Forearms "splints"
- Thread starter Nethernik
- Start date
Fausto
HST Expert
Nethernick
I have had this happening to me also.
Kate maybe the best person to answer you on this, to me it hit me worst whilst doing preacher curls and specially with the straight bar
You may want to try out a few different exercises for arms, if you do forearm work, now you should give it a break
Watch out for taking the AINS pills/caps for too long they are not that kind to the stomach and I believe interfere with protein utilisation, I'd rather use a good rubbing ointment and maybe some infrared treatment
Anyway hope this helps and if not maybe Kate will help a liitle more.
Ciao
Fausto
I have had this happening to me also.
Kate maybe the best person to answer you on this, to me it hit me worst whilst doing preacher curls and specially with the straight bar
You may want to try out a few different exercises for arms, if you do forearm work, now you should give it a break
Watch out for taking the AINS pills/caps for too long they are not that kind to the stomach and I believe interfere with protein utilisation, I'd rather use a good rubbing ointment and maybe some infrared treatment
Anyway hope this helps and if not maybe Kate will help a liitle more.
Ciao
Fausto
In general then: this type of injury is often caused by a series of minor traumas to the soft tissue, perhaps as a result of overuse, strain, improper movement patterns or previous acute injury. In response to these insults, the area becomes inflamed and swollen with fluids (edema). If proper motion and fluid flow are not restored to the area, it becomes hypoxic (short on oxygen) and the body begins to send scar tissue forming fybroblasts in order to support the healing process.
The adjoining muscles, which optimally glide over each other begin to get "stuck" together. Now as you attempt to use muscle, its neighbor get drags along. You will need to use a greater percentage of maximum force in order to produce the same motion. You will also be creating more trauma, and hence more edema, less oxygen and more scarring.
Nerve bundles and blood vessels pass through muscles, optimally gliding through the tissue as the muscle is contracted or released. Some of the scarring that takes place as the muscle becomes more and more fibrotic, will be in those places a nerve or vessel passes through. Once that structure gets "stuck", smaller portions will be forced to stretch longer distances possibly twanging that nerve like a guitar string and/or reducing flow through the blood vessel.
Now you've got a classic case of Cumulative Trauma Disorder.
I recommend you make an appointment with an Active Release Therapist, if you are able. He or she has special training in "unsticking" soft tissue.
In the meanwhile, some questions for you Nethernik:
1. Have you had pain or injury in your neck or shoulder on the left side?
2. Have you had these splints or similar pain before?
3. Does anything make them feel better? worse?
4. Do they feel better in the morning or better at night?
5. Do you feel them during or immediately after any particular lifts?
6. Is there anything you do at work that irritates this area?
Self massage may help, as will the judicious use of anti-inflammatories. Rest is a good idea for now... you definitely don't want to do what hurts.
Give me a little more background and I'll see if I have any more specific advice for you.
Happy healing!
Kate
I had this same thing happen to me about 4 years ago...I too noticed it on preacher curls. After some time to recover I realized that perhaps my forearms weren't strong enough to handle the weight I was using to curl. So I started doing forearm curls and reverse curls to strengthen my forearms. Since then I have had no further issues. Although I don't do preacher curls anymore, I do use an armblaster and that tends to work extremelly well to keep my form true. Anyway, just my two cents! Good luck!
Geno
Geno