14 April 2008

On the mat

Tuesday 15th April 2008

A left wrist problem arose at the start of practice this morning and quickly worsened during the Surya Namaskars. By the 3rd B I couldn’t put enough weight on it to push into Upward Dog Pose because a sharp pain was warning that something was wrong. The standing poses were unaffected except the vinyasa between Ardha Baddha Padmottanasana and Utkatasana. Preparation for Handstand showed that kicking up would be out of the question too.

Strangely I had no problem with the weight bearing on my wrist in Purvottanasana or Urdhva Dhanurasana which must have a different weight bearing angle. Maybe it has something to do with my elbow/shoulder action in the push up to Upward Dog. I'd played with moving the weight to the inside wrist to alleviate the pressure on the outer wrist but it didn’t help much so to avoid making it worse, I cut out all vinyasas from the seated poses and inserted
Purvottanasana in between poses to get the counter backbending effect.

So practice was a modified Primary today, but still a thoroughly enjoyable 2 hours. Without the vinyasas to link the poses into a continous flow I had to keep my ujjiya breath strong and even to give the practice the required intensity and keep it rolling along. Easy to fall off the tracks halfway through if the energy and strong intention wither away.

When comparing my two wrists after practice I noticed a rather prominent mound on the outside of the left wrist, protruding from underneath the ulnar styloid (the knobbly bit at the bottom end of the ulna – identified as ‘b’ in the image). The lump is about 1cm diameter and slightly tender so it could be a small cyst. I suppose I should get it x-rayed but a trip to the doctor for me is like being forced to swallow poison.

6 comments:

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alfia said...

Hi!
I had cysts on both of my wrists when I started yoga. I could not do a table pose, down dog or even use a puncher for the holes in paper. I had a surgery done on my left wrist, which was painful and left me incapacitated for some tim. I continued my "gentle " yoga and the right wrist healed all by itself. If I knew this would happen, I would never go ahead with the surgery.

alfia said...

Feel better soon!

nobodhi said...

Thanks for your advice Alfia.
I think most of us underestimate our body's capacity to heal itself. Instead, our impatience leads us to choose the 'quick fix' offered by western medicine. But Since my son's traumatic experience with the medical profession last year, I've become completely distrustful of all medical practitioners. I have NEVER found a good doctor who really listens, and cares enough to weigh up all the symptoms holistically then prescribe what is needed to assist the body to heal itself! To me, western medicine does more harm than good by viewing human beings as body parts instead of multidimensional human beings whose energetic and emotional states manifest their physical bodies.
But having said all that, I really should bite my tongue and get my wrist checked out so at least I know what is going on in there.
:<

Anonymous said...

it could be hyperextension. putting weight on the wrists when they are hyperextended will usually lead to injury. It seems like hyperextension because it did not bother you in purvottanasana, a pose in which it is less like that you will hyperextend during weight bearing.

nobodhi said...

Thanks Laksmi, the doctor looked at it for approximately one second, gave it a quick press and said it was a ganglion, best to leave it alone and live with it.
I should have asked him what to do with Upward Dog Pose for the rest of my life.