Fingers for intensive sports requiring hands a lot? Recoving from ulnar claw?

Question

[Update] Thanks to the answer, I acknowledge now that I am heading towards "ulnar nerve entrapment" where one injury is Ulnar claw -- more common with males particularly training in gym with large weights and tennis players. This is due to stronger muscles blocking the ulnar nerve. The Wikipedia picture below at rest resembles the situation.

enter image description here

I have been under intensive training such as CFT, weight-lifting, tennis and climbing which all require a massive amount of effort on hands and fingers. On the morning I can feel that my fingers are not relaxed enough: particularly little finger and ring fingers which get an extra effort in dead-lifting, tennis volleys and tennis servings. This is a problem in tennis where non-relaxation can easily turn into pain due to fast swings.

Helper questions

Which methods to prepare fingers for intensive sports requiring hands a lot?

How to recover from ulnar claw and possible Ulnar nerve entrapment?

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 12 '14 at 02:16

5

First of all, if your fingers are constantly under stress and they are not recovering properly, this can lead to nerve damage in the wrist and elbow which is known as a repetitive stress injury. Much of your 'finger' strength in rock-climbing and tennis is generated by your forearm. So increasing forearm strength will increase the strength of your fingers.

Allow your fingers and arms to recover. You do not want a repetitive stress injury. I had ulnar nerve entrapment due to intense training with professional tennis players. I didn't touch a tennis racquet for one year and I still have slight discomfort in my wrist and elbow.

If you are an amateur tennis player, I do not recommend intense weight training as it will tighten your body significantly. If you are a serious player, you must balance weight training with yoga or a HIIT. I usually box, as this trains hip rotation, speed, and legs.

Also as you must constantly stretch your fingers and forearms in order to prevent tight muscles.

Remember fitness and training is a marathon, not a sprint. Unfortunately, I had to learn this the hard way from intense over-training.

answered Jun 12 '14 at 02:16

Michael

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+1! Awesome! The thing must be "ulnar nerve entrapment" because I am suffering from Ulnar claw. I need to stop all training that can worsen it and switch to sports that can make it better. – hhh Jun 16 '14 at 21:17
You definitely have what I had, I saw the picture you posted. Does your arm or hand fall asleep at night when you are sleeping? I seriously recommend that you start icing your wrist and elbow three or four times a day for 20 minutes each session to relieve the inflammation. You do not want this to worsen, I had it...it was horrible. – Michael Jun 16 '14 at 22:22
Yeah, I did too much heavy lifting and way too much tennis. It happened slowly, I honestly thought it would go away so I continued to train and it became worse and worse. Here is what I recommend. Stop putting any kind of stress on your damaged arm. Don't play tennis, don't lift, don't rock climb...nothing but stretching. Ice your wrist and elbow 4 times a day and wear a BandIt on your forearm 24 hours a day. When I went to the doctor they immediately wanted to do surgery and inject cortisol, don't do it. – Michael Jun 17 '14 at 14:27
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The surgery will damage your wrist even more if done improperly and the cortisol will damage your body. Ice is the only thing the helped me. Ice, Ice, Ice. It took me 1 year before I could play tennis again and I still have problems with the Ulnar and I still constantly ice it. Read more about ways to heal Ulnar nerve entrapment. Don't get depressed, it will take time to heal. Good luck, if you have any more questions just ask me. – Michael Jun 17 '14 at 14:28
Glad I could help, I hope it heals soon. After it heals ease into working out. Use lighter weights and play less tennis until it feels much better. Be patient. Good luck – Michael Jun 24 '14 at 18:45
Is that a Babolat Pure Control? – Michael Jun 24 '14 at 20:33
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I use Babolat Pure Drive Roddick that is the most powerful racket that I have ever played with, http://www.babolat.com/product/tennis/racket/pure-drive-roddick-+-102171. It clearly takes time for the hand muscles to get used to it. I use 2 overgrips with it and have to hold it closer to the hotspot so more control and less stress. – hhh Jun 25 '14 at 00:16
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The original Pure Drive was the best, it didn't have that stupid cortex unit. If you are using a hard poly like Luxilon Big Banger or Babolat Pro Hurricane Tour, consider switching over to a soft-poly for a bit. It won't be as jarring as a hard-poly. I have been using the Babolat Pure Control (now Pure Storm) since 2006, in my opinion that is the best racquet ever made other then the wilson pro staff series. Give it a try, you may like it. – Michael Jun 25 '14 at 00:34
Stupid Cortex unit: you mean you lose too much of the feeling to the racket? My current strings are extremely tight and small width, trying to identify the specs. The Pure Storm Babolat looks more similar to Federer's racket? Any suggestions for the soft-poly? Natural Gut during the recovery? I moved the string q here. – hhh Jun 25 '14 at 23:02
I cannot understand this: hot bath makes my little finger and ring finger less stiff and less painful. Alu mold during nights. And cold only at places that feel painful due to inflamatory (different stiffness). – hhh Jun 26 '14 at 23:46
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Yes, the cortex unit seems to hollow out the feeling of the ball, I personally hate it and IMO they ruined a lot of racquets with that system. Try any soft-poly string or synthetic gut. Technifibre makes a few good soft-polys I believe. The Pure Storm is not as stiff as the pro staff that Fed uses. I had the same issue with my hand and hot water. It is cold because the blood flow is constrained. I couldn't even brush my teeth without my hand falling asleep. – Michael Jun 27 '14 at 15:57
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Buy this and alternate the icing between your wrist and elbow. http://www.amazon.com/Torex-Radial-Medium-Elbow-Ankle/dp/B001E9O4HQ/ref=sr_1_19?ie=UTF8&qid=1403884696&sr=8-19&keywords=ice+sleeve – Michael Jun 27 '14 at 15:58
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Also buy this and wear it all day. It will take the tension off your elbow joint. http://www.amazon.com/Pro-Band-Sports-ABI00-Therapeutic/dp/B000FML7SW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1403884733&sr=8-1&keywords=band+it – Michael Jun 27 '14 at 15:59
The only things that helped me were icing it 5 times a day for 20 minutes, the Bandit and time. Don't take too many Anti-inflammatory pills, they are really bad for your stomach and body in general. – Michael Jun 27 '14 at 16:04
I am starting to feel that my Ulnar claw can have many reasons. Cold feels good treatment only when inflammation and sore muscles. Hot feels good treatment when stiff little finger. Bandit probably good in intensive training, otherwise blocking blood flow and making little finger stiff. Hot then again on hand can result into stiffness on shoulders so cold there help. The aluminium mold with cold during night feels the best option. – hhh Jun 27 '14 at 17:29

score 2 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:46

[May 2016]

Michael asked whether the ulnar claw healed in comment. A short answer is Yes.

Better analysis is that ulnar claw will probably never fully heal, the thing is precaution. You can feel the symptoms of ulnar claws in situations having excessive loss of minerals (nerve damage impairs the transportation of minerals in the arms) such as excessive sauna or tiresome tennis match: crucial thing is to have proper hydration with proper salts to avoid cramps and strain on nerves.

Before symptoms of ulnar claw reoccur, you can stop the activity or change the technique for less intensive.

I attribute the original ulnar claw to things such as bad blood circulation in shoulder and overtraining changing the biomechanics over the torso. Tennis requires asymmetric swings and excessive needs over whole body due to the swings, any imbalance can worse your technique a lot. Things that I have fixed contain armspan and legspan so far-better crossing shots, topspins and less injury-prone in games because the blood flow is not blocked by imbalances over the body. The following threads contain some of my development

where a good diagnosis technique or red alert observation is to acknowledge whether your arm after sleep feels like dead (blood blocked somewhere in the shoulder likely) or other symptoms. They can be triggered by multiple factors such as bad training, bad recovery and bad hydration.

The symptoms of ulnar claw can also be triggered without training such as in stressful situations. Things contain bad posture over excessive amount of time and lack of variety.

My case worked out without any surgery and I have had now no symptoms at least over year, almost forgetting the whole thing. I do carry things such as BandIt and sufficient stretching tools in my training bag and I have developed techniques to alleviate the symptoms. Precaution is the best thing: things such as bruises or painful small bruise-like things with white center in the joints of arms are red alerts.

I hope best of luck to everyone dealing with ulnar claw, it is an opportunity to make you far better in things you enjoy the most :)

[Januaray 2015] long time until symptoms back after intensive sauna and swimming which I attribute to losing minerals and somehow softening the myofascia, softening muscles, nerves and skin and losing minerals at the same time backfiring, awesome relaxation but symptoms getting back such as paresthesia and losing the range of motion in fingers.

[10th November 2014] symptoms back after playing hours piano, treatment techniques here.

[24th June 2014] general doctor order me 2 weeks of rest with anti-inflamatory painkillers

Slow process of diagnosing this: information here is a summary of my treatment and helped by top neurosurgeons, physiotherapists, couches and other professionals. You can read my diary below. We are trying to get me back to games fast.

I am doubtful about this because I cannot see inflammation. I try it and fingers developing some pain after being in the mold 1-2 days.

[26th June] no inflamation whatsoever so my couch instructs me to prepare me to use the hand normally

Stiffness in the little finger and ringer finger and pain in the little finger when trying to put into fist after being a long time in alu mold. Too stiff shoulders: cold in shoulders relaxes the ring finger. Hot in hand relaxes the stiffness in little finger and ring finger.

https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/17996/stiffnesses-cured-by-different-methods-such-as-cold-bath-hot-bath-massage-and

I am feeling totally normal again and sleeping with alumium fold again so the fingers get oxygen during sleeping. Goal is to get better in one week like pros.

28th June

Bandit-style device made my fingers feel stiff. Cold makes my little and ring finger feel stiff. So I got compression socks to hands which increase the blood flow and makes the forearm feel more warm, feels good.

29th June

Having the aluminium mold on during the night can make the extensor digitorum in the little finger darker after night. After relaxing it, the darkness go away and this stiffness get lessened but the spring-feeling stays.

30th June: little finger starting to feel normal after adding exteremely strong compression to forearm

I realised that I can get away with the jumpiness/springiness/stiffiness/powerlessness of the little-finger by pressing tight at certain points of the hand. So I tested a rubber band: the blood-flow gets totally intercepted but the little finger started to work like normal for a while! Wohoo! The colour of my hand changed and oddly my middle finger started to feel odd, I don't know how this can work -- somehow extremely tight compression in the forearm released some tension or something like that and you need to be careful not damaging other fingers.

2th July: BandIt arrived

Rubber band method and BandIt are about the same method but BandIt does not block your blood flow that much, fingers staying white i.e. not getting red/black with BandIt. The coordination of my little finger has returned back due to playing with rubber band and I believe BandIt is the safer method equivalent to rubber band that can be used during any sport.

enter image description here

Misc information

Different Stretching Methods

1st method

<blockquote>
  <p>Push-ups with fingers feel very very good to the fingers, this is because deadlifts with about 90kg require a proper warmup.</p>
</blockquote>

<p><strong>2rd method</strong></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Rise-bowl-scrutching-method suggested <a href="https://fitness.stackexchange.com/a/15722/6066">here</a> warms up the
  whole hand and actually simulates the handles of different sized rackets -- unfortunately the shape of crutching rice and crutching
  handles of rackets are not the same so not specific to the
  ring-finger-little-finger-area.</p>
</blockquote>

<p><strong>3th method: Static stretching</strong></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Stretching like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPO-zST-7EE" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a> but at least 30
  seconds' interval so it takes at least 20 minutes to stretch just one
  hand. Excellent stretching also
  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EE_-UD9fRLo" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a> by a rock climber,
  it feels excellent!</p>
</blockquote>

Different relaxation methods

I. method: resting during rock climbing

<blockquote>
  <p>A rock climber shows <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaT189zC-GI" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a> advanced resting
  techniques for hands. It may be possible to adjust to other sports:
  hands slowly down and then hand up here crutching hand push the fresh
  blood back to the hand.</p>
</blockquote>

Different coordination methods

A. method

<blockquote>
  <p>Powerball is not sufficiently powerful/large to train my fingers on my serving hand. It certainly makes fingers a bit more flexible in
  the
  left but I think the main thing it helps with is coordination, it actives areas of hands which may not be under normal usage during day
  and sporadic spinning requires proper coordination or bad sounding
  noise generated.</p>
</blockquote>

Related Threads and material

How to develop sensitivity of hands and arms?

How to treat tennis elbow

Rehabilitation for Ulnar nerve, awesome stretching movements in the video "Ulnar Nerve Flossing Exercise - Amazing Results - Kinetic Health" here.

I would slow down, you have a nerve injury. It will take longer than a week to recover. Be patient. I was not patient and really damaged my Ulnar nerve. I need to be constantly aware in order not to stress my arm from too much tennis or training. I would hate to see someone else have it as bad as I had it. — Michael, Jun 27 '14 at 16:02
@Nikita yes but alu mold blocks bloodflow: did u use alu mold? It is odd injury: I feel totally healthy and only at extremes such as sleeping, resting and intensive games I can feel it; in intensive games, I cannot hold anything, totally powerless. Ulnar nerve can feel bad due to multiple reasons such as tight muscles, inflammation and poor bloodflow. The mold makes the bloodflow worse so hot water makes it feel so much better. If tight muscles after training, cold makes it feel better. Did you also use mold, hot water treatment, anti-inf painkillers and cold treatment? — hhh, Jun 27 '14 at 16:13
I only used a mold at night, but it didn't help at all. My hand began falling asleep at night and it became very painful. I would have to wake up and try to get blood back into my arm. Seriously, the only thing that helped me were icing many times a day and the BandIt. It took me 14 months to recover and I still have issues with it, but I damaged it pretty bad. In the beginning I thought it would go away soon, but it became worse and worse until I couldn't train anymore. Maybe you don't have it as bad. Many doctors don't understand nerve injuries. — Michael, Jun 27 '14 at 16:21
My doctor didn't know shit and he wanted to immediately do surgery. Don't do surgery, they will damage your nerves even more in my opinion. I am just telling you my experience, it's just my advice. Dude...seriously...be patient, that is my main advice. — Michael, Jun 27 '14 at 16:22
Do you keep the bandit also during the playing?
Is the idea of bandit like any cloth grabbed tightly around the forearm or does the bandit only press at certain points? Why not grap around the whole forearm some tight shirt sleeve to increase blood flow? — hhh, Jun 27 '14 at 16:44
Yes, the Bandit is similar to a cloth wrapped around your forearm, but it is designed to allow blood to flow adequately while eliminating the stress on your elbow. I keep the BandIt on while I lift weights or play tennis. It helped a lot. — Michael, Jun 27 '14 at 21:30
@Nikita I noticed that when I do chin-ups: I feel pain in the palm close to the little finger when the palm is towards my face while the palm other way no such pain to the hand. Did you feel also this pain? Also chin-ups precisely make the point more painful in the forearm that BandIt is supposed to compress -- apparently the BandIt will help here, have to get it, now compressing with a cloth. You use BandIt only during exercises/training and you take it off while not doing exercises/training? If I leave the compression, my fingers particularly little finger become more stiff. — hhh, Jun 28 '14 at 18:03
Yeah, I felt the same pain in my palm. I always used the BandIt when I exercised, but I generally kept it on all day and removed it before I slept. Nerve injuries are kind of weird, I would experience different pains and sensations in my forearm and was not able to pinpoint the exact reason or causes. I just kept my arm straight and did not bend my elbow often in order to prevent pinching the nerve in my elbow. If you can, buy that torex ice sleeve, it is well worth the money and helps. If you buy make sure you get the correct size for your elbow. — Michael, Jun 28 '14 at 19:15
I think I need to get two pieces of BandIt to my both forearms -- my left arm is not as bad but it can get worse in weight-lifting. When I weight-lift, I use tight-shirt and the palm/forearm/tendon can become irritated so that it is very hard to say where the problem -- the nerve problem must be handled before it gets bad. Luckily the BandIt fits both arms. Unfortunately, I can only find Futuro products in Finland -- so taking time to get the BandIt. — hhh, Jun 29 '14 at 00:10
I had to order the BandIt online, but it was well worth the money. If you purchase and use it, tell me how it works for you. Also, do you take supplements? — Michael, Jun 29 '14 at 17:42
@Nikita surprise: BandIt arrived now from Amazon with a courier in two days :)
The BandIt looks to be equivalent to the rubber band method but it does not block the blood flow. The coordination of my little finger improved a lot with the rubber band method and I believe BandIt is going to do the same and it can be used in sports. I tested chinups with palm towards my face and I could not feel any pain with BandIt so hurray powers are back :D — hhh, Jul 02 '14 at 12:57
Hey, sorry I missed your reply about supplements yesterday. I was busy with uni. You should definitely be taking supplements if you are training hard. At the minimum take a multi-vitamin daily. Personally, the supplement that helps me the most with recovery is cod-liver oil, the taste is absolutely horrible, but it helps a lot. The best multi-vitamin to take is made by optimum nutrition called Opi-Men - http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/opt/men.html. That BandIt will help you, wear it often and you'll see an improvement. Just be sure to ice your elbow, wrist or where you feel inflammation. — Michael, Jul 02 '14 at 16:26
@Nikita I only take Whey80 with some Carbo Flex (short carbonhydrates) besides healthy food (vegetables, meat) during the power training. I take BCAA during cardio long-distance running. I once tried supplements but I have a bad habbit of "forgetting", they do not surely taste good. Where do cod-liver oil (omega3) and multi-vitamin help you? Can you feel that they help somehow? Omegas should be taken in certain natural portion like hemp's omegas-profile. I do acknowledge that intensive power training may require some salts in multivitamins but I haven't understood which one, gel good. — hhh, Jul 03 '14 at 00:01
"Where do cod-liver oil (omega3) and multi-vitamin help you?" Personally, cod-liver oil helps me significantly with recovery and mental performance, but, naturally, everyone is different and results will vary. I usually take a teaspoon per day regardless of training. I used to have back pain from serving and would fatigue mentally very quickly in school, but after I began taking cod-liver oil daily my back pain nearly disappeared and I have much more mental endurance. I recommend you try it as it can only help you. I take quite a few other supplements including the multi-vitamin. — Michael, Jul 04 '14 at 15:31
@Nikita fish and omegas helps against inflammation. Continuous inflammation can occur in hands and arms, a factor that can reveal coming syndromas such as ulnar claw and other RSIs. If your syndroma becomes too bad, the number of white cell increases in blood. CRP value also increases during inflammations. I believe good quality oils can resist continuous inflammation to become worse and make you more resistant. Then again non-acknowledged/treated RSI may get worsen. We get all the time damages/inf that proper diet+fats resist. http://osmc.net/services-specialties/hw-view.php?DOCHWID=tu6309 — hhh, Jul 04 '14 at 17:32
How is your arm doing? I've been researching other non-surgical treatments for Ulnar nerve entrapment and came across a few interesting resources related to anti-inflammation supplements. Take a look at these supplements, people have say they help significantly with inflammation. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QSLHIU/ref=ox_sc_act_title_6?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3LD2Y65S6GXYZ — Michael, Jul 06 '14 at 22:25
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00068UC9K/ref=ox_sc_act_title_5?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1QNDSU4PQI1ZB — Michael, Jul 06 '14 at 22:26
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0026HDURA/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3AWJAJ3GRA3O8 — Michael, Jul 06 '14 at 22:26
I also found a sleeve which will prevent you from bending your arm as you sleep. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004QJK8US/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3VAHM5ZUOYCWW — Michael, Jul 06 '14 at 22:27
Hello @Nikita! I did not have ulnar claw for 1-2 month so I started training and found new things such as leukonychia. Minerals help a lot: perhaps they improve the impulse-transmission in nerves and/or inflammatory effect such as Zinc. In tennis, I stress/sweat so loss of minerals. I started heavy forearm-training: here and here. Got cold fingertips on morning now where minerals help, dunno why, idea? — hhh, Sep 14 '14 at 23:07
Just curious, did your nerve damage ever fully recover? I am asking because I still have slight discomfort even years after the injury. — Michael, Mar 21 '16 at 23:48
@Michael Yes I haven't had any symptoms now at least over year, I had no surgery. Once, the symptom reappeared while excessive time in hot sauna and swimming which I attributed to loss of minerals. I can notice parenthesis early so the symptoms do not develop worse. Also I developed my flexibility and technique such as here which has improved my range of motion. I attribute the past ulnar claw to limited blood flow due to shoulder inflexibility, core weakness and bad technique in tennis. — hhh, May 03 '16 at 15:20

Fingers for intensive sports requiring hands a lot? Recoving from ulnar claw?

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