Flexor Carpi Ulnaris - Why You Feel Pain & How To Stretch The FCU Muscle 

Thank you so much !!

That's so nice to hear!

You're very welcome, dear 😊 I'm glad if it could help!!

I have a long history with drummers, Mario... check out this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-1qpxnFaL4hc.html ! I have watched your videos, and you have a good spine posture when you sit. However, there are 3 things that you could check so that you feel better when playing - I just don't want to display them to everybody without having been invited to do so. If you like, send me a mail to ogirard@trainyourposture.com and I'll put them in a mail.

you're very welcome!

Do the pushups on the fists 😉... no wrist extension, no pain!

@@OlivierGirard Thanks for the reply! I was thinking of gripping dumbells doing pushups but fists could be better! :)

Thank YOU!!

Thanks for the feedback, I'm glad to read this!

do u still have this pai?

@@soheal3674 Nope it went away! I like to perform the stretch before training just so everything feels right:)

@@Puss1man awesome to hear mate, I'm a gamer and I got this pain. Will try it out

Thanks for comment :-) !! What kind of sport do you do?

@@OlivierGirard Bodybuilding 😅 But now i can't do it anymore.. i didn't for like six months and lost a lot of muscle. My biggest Problem is my flexor carpi ulnaris in the inside of my ellbow. I can't fix it just by Stretching and resting..

@@scarlageHD Tsss, bodybuilders :-) !! There's an exercise that could help you for decompressing the ulnar nerve in the elbow, but it's a bit of a tricky one... I don't want to publish it, because some people could do it wrongly and hurt themselves. If you use Facebook, can you look for me and send me a message? I'll make a private video for you.

@@scarlageHD hey I have the exact same problem as you. Did yours get better?

@@OlivierGirard hey I have a same problem as him. Can you also send me the video?

Just add some keyboard shortcuts and you'll get over it completely: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-0AL8teHZros.html 😊

Hey Santiago! Many thanks for the feedback. Basically, the process I follow is always the same: 1) identify the tissues that cause the pain 2) use pathomechanics to determine what puts "oil on the fire" 3) remove the sources of oil by following this 4-steps method: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-VtW9QEQ1VKE.html 4) speed up the recovery process using specific exercises, such as the stretches that I showed. In your case, I recognize the movement of tightening a screw with a manual screwdriver. I've seen this in dad's after a week-end of building the furniture for their newborn :-) Removing oil on the fire is then e.g., buy an electric screwdriver. So go and look for all your activities in which there is either supination or wrist flexion or both, and watch the other video to understand how you should think to identify the solutions :-) Does this make sense?

Hi dear, First of all, I'm sorry that this stretch caused pain. I'd advise that you don't follow any online recommendation that creates pain. You know, giving advice at a distance is always about weighing the pros and the cons: - the pros are about giving people tools and knowledge that they would otherwise not have; - the cons are that some people could have more pain. There's no magic bullet I'm afraid... I try to give very conservative advice, i.e. I keep for individual consultations advice that is more tricky to implement. Now, regarding your own situation... indeed, I think it would be wise to check your chest muscles, and it could be worth having a chat by cam. But what I'm gonna write here may be relevant to others so let's have one more round in writing 😃. As I mentioned, this pain can be the consequence of other muscles: - pectoralis minor: www.triggerpoints.net/muscle/pectoralis-minimus (which is very much involved in round-shouldered posture) - latissimus dorsi: www.triggerpoints.net/muscle/latissimus-dorsi - serratus posterior superior: www.triggerpoints.net/muscle/serratus-posterior-superior. Could you please have a look at these 3 pain patterns and tell me if you recognize any of them (either here or through my website: www.trainyourposture.com/contact1.html) . Don't force it: either you directly recognize, or you don't. Let me know!!

Hey Mikayla! There is a free database of myofascial pain patterns here: www.triggerpoints.net/forearm-hand-pain. If you click on the different regions you'll find pain patterns for each muscle: do you recognize any of them?

Hey dear... my first reaction would be to see how we can transfer your weight somewhere else than on your elbows: if I understand well, you lean on your forearms to relax your shoulders. The risk is indeed that you actually rest your weight on the neck / shoulder area, thereby creating pressure in the elbow + worsening your shoulder condition. This is what I explain here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-uZqVPBeOhzA.html (same story if it's armrests or "deskrests"). If you like, you could send me a picture of your workplace and let me publicly assess it (cf. my latest post in the community tab)...

Thanks for an excellent question, mate! I find it so relevant that I have created a new video to answer: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-2Ww_sWDz41A.html. Check it out and let me know if it helps!!

Wow, didn't expect a whole video for my question. THANK YOU!!

@@BoBch97 It's a pleasure, mate! I hope it helps!!

I often say: if you need to do it more than twice a day, there's probably something to fix in terms of posture, ergonomics or organization (i.e. frequency of the breaks)

Hi Saurav! You can't imagine how many patients I have due to fitness rooms... I really have mixed feelings on what's happening there often, to say the least :-) But your ideas are great, especially the shin splint!! I'll work on it: subscribe to the channel (if not already done) and you'll see them when they're ready!

Hi dear, thank you for the message! My experience is that when pain does not disappear, there are 2 possibilities: - either the area targeted by the treatment was the wrong one (with referred pain, it's sometimes a bit tricky to know exactly which tissue creates pain where) - or there are perpetuating factors that keep feeding the pain. There, the concept is that muscle act in a key-satellite relationship: trigger point in X creates trigger point in Y creates trigger point in Z. If you fix Z without fixing X and Y, it keeps coming back. I think that we could have a video chat indeed. Can I suggest that you send me a mail (ogirard@trainyourposture.com) and I'll share the link of my calendar with you?

I have this problem right now. Are you better?

@@littlekitten1217I have the problem now, are you better?😂

Yep... do you ever happen to rest on your elbow?

Hey Jerome... can you check out the pain patterns on this website: www.triggerpoints.net/forearm-hand-pain ? Locate the region in which you feel the pain, and review all the muscles that appear in the list of potential suspects. If there is one that I miss in my playlists, I could produce content as I have done for other viewers before!

@@OlivierGirard thank doc I'll check it right now cheers

3 times a day should be enough... if not, I would see a physio and work on the playing technique. Is your racket grip big enough?

@@OlivierGirard I believe it is , yes. I felt it initially 3 months ago before we went into lockdown and had 3 months without playing thinking that what ever I had healed. Then after a few sessions that pain came back. Maybe it’s something in the technique but in the past this never happened. I now stopped playing because it was getting worse . Started doing these stretches yesterday, how long do you reckon if it doesn’t get better I should go and see a physio? Thanks a lot for taking your time to answer the comments , I really appreciate it.

In my opinion and experience, when treatment does not work there are 2 potential reasons: - either the diagnosis is wrong, hence treatment misses the target, - or you keep putting oil on the fire throughout your daily activities. Hence, more exercises is unlikely to resolve the issue, but suppose that the diagnosis is good. The idea is to look for perpetuation factors: what's your occupation?

Hello! To see how your body reacts, see if you feel the same pain when you reduce the weight (the weight limit is not always where you expect it to be!) or increase the diameter of the barbell (e.g. with a cloth you wrap around it). For push ups, train on your fists.

Hey mate! You raise a good point indeed!! With referred pain, it's bloody difficult sometimes to know which exact pain you feel... many people find this website useful: www.triggerpoints.net/ (it's actually the electronic version of the Trigger Point Manual). Use the map to locate the pain you feel, see the different pain patterns the site offers and check if you recognize any. Now, it we consider that the pain is in the flexor carpi ulnaris... I'd love to be able to give you an answer on when it goes away. But as we are talking about cumulative pain, it's extremely multi-factorial and no serious specialist can predict that without knowing more about your life, what you do as a job, how you train, etc. And still, there's a big margin. I have had patients who got rid of their pain within weeks because they changed everything, and for some others it took much longer. To be honest with you, I always tell my patients that we have to focus on 3 things: how often they feel pain, how intense it is, how quickly it fades away. If one or more of these 3 gets better, the situation is improving. Time will tell when things are resolved (or resolved enough to live a function-full life). Reg. ice... generally speaking, ice is used to deal with inflammation. Not always, but mostly (some spray and stretch techniques use cold to increase the effectiveness of the stretch, but that's quite specific). If a muscle is contracted, heat is the first modality we try. And if it does not work, then we try the other. So you see, there's general guidance and there's adaptation... a lot of it is trial and error. But honestly, I think that the core of your issue is how you train: there's something you're not doing correctly at the gym. Dealing with the symptoms is secondary, what's most important is to understand what you do wrongly, and to fix it. Makes sense, man?

@@OlivierGirard Makes perfect sense! I agree there's definitely something wrong with the way I am training. I think when I am doing pressing movements such as bench press, my wrists at a bit of an angle and are not perpendicular with the weight which in turn puts a lot of stress on my wrist and forearm. I've found that using ice is not really helpful and really all I can do is just rest my left arm and using different stretching techniques to really target the muscle. Since my last comment about a week ago, I can sense that it is starting to feel better and the pain is starting to ease up. I estimate that in another week or two I'll be back to somewhat normal and be able to train using my left arm. At least this gives me some time to focus on training legs lol. Appreciate the response doc and stay safe!

@@ameeromari642 Hi there. I have had this pain for quite a while now and I’m in the same position as you, regarding the weight lifting that is. I read your comment which you mentioned trying different stretching techniques in which have worked for you, I wanted to ask if your happy to leave a couple links or even just a reply to what you could recommend as I really want to get back to lifting ahah! Cheers.

@@OlivierGirard thank you for this website and your videos, these are gold! I am experiencing pain in this location. I will try this out.

@@ameeromari642 For anyone else reading this and relating, the key is to take a slightly wider grip and don't bring the bar all the way down to your chest

You need to see a doctor, dear. The first reaction after a shock should be to put cold, 3 times a day for 10 min, for 3 days. But if certain movements are painful or things don't improve, go straight to your doctor...

Waiter is a tricky job. If it's the bone itself, you should make sure that the tray does not rest on the bone (e.g., you can wear something on your wrist or cover the underside of the tray with a softer material): pressure from a hard surface on another hard surface isn't good. If it's related to the muscle (and it can be both the muscle and the bone, btw!), I would be careful with the position that many waiters have when the carry the trays above the head of the clients, on one hand: the wrist is flexed backwards, and that can cause serious pain. Try and work with the tray at belly button level, and the wrist straight. Does this make sense?

Damn me to did you throw a hook? Depressing cause I was barely starting at home. over before it started hurts to turn. when palm up and push down on the hand or try to carry something super heavy

Yea it was a left hook for me. When I first messed it up I couldn’t turn my wrist over. Went to the doctors finally and they said it was my tfcc that got damaged. I had to get corticoid shot in my wrist to reduce inflammation. Best to go see your doctor. I left it for too long untreated and I’m still recovering rn. But I’m able to train Just cant throw as hard or as often with my left. Search up tfcc brace it helped me stabilize my wrist hopefully it will help yours too

@@trevortrinh2534 crazy man exactly what happened same punch same hand same symptoms nice hearing your experience hope we both recover well

🤣🤣

Check if you can recognise a pattern here by exploring the different regions: www.triggerpoints.net/forearm-hand-pain

Indeed, the referred pain is rather in the ulnar side of the wrist. But other muscles can cause pain in this area, such as Latissimus dorsi, Pectoralis major, Pectoralis minor, Serratus posterior superior. You can see all the pain patterns here: www.triggerpoints.net/. This website is really well built... it's like the Trigger Point Manual, in electronic version.

This is the 1'000'000 question, dear: it really depends. The main factor is: how good are you at removing the perpetuation factors from your daily activities?

Yep, that's a classical one...

Yep... programming is often heavy on the forearms... try this exercise once per hour: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-yxIkf36TRD4.html, it will help relieving tension in your whole upper body!

@@OlivierGirard Oh hey! Didn't expect you to reply, thanks for the suggestion and thanks so much for making the vid. This was really bothering me for a while! :)

C'est souvent la question à 1 million... il y a des craquement répétitifs qui sont souvent des tissus mous (tendons, ligaments) et d'autres qui se produisent une fois qui sont plus articulaires. Mais ce n'est pas noir ou blanc, et il faut aussi voir si c'est vers le milieu de l'articulation ou en bout de course. Donc expliquer n'est pas si simple, mais le conseil serait de dire: - tentez de faire très souvent (=2 à 3 fois par heure) l'exercice de relaxation: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-LYJf6ltZ2C8.html pendant 15 jours - si ça ne va pas mieux, un bon ostéo pourrait lui palper les tissus et voir ce qu'il se passe. Vous tentez le coup?

😂... come on! It was one of my first ones 🤣🤣