UKC

I have developed quite intense wrist pain, in both wrists. I am aware of the exercises for injuries associated with the wrists and I am actively doing them, but nothing much seems to change.

Anyone have any luck with supplements, chondroitin, cissus or similar?

Check for carpel tunnel syndrome. Does not usually give severe pain but can creep up on you over the years.  

Ive had a week off resting and doing some rehab stuff that a physio/climber friend suggested. I went climbing on Sunday morning in the gym and my wrists are killing me, even putting my hands in my pockets hurts.

Doctors I reckon.

Private sports physio is likely to be a better option, if you can afford it. If your Trust is anything like mine, all the GP is likely to do is give you a physio referral that will take ages to come through. Good luck with it - wrists are bastards. I've been nursing a minor TFCC sprain for the last two months after some over-enthusiastic MTB pushing and I'm still struggling with things like grating cheese or opening a stuck jar!

I'd agree with this. Get a specialist physio appointment, maybe even someone who specialises in climbing injuries if you can find them (you didn't say if your physio friend was a sports/climbing specialist?)

This helped me on the stuck jar front, if it's not clear what's going on there are plenty of more videos showing further detail:

youtube.com/watch?v=RTmb_lqktY0&

6 weeks rest is the only thing that helped mine.  

A week isn't long enough. 

Get checked by the GP.  

You may need splints to wear.  

My problem is less with lack of heft and more with the pain from the twisting action but I'll keep that tip in mind for the times when I am genuinely defeated by a jar lid.

Wrist pain could be lots of things - get checked out by a physio!

Some NHS GPs now have in-house physios, so they can refer you to be seen quicker than via the usual services.

Alternatively, consult a private physio.

I use one of these 

https://www.barnitts.co.uk/products/details/211778.html

Maybe try another physio? Did you get a proper assessment from your physio friend or was it just mate's advice about rehab? I'd be simultaneously asking the GP for and MRI whilst getting a second opinion from another physio if it was me. Doesn't necessarily need to be a physio specialising in climbing injuries to begin with - tennis players are prone to wrist injuries for example. Main thing is to find someone with an interest in arms in general who understands the problem and can advice on recovery properly. 

As stated above, a week can be no time depending the injury. I'm recovering from a TFCC injury myself and I'm four weeks and counting and still not pain-free enough to do basic exercises. Wearing a wrist splint but I still need to avoid loading the wrist, as well as supination/pronation. Hoping I can start exercises soon, although need to be a bit more pain-free with basic movements first. Expecting the whole rehab process to take about 12 weeks. 

Jesus, sounds like a faff! No my mate is an NHS physio and he gave me some rudimentary advice which was probably correct but it wasn't a proper consultation as we were climbing, I will seek another physio asap. 

I just find its odd that its both wrists, I mean you wouldn't sprain both ankles or get an impingement in both shoulders at exactly the same time would you?

Its most annoying, comp season as well

Do you cycle? I got a similar injury when I increased my weekly distance cycled by around tenfold on starting a new job with a cycle commute. They reckoned it was due to vibration coming through the handlebars.

What sort of wrist pain is it? Where on your wrist and what actions trigger it? Might also not even be wrist related specifically, you can get referred pain from issues with your elbows, shoulders and neck. A good physio session can often work through any impingements and tightening all the way through the chain.

Might also be worth thinking about how you sleep. I have a tendency to end up sleeping with my wrists curled in really awkward positions, to the extent that I often sleep in lightweight wrist braces (these - http://www.wellgateproducts.com/Content/Wrist-Products.aspx) if they're feeling particularly aggravated.

Hi it says in the info on your wrist supports primary use is for carpel tunnel syndrome. Not easy to get checked but i had mind done 20 years back when they were driving me around the bend only at night in bed. I had to sleep with my palms against a cold wall to get any relief from the ache.

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Hello, it is right in the middle of the wrist, underside and deep.

Anything open handed is just impossible, slopers - no chance. Cant even hang bodyweight on the easiest beast maker slopers with two hands.

At the beginning of lock down I started training on the finger board and noticed that on the slopers I got a pain in the middle of my palm. Anyway I got bored and eventually stopped doing it.

Still got full crimp strength mind. But the pain on the off chance I open-hand something just isn't worth it.

Just enquired with a physio.

Try taping just below the joint with wide tape. Experiment to find a tightness that helps. I’ve had wrist problems which take at least a year to heal/significantly improve. Taping has kept me climbing to a reasonable standard. 

Yea I've been doing that, seems to help. Although I cant climb at all now, just got the fishing rods back out!

I’m similar. Pain stronger on Left side in Ulnar devotion. I started at a different wall and was doing some hard but structured bouldering. Pretty sure it was the big slopers which I don’t normally do - wrist half flexed and in deviation for finishing lunge. 
Seen a physio. Recommended 6-12 weeks recovery time with no loading of the wrist. 99% sure it’s a TFCC injury. Told to tape the wrist. 
The taping I’ve been doing isn’t as good as the wrist widget that arrived today (yes I can tell in a day). Be careful if you’re taping to get it right. 
if you continue to exercise it can tear with possible surgery. Recommend Google Dr Julian Saunders.  Definitely recommend STOP or it will get worse. Other possible causes are not enough variation in training and not enough soft tissue rolling/massage.

Research paper suggests it could be Carpal bone mobility based and to splint/brace it at night too. 

 

I ordered a Wrist Widget as well, although haven't used it much yet. I get a bit of tendon discomfort from the thin strap passing in front of the ulna head. Maybe the original model with the thicker straps would have lessened the local pressure. A conventional wrist splint feels better at the moment anyway. Maybe the wrist widget will feel more more comfortable in a few weeks time. 

Not sure what exactly I did to injure my wrist. I was having a fairly regular sport day on overhung rock. Not a huge amount of slopers but quite a few big flat holds. I'd been pushing quite hard on jamming cracks in the weeks preceding though, so I wonder if that was the root cause. A lot of big torques through the wrists with beefy hand jamming. Also have Dupuytren's and wonder of the lack of wrist flexibility exposes me to abnormal loading in the wrists generally. Can't find any evidence in literature on this though, for or against. 

Chondroitin supplementation just gives you expensive smelly farts, but each to their own.

The usual caveats about online diagnoses apply, but for self diagnosis you could try some NSAIDS like diclofenac (as cream or tablets). If this helps, the pain is likely caused by inflammation, possibly an overuse / repetitive strain problem like carpal tunnel syndrome (where the sheath in which the tendons run around the wrist gets inflammed and swells up, making movements or tensioning of the tendons painful).

If so, you need a few weeks of rest, and maybe preventative taping once you resume training (a ring of tape around the wrist taking load away from the tendon sheath and spreading load more widely).

Hay Big Lee I'm no expert on this mate but maybe  figure this out on the forum.  I think big flat holds aren't far off slopers - wrist flexed awkwardly putting max pressure through the wrist -  I can remember feeling wrist pain a few months ago doing pull ups on a wide flat beam of wood so that makes sense too but if you were maxing out its going to be a lot worse.  Wrist finally went doing a max test.

It could be due to muscle imbalance if you have been developing quickly (one sided or muscle groups).  My injured side was definitely weaker Fingerboarding.  T4C says to vary grips on the Fingerboard and pinch and I have been only crimping and 3 finger dragging for 2 months (alongside climbing).  Could also be hammer turns although Ive done like 7 or 8 times after FB to stop elbow pain - and it worked - but wrists didn't love it. 

Could also be lack of recovery - I have been getting 7 hrs sleep but still waking up tired and knowing I need more.

Retrospectively obvious reading this.. advance less quickly, increase variety recover more and be more self aware of pain and likelihood of injury on specific climbs (eg. slopers/large flat holds/ wrist flexion) to maintain progress.

Is your wrist getting better with a stronger splint??  Mine is making slow progress.  Ive got worse tendon pain especially at the elbow since the physio massage too.  Don't know why??

If you have less flexible wrists I don't think that will help.  Sorry don't  know anything about Dupuytren's?

If anyone has recovered from this without surgery can you please advise on time taken and wrist splints??

Booked in to see a climbing physio tomorrow evening - will report back. Another physio doesn't reckon its a TFCC injury as I can still climb and crimp really hard. Slopers or anything open handed I can't even hold body weight - go figure.

Im going for overuse and muscular imbalance. 

Dave MacLeod says in 9/10 that you can still crimp but carefully. It’s upto you.  My mates had ulnar wrist pain for 8 months  - he continued training trying to manage it. Upto you but I’d get another opinion if the physio you saw couldn’t diagnose it. Let us know how you get on please. 

Found a good Article by Dr Julian Saunders: A Wristed Development.  He's a climbing physio.

http://drjuliansaunders.com/ask-dr-j-issue-171/

Seen the climbing physio now. Its apparently a tendon issue on the pinky side, not the TFFC thing. I now have a training plan for rehabilitation. He said to carry on climbing, if crimping is fine then continue.

The training is pulling to begin with on the 30deg slopers of the BM2000 as that's all I have and then progressing to feet off with a pulley system, then hopefully back to bodyweight.

Good news best of luck with the rehab. 

More good information on this gymnastic / TFCC website here:

https://gymnasticsinjuries.wordpress.com/tag/tfcc/