Left hand injured through new found lag?

[dmurfet]

I have hit a lot of practice balls lately so apart from the obvious calluses I have in jured my left hand.

First thing in the morning I cannot make a fist or lift even the water jug to fill the kettle. IT feels like the pain is at the base of thumb in the palm of the hand but moving the thumb independently does not aggravate it, only the making a fist (or holding a club and waggling it around).

Is this overuse, gripping too tight or the beginning of accumulator three extending some previously unused muscles in my hand?

As I play more, the pain goes away, so I'll continue to practice until told not to

 

[holeout]

Be sure that your grip is not too weak. Examine your grip closely to make sure it is not in the palm of your hand and that the pad of your palm below the pinky and ring fingers is on top of the club.

I experimented (stupidly) with a very weak grip about 2 years ago, thinking that I could gain some control or consistency with it. I place the grip almost entirely in the palm, not realizing what I was doing. 6 months after this month long experiment, I found that the pain in my hand was a broken Hook of Hamate bone. This bone resides in the aforementioned pad of your hand and is fractured from hard impacts or, in my case, repeated pressure and vibrations from hitting balls. It is very common for both golf and baseball players to fracture this. Ryan Moore had to have surgery (as I did) to remove the broken part of the bone last year.

Long-winded first post, but whenever I hear about pain in the hand, I relate my story as a warning. Not playing golf for 6 months is not fun!

 

[Jim Kobylinski]

I have hit a lot of practice balls lately so apart from the obvious calluses I have in jured my left hand.

First thing in the morning I cannot make a fist or lift even the water jug to fill the kettle. IT feels like the pain is at the base of thumb in the palm of the hand but moving the thumb independently does not aggravate it, only the making a fist (or holding a club and waggling it around).

Is this overuse, gripping too tight or the beginning of accumulator three extending some previously unused muscles in my hand?

As I play more, the pain goes away, so I'll continue to practice until told not to

FloydPT can you help with this? Sounds like either an improper grip, grip pressure, or something similar.

 

[dmurfet]

It may well be grip pressure - my grips are getting shiney and when my hand sweats when I hit a lot of balls I'm concious that I am often gripping too tightly just to keep hold of the club. This should be addressed shortly - I pick up my new clubs tonight!

I do not have a weak grip so I am hoping that I have not fractured anything.

Internet search suggests rest, no beer or coffee.......that's 95% of my life gone though!

 

[dmurfet]

Someone here just suggested an early onset of arthritis too!

 

[Bigwill]

I have hit a lot of practice balls lately so apart from the obvious calluses I have in jured my left hand.

First thing in the morning I cannot make a fist or lift even the water jug to fill the kettle. IT feels like the pain is at the base of thumb in the palm of the hand but moving the thumb independently does not aggravate it, only the making a fist (or holding a club and waggling it around).

Is this overuse, gripping too tight or the beginning of accumulator three extending some previously unused muscles in my hand?

As I play more, the pain goes away, so I'll continue to practice until told not to

the fact that the pain is worse in the morning and goes away with increased activity sounds like soft tissue, as opposed to a bone issue. Heck, it may just be muscle soreness. But at any rate, it sounds like you need RICE, and you may need to also see a doctor.

 

[FloydPT38]

Since there wasn't a specific injury - like one swing - bam - and it feels better with use or warmup - this is usually a good sign- as you suggested probably from overuse-

1st - I would try to gently massage at the base of your thumb- while your thumb is relaxed start-- then while massaging completely open your grip-
If it's sore that's still OK just do it 2-4 times a day not hard but gentle.

It could be some arthritis but so what- still work on massaging it-if there is no pain then go ahead and play but probably cut back a bit

Find a way to work on strengthening your grip - many ways -but you want to find a way that is hard enough (as your club will be swinging at 100 mph +/- a few mph) but a way that doesn't irritate the thumb

If it gets worse or just doesn't get better then I'd go ahead and see your Doc but I'm betting for it getting better on it's own. or....

a specific someone I could recommend would be Andrew Martin, D.C. (in London) - Never met him but he has the same training as me for a specific technique (ART). It would be analogous to Brian recommending another top level TGM instructor.

anyway his website is http://www.activereleaseuk.com/

Good luck,
George

 

[FloydPT38]

Update

I work with 2 CHT's (Certified hand therapists)

Ran it by them - they said it did sound like an irritation of some arthritis.

Do the stuff at home massaging - maybe some anti-inflammatories- not overdoing it -too much golf

The next step would be a thumb splint/brace (hand based thumb spica splint) that you would wear at night - still able to do what you want during the day but again not overdoing it.

If it was still sore then bad news good new.- bad news- possible surgery for it- good news both of them say it has excellent results- people feel great afterwards.

Hope this helps
CG

 

[dmurfet]

massaging has definitely made an improvement - I hit some balls this evening - see how I am tomorrow - hopefully more balls tomorrow