I have slow-healing/chronic injuries to both wrists and an ankle. Prior to my wrist injuries, I had been working to do some yoga to try to establish something resembling a routine but, that’s not possible to continue any time soon.
Nearly every site that I’ve found has advice on exercises to do if an arm OR a leg OR one’s back is injured but none that I’ve found so far address multiple injuries.
Right now, the only things coming to my mind are:
- crunches
- forearm planks
- bicycle kicks
Anyone have any suggestions for others or resources to dig into?
Update: Thank you all for the advice. To be clear, I have already seen specialists and am waiting on an appointment with a hand and wrist specialist. Just impatient when the slow rate of healing and the timing of the wrist injuries.
I like doing chair yoga when I’m having severe flare ups! There’s some good youtube videos on it, and it’s safe for ankles and wrists!
You want to know things before meeting the therapist. Maybe read a few things like this:
https://www.physio-pedia.com/Rehabilitation_in_Sport
But ofc I agree with the others: listen to what your therapist recommends.
Are you able to swim? Braces necessary?
I’d second swimming or in general doing stuff in water. The difficult part will be to find a place to do that which can accommodate your particular needs, i.e. if you don’t wanna actually swim, does the pool have area for that, is it not full of kids (not just kids) who won’t pay any attention to you and potentially hurt you while playing
Braces, yup. Fortunately they are waterproof so, might be an option.
Like others have said. If you have injuries or body irregularities go to a medical professional. Do not trust some yahoo on the internet.
I do think you should consult with a physical therapist. That said, I think machines are going to help you a lot.
With inured wrists you could do a lot with a cable machine and a wrist attachment. You could use a pec dec machine and your forearms to work your chest.
For legs you could try leg curls and leg extensions if you can lift far enough away from your ankle.
Basically any movement or prolonged pose becomes it’s own exercise.
“wall sit” might not be good for the ankle.
What you can do for your back, are exercises laying on your stomach, and then lifting and moving arms and legs. Up and down, can slow or faster, just holding them up isn’t easy either. You’ll figure out which poses tire and train which muscles. If you do it straight it’s more for those along your spin, if you spread your arms it’s more for the shoulders.
Side leg raises are probably another idea that shouldn’t put strain on your injuries.
The rest kind of depends how much you can even just stand. Maybe something involving Therabands?
Look into AthleanX. The guy who made it was a physical therapist for a MLB team, and everything in it is basically straight out of the PT manual.
Start with very low weight, and only move up when you can do 4 sets of 25 reps without any fatigue.
I don’t regard AthleanX as a good source of information. He made a name for himself creating fake things to worry about and none of his programs help people reach a definable goal.
Swimming? You don’t have to swim fast to have good energy expenditure
From top of my head, you can add superman, side plank, bridge, fire hydrant, donkey kick. Maybe you can attach weights to your forearms too for the arm muscles.
Go to physical therapy if your insurance covers it or you can afford it. They’re not omniscient but they do have some training and experience treating this stuff.
This really is something you should discuss with a professional physical therapist. You can do a lot of damage when doing the wrong excercises too early
I was at the Mayo Hospital’s own chronic pain rehabilitation clinic, and have all the PT exercises they had their patients all do if interested.
I would indeed be interested. I have a few from my orthopedic doctor but they’re a bit limited.
i was a personal trainer for a bit and honestly if you were my client id ask you to go get guidelines from a physical therapist first. swimming and light calisthenics should be fine, but listen to your body first and do not push it/make it hurt
Catch
both wrists
Just go for it bro /s
Moms spaghetti
This is when you bite the bullet and talk to a trained professional.
Currently waiting on the appointment. Just impatient.
Last month, I had a shoulder replaced that I injured in March. Seven months to get the surgery, another month before PT could start.
Waiting while in pain is brutal, but this is not a DIY project.
Not to mention, if this affects multiple limbs, there’s a very real possibility you could e.g., fall while exercising and dramatically worsen the situation.
Do yourself a favor and wait.
There’s a good chance you could make your condition worse.
