,

not only in terms of the physical time I spend in my

office, but also in terms of the mental energy that I

need to keep working in conditions that I find

fundamentally disheartening (30 years of civil war, millions of

starving people, a gov't rife with corruption,

etc).<br><br>However, the one thing that has kept me sane, balanced,

and able to function here, and give of myself in a

way that is congruent with my beliefs, is my astanga

practice. I don't have the physical time to practice a full

first series every day, but I always manage to do some

yoga, and it is always based in Astanga. <br><br>I have

found, particularly in this environment, which feels

like a telescoped version of my life in the US (in LA

and SF), that no matter how busy my day is, my

Astanga practice always helps me to make space, in

whatever form it is needed, in my head and in my

heart.<br><br>So...my rather convoluted answer to your

thoughts/question on whether astanga "works" only for people who

make it the focus of their lives is absolutely NOT.

Yoga, astanga practice in particular, is a gift. Any

time that you can spend cultivating your physical

practice will help you to grow your ability to live your

life with kindness and compassion, both for yourself

and others.<br><br>Take

Care,<br><br>Namaste,<br><br>Jen Press

[Guest guest]

Actualy, the counterpose to the Chaturanga wrist position is Padahastasana -

extended time in this position can help.

[Guest guest]

the hand in up&down dog & chaturanga supports the

wrist, arm and shoulder in a very simple way. front to

front, back to back, left to left, right to right,

centre to centre.<br><br>maybe youre not carrying your

weight evenly across your left hand. the ball of the

thumb can unground the indexfinger base unbalancing the

support of the hand, the thumb can then take some of the

load that the indexfinger should be. though sometimes

it just gets thrown to the outer edge of the

hand.<br><br>keep the indexfinger base firmly grounded. move from

that contact. and use the forearmbone to resist

gravity rather than only the muscles by keeping it

vertical elbow above the wrist in chaturanga. also as you

come into updog lengthen your arms away from the hands

into the shoulders so the whole arm is resisting

gravity rather than letting all the weight fall on the

wrist......