ANN/THE STAR – Do you often feel wrist pain or discomfort when you get on all fours, with your hands, knees, and feet on the ground?
If so, there could be several reasons for it. People who engage in sports or have jobs that involve frequent wrist movements, like typing on a keyboard, working on an assembly line, or using power tools, are at a higher risk of developing wrist pain.
The discomfort could also stem from weak wrists, an injury, or health conditions like osteoarthritis or carpal tunnel syndrome.
In most cases, wrist pain is caused by a lack of warm-up or improper form when performing exercises that require wrist support. You would surely have seen people flicking, grabbing or rotating their wrists after or midway through a handstand, plank or push-up.
Remember, the wrist is made up of eight tiny, irregularly-shaped bones (carpals) that join your hand to the two long forearm bones: the radius and ulna.
The three main wrist joints allow you to rotate your hand and bend your wrist forward and backward, as well as side to side.
Although the wrist is not meant to be a weight-bearing joint, it has a significant function in day-to-day activities, which predisposes it to trauma.
So it needs to be strengthened and stretched.
When the wrist is straight, it is in a protected position, but when on all fours, the wrist is in a flexed position and pressure on it increases significantly.
This causes stress to the joints between the carpals and increased tension to the tendons crossing the wrist.
If the pressure is too much to handle, the wrist will protest and pain sets in. However, simple stretching and minor adjustments can minimise or alleviate this pain. Another reason for wrist pain could also be due to hyperextending your elbows (where the elbow extends past 180 degrees when on all fours).
When the elbows lock, the body gains stability in that hinge joint. However, by stacking the bones on top of each other, the force goes through the elbow and continues on to the tiny bones in the wrists.
If you keep your elbows unlocked (but straight), the impact is removed from the wrist, although you have to use more of your shoulder muscles to stabilise the body.
You will probably tire faster, but that’s all right as your shoulder joints and its surrounding muscles can withstand much more impact that your wrist joint.
When you’re on all fours, pay attention to where the weight is on your hands: is it mainly on the heel of your hands, are you gripping your fingers to the floor, or are you cupping your hands?
Ideally, your weight should be evenly distributed on the heel of your hands and palms, with each finger and thumb firmly on the ground.
Your wrists should be placed directly under your shoulders; this will give you a strong base of support.
Warm-ups are crucial before doing any exercise that requires you to be on all fours.
Even if you’re not experiencing wrist pain, you can still incorporate a warm-up that includes stretches and other exercises to help increase flexibility and build strength in the wrists. – Revathi Murugappan
