Carpal Boss

[Gittit Shwartz]

Has anyone here experienced this? It's a bone spur that develops usually between the 2nd and 3rd metacarpals and may fuse them together. It looks like a lump on the back of your hand just above the wrist. Surgery is the only solution I know of if it starts to limit ROM, but it usually grows back to the same size after a while.
I have it in both hands. The effect is, when I stand on my hands, the connected metacarpals can't "fan out" as they're supposed to - so the free ones fan out more to make up for them. Result is pain between metacarpals 1-2 and 4-5.
Anyone?...

[Garrett Smith]

Gittit,
Wish I knew more about it and could help more.

Some things that might help--really (*really*) spread out the fingers in your handstands, and try to put an "even" amount of weight on your second MCP joint (the base of the index finger, there is typically very little weight shared at this spot).

I know Greg E. has told others with wrist issues to manually mobilize the carpal bones, then dunk the hand into an ice water bath (I can't remember the amount of time he said). I do remember that he said it wasn't fun, but effective nonetheless.

Definitely take the advice on today's WOD entry--always decompress the wrist with manual traction before stretching, particularly into extension of the wrist.

Finding a chiro who does extremity manipulation may help as well.

[Gittit Shwartz]

Just edited - I meant the metacarpals, the bones of the palm. The ones that become fused together are the 2nd and 3rd - below the index and middle fingers.

[Gittit Shwartz]

Just an update on this if anyone's interested. I had X-rays and looked at them with my doc. The metacarpals aren't fused together at the base but there is are two bone spurs close against each other, one portruding from the metacarpal and one from the carpal bone, and that is what limits ROM. Here is an illustration. I also have De Quervain's syndrome in the right hand (tendonitis in the wrist below the thumb with some osteoperosis in the head of the ulna there). Doc perscribed physical therapy and ultrasound for the bone.

The good news is that it doesn't bother me very much anymore. I can't let the wrist go much beyong 90 degrees so doing planches with the hands pointing forward is out of the question, but I don't feel like my hand is going to be torn apart every time I put some weight on it anymore. My shoulders used to be so tight that the wrists were forced to compensate for them in handstands. They're so much better now that it's not an issue anymore. It took a couple months layoff from Capoeira/gymnastics and Feldenkrais 4-5 times a week to fix this long standing problem but it was worth it!

[Garrett Smith]

Excellent work. Patience and persistence always pay off.

Keep up whatever you've been doing. Wrist and hand mobility & flexibility training (along with the analogous foot & ankle mobility & flexibility) will be what will keep this away in the long term.

Again, great job with your self-care!

[Gittit Shwartz]

Has anyone ever had ESW (extracorporeal shock wave) therapy on a bone spur? As far as I know it's normally used to break down heel spurs, but I may be able to have it done on my hand/wrist experimentally. Opinions?

[Mike ODonnell]

I had a client long ago with something similiar.....although the details escape me. Lump on the back of her hand at the wrist....she worked with a computer for 10+ hours a day. She did have the surgery....but it came back (mostly because her source of the problem, using a computer all day, never changed).

[Garrett Smith]

Gittit,
You may want to look into Vitamin K and bone resorption through some Googling.