Ha Jen!! I posted this while having NOT read ALL the posts including your update with your doctor recommending wrists braces AND wearing them when you sleep!! So please forgive me but at least it reiterates what you learned from your doctor. Lol! And that's what my doc said it was too, carpal tunnel (he did all those tests on me too) from all the weights and hand balancing. I do recommend a longer rest/recovery period than your doc recommends at least until you have pretty much no pain in your hands.:
Hi Jengolif! I totally understand. I've had wrist/hand injury in the past ~ too much hand balancing in yoga and then handstanding plus doing weights. And it took me a year to recover because I didn't rest it in the beginning. And it's a sneaky injury because I also didn't feel anything whilst working out. It was also only afterwards when doing other things like as you said holding my iphone, picking up groceries, throwing out the garbage, washing the dishes, typing at my computer, holding the mouse, and after sleeping, etc. BUT it did get worse and I started to finally feel it while doing my weights and vinyasa's in yoga or holding downdog position. These are the things I needed to do in order to heal:
• REST, REST, REST!! I finally had to surrender and back off of everything for a number of weeks for the inflammation to die down and the median nerve from the wrist into the hand not be compressed by the inflammation. For you it may only need a couple of weeks or so.
• When resuming activities when going into plank or downdog I always held it on my forearms like another great poster said. You still get the benefit but no stress in the wrists and hands. Do this modification until your wrist are perfectly fine.
• Wearing Wrist Braces – Mueller Green Wrist braces (
Amazon.com: Mueller Fitted Wrist Brace, Left, Green, Black, Small/Medium: Health & Personal Care When my wrists were in the critical phase I wore them all the time, off and on during the day (it's best to cycle on and off during the day but a must to wear them during anything that irritates the hands). So I always wore them when holding my iphone, washing dishes, groceries etc. I still wear them even now for throwing out garbage or doing heavy shopping at Costco. lol! I also wore them when sleeping. My sports medicine doctor recommended me do so as it protects your wrists from bending inwards which is a very natural position that most people sleep in but puts a constant compression to the median nerve thus exacerbating the inflammation. So during the initial phase of injury I always wore them to bed. It's a MUST for recovery! When my wrists got better I wear my old ones (as they're more flexible) for doing all weights and planks, pushups, etc. and I use my new one's for Costco. Lol! I highly recommend these braces as they have a low profile while still being very stable for the wrists. The only downside to these one's is the straps can wear out fast as they're made with velcro and you'll be wearing them alot in the beginning. But they're SO worth it that I'm willing to purchase more frequently in order to have the best braces for my wrists. I've tried others and there way to big going too far down the forearm, too many buckles and straps, and the metal sticks into your palm too much therefore making it impossible to use for working out when your wrists get better. These have been my saving grace in my recovery AND in my maintenance to continue to go far with my weight training.
• I've tried the WAGS, but for me they weren't a great solution. They may be for you for doing planks once your hands get better but they really didn't make that much difference. What really worked was the Mueller Green wrists braces. If you do get them be sure for working out with them that they get nicely worked in first. Which you should not have problems doing if you use them as prescribed to hold the phone, typing, holding the mouse, washing dishes, etc until the pain and inflammation goes down.
Do NOT try to workout through this as you'll have a MUCH longer recovery period like I did. Especially since you're already feeling the pain doing other things. But the good news is that they did get better! However, I do have to maintain my workouts with my braces now. But that's a non issue for me. Please do what your wonderful husband says and all the other amazing Catheletes here have recommended and back off all upper body, and do your planks on your forearms. And go see a qualified sports medicine doctor for diagnosis and therapy script and I highly recommend the wrist braces which is most likely one of the things your sports doc will recommend.
God bless!
