Can I Exercise with an Injured Wrist?

If you're passionate about your body's health but you've sustained an injury to the wrist, this can feel like a major blow to not only your physical health but also your mental wellbeing. After all your hard work and training, the prospect of being out of play until your wrist heals can be difficult to deal with. But all hope is not lost; it's possible that you can continue exercising so long as you do it sensibly!

Can I Exercise with an Injured Wrist?

The answer to this question depends on how severe your injury is; if you're in debilitating pain, exercise might not be the best option for you. However, if you're on the road to recovery from a relatively minor injury like a sprain or strain, exercising with the correct support can actually help you recover.

Wear a Wrist Support

The most common piece of advice for treating most minor injuries is to follow the PRICE method:

1. Protection: use a support to protect the area from further harm.
2. Rest: avoid exercising the affected wrist.
3. Ice: apply an ice pack to the area on and off for 20 minutes at a time.
4. Compression: apply pressure to the wrist to reduce swelling.
5. Elevation: whenever possible, keep your injured wrist above the level of your heart.

As you can see, two of the five tips for recovery relate to wearing a wrist support for protecting and compressing the area. We have a range of different braces that can be used during sports. Wearing a wrist brace provides targeted stability and rest so you don't have to spend all your days moping around at home.

Exercising Helps Improve Your Mood

With a wrist support, you can usually maintain your level of fitness while you're injured. There are plenty of exercises you can do with one hand, such as single-arm overhead presses, squats, running, and many more. Although you might not normally perform these exercises, they'll help keep you fit while you recover and the change might even make you exercise muscles you've never exercised before.

If you live an active lifestyle, sustaining a sports injury and being out of play can cause depression and irritability. But continuing to exercise while you have an injury, can actually make you feel better about your injury as exercise releases those happy chemicals called endorphins so you feel more positive. Endorphins also make you feel less pain, which is perfect when you've been injured.

Add Wrist-Strengthening Exercises to Your Routine

When you've immobilised your wrist in a brace for a long period of time, this can cause weakness in the area. As such, it's important that you add wrist-strengthening exercises to your routine to get your wrist back to where it was. When your doctor says you're ready, slowly add hand exercises into your routine. Take a look at which hand exercising aids can help speed up your recovery!

When your doctor gives you the all clear, gradually increase the exercises you perform with your previously injured wrist. Going all out suddenly can quickly lead to re-injury, so it's best to work your way up slowly. Enjoy your newfound freedom! Continuing to wear a wrist support can help reduce your likelihood of getting injured again by protecting and supporting the wrist.

Please note: you should always seek medical attention and advice if you've been badly injured prior to getting back to exercise.

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