Hi Scott and ofc everybody,

During volley-ball about 5/6 years ago I damaged  tendon and capsule (or whatever it is) on my left hand. Where my thumb was basically stretched way too much backwards then possible / then healthy for your body (I think this could be called Gamekeeper’s Thumb but not sure). Sometimes this can cause pain during my normal life. I want to stay positieve, but .. I do suffer from more pain and problems when I try to work out (ony my thumb of my left hand), which get more pressure during weight lifting. I hope you understand my situtation.

I really would go again for 200% gaining more muscles in my upper part of my body, you known arm and chest (I do sport alot with inline skates, so cardio and my legs are fine actually).
However again, my hand is my issue, blocking me to continue and proceed further with my trainings. Since I found out weight execises together with other execises will help a lot to gain more muscles in my arm region (=biceps,triceps, shoulders, neck, ..).

So finally, my question to you would be: how can I sport, 'weight lifting' (currently mainly at home due to my Tinittus, way too lound music in te gyms) to gain muscles while not having (too much)  pressure in my hand palm.

Thanks for thinking along and hopefully helping me out!

Kind regards,

Melroy van den Berg

Hey Melroy. Sorry to hear about your injury man. Guess it was like hyper-extension of the thumb? Not good!

Have you looked into getting some kid of support brace for your hand to keep everything in your thumb tight while you're training? That might help. I know someone who had a broken thumb and they used the same thing when it was still a bit sore to ease some of the pain while lifting.

You should be able to get one at a local pharmacy or even if you just search online you should find something. Look for a 'Thumb Support Brace' or something similar.

Hi Scott. Yea this was a hyper-extension of the thumb: MCP joint.

I think that is indeed a good idea to use such a brance for lifting. Thanks I will try that! PSB braces looks like a good brand available within my country.

Let's say this will still not be sufficient enough, are there any other alternatives? I was thinking something around my wrist, but that is more a guess (I don't know how well that would work)..

EDIT: Thanks for your fast reply and support.

There are also wrist/thumb wraps - similar to knee wraps - that can be used to stabilize/immobilize the thumb joint somewhat so as to reduce pain when lifting.

It is actually good to try to keep the joint mobile and active. You probably have quite a bit of scar tissue on the tendon and its capsule making it less flexible and more painful to move. Over time of carefully moving and using the joint, the scar tissue should break down and you should have less pain and more flexibility.

John

Great response from John! Most of the thumb braces you can get will actually have some wrist support as well. And when I say brace, I don't mean one that will keep your thumb from moving. Like John said, it will be similar to a knee wrap in that it will keep the area tight and supported while still allowing you to move it.