Reader Question: How can I recover from yoga induced wrist pain?

Hello,

Last week I did a full primary series 2hour Ashtanga yoga class(my first one), and next day I woke up with some wrist pain to rotation on the right side. Then i noticed that i also had some forearm , elbow and upper trap tenderness too. i found that when I pressed on the sides of the elbow hard, my wrist didn't hurt any more. I did some research and found out that I was doing chaturanga wrong like you said on your site. Very, very informative! Thank you.

Any suggestions on healing?

A reader from Toronto

Rest, icing (10 minutes on, 10 minutes off, and 10 minutes on), and gently stretching are the keys to recovery from most minor joint injuries in yoga. But it is important to get a diagnosis from a health professional familiar with yoga injuries first before self diagnosing and treating.

It sounds like you have strained your wrist extensor muscles as well as possibly spraining the joints of your wrist. The extensor muscles start at the lateral epicondyle of the elbow (outside of the elbow with palm up) and control the movements of the wrist and hand. With repeated chaturanga push ups, these muslces are working overtime. And if you were allowing your wrist to deeply extend (dropping the elbow below the shoulder) this strains the wrist and the musculature.

Gentle Stretch for the Wrist Extensor Muscles
With your arm extended, palm facing down, use your opposite hand to flex the wrist down towards the earth until you feel a stretch in the top of the arm and into the elbow. Hold for at least 30 seconds.

When you return to your yoga practice, yes do all the things I've mentioned in the past during Plank Pose / Chaturanga (elbows not lowering below shoulder height, stacked over wrists or behind) and if you re-injure then you might want to consider seeking out some soft tissue treatment (I recommend Active Release Technique) as well as some guidance on how your shoulder biomechanics may be affecting your wrist and elbow. Never practice in pain.

Good luck with your healing.

To learn more about Dr. Robin and Yoga Therapy in Vancouver visit stayactive.ca