Pain from elbow to fingertips - that's what we're talking about today, folks.

Repetitive typing, overuse injuries in the shop, and even that small lean onto your left hand you've made into a habit can attribute to debilitating lower arm pain over time.

That is, it can lead to debilitating pain if not prevented, or dealt with.

Preventing wrist pain from typing, or preventing elbow pain while working in the shop is a function of conditioning against the movements done in repetition. Those obvious movements like:

• Lifting equipment and materials off the floor in the shop

• Carrying geotechnical equipment around the job sight

• Typing away at the desk

Those are easy to identify and therefore easy to target and condition for. Strengthen the muscles needed to lift, strengthen the grip, work the reverse of those muscles to insulate against pain and repetitive stress injury. That’s all mostly standard procedure.

But how do we specifically target for movements that we might not be as certain are the cause of pain? Movements like:

• That slight lean on the desk or workbench where you favour your left arm over your right

• The fact that you instinctively only carry equipment with your dominant hand

• The imbalanced movements of gripping a mouse all day with only the one hand

• etc.

How can we condition for all the little repetitive movements… if we don’t even realize those little movements are a problem?!

Ground-Up Approach

I personally believe that conditioning the body for highly specific movements is a slippery slope.

For example, if I know my wrists are an issue, and so I work my wrists to become in dominatable forces of muscle and connective tissue, effectively bulletproofing my wrists against anything I could ever throw at them, but I never worked my elbows or shoulders to the same degree… Well, now I’m likely to use my wrist more, causing some elbow pain.

It’s a frustrating game that I’ve struggled with personally with my knees and ankles… Strengthen the quads and knees, but then the ankles suffer.
Strengthen the calves and ankles, but then the knees suffer.

Not until I started working from the Ground-Up, earning the ability to work the quads only once everything below had been effectively been targeted; only working on my back/core once everything below the belt has been targeted; and only working on my upper body after the lower body/core has been targeted.

This approach works for the specifics of elbow to finger pain also.
Only working on the elbow once the shoulder’s been targeted;
Only working on the wrist once the elbow’s been targeted;
Only working the hand once the wrist… You get the point.

So what's the cure? How do you reverse for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and chronic wrist pain?

If you ask your doctor, they'll tell you:

"Wear this brace, but if it gets any worse, we'll have to consider surgery"

Surgery.

But if you ask me, there is very good reason to believe that surgery is not in your best interest.

Targeted exercises with a Ground-Up approach, working through maximum range and developing important mobility adaptation is the secret to healthy joints; elbows, wrists, and fingers not withstanding.

Leave the surgery for an actual injury. If you’re dealing with pain and built-up immobility from repetitive use, then avoid surgery like the plague.

How to Get Started

Guidance is important here.

If you’re noticing wrist and elbow pain at work, it’s important to address that problem sooner than later. Built up immobility leads to a tonne of nerve and bloodflow problems in the wrist.

The wrist is highway of ligaments, muscles, nerves, and blood vessels. If there’s pain, any at all, in that area, it’s your body telling you something is wrong. And that can get worse, real fast.

I’m here to help. Reach out via my Linked-In Profile (https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-valiquette-0a4894300/)
Or book a free call where I’m more than happy to lend my expertise and get you clear on your path forward.
https://calendly.com/dynamicfreedomfitness/quick-call-w-parkour-steve

Whether we work together or not, I will help you understand your situation, and guide you to pain-free ability. Even with just a few snippets from my Pain-Free Protocol™ you can help turn back the tides of wrist immobility, chronic pain, and carpal tunnel.

Don’t hesitate to reach out. I help engineers because it’s my job. But more than that, I help people because it’s my passion.

Coach Steve