Arthritis in my knuckles...

[Iron_Fisted_TKD]

I have arthritis in my knuckles from being a practicioner of iron fist. I'm not going to complain if their is no way to relieve it somewhat, but I was wondering if there was anything that would help relieve it. If not, oh well I wouldn't trade my iron fists for any other fists!

(Note: I use Grandmaster Tao's 12 herb dit da jow when I train)

[_William_]

Don't hit anything with your knuckles again.

[Iron_Fisted_TKD]

Don't hit anything with your knuckles again.

Believe it or not I actually tried that, and it ended up stiffening my knuckles even more... because I didnt move my hands as much as I did when I was training every day 3 times a day. I decided the damage has already been done, but I was wondering if there was some sort of medicine that was particularly good for taking even the slightest edge off of the pain. I have very calloused knuckles that are ugly, so I might as well keep up my skills if my hands look like this http://home.golden.net/~tekapo/news/pan.jpg

Im not exaggerating the slightest bit either . And there is permanent bone swelling, so even if I let the callouses fade, I will have freakishly large knuckles... that are soft and useless.

[_William_]

Wow... that really bites.

Have you seen an specialist in orthopedics? If not, I would see one ASAP and follow their directions. Go!!!

Please, don't keep hitting things with your hands. If you keep it up, things are only get worse for your hands. You won't have iron hand, you'll have a useless and unfunctional hand. Think of all the things you use your hands for!

You mentioned that you want to continue with this to keep your hands from stiffening further. There are better options. Exercise your hands every day, basically just open and close your hands through their range of motion as much as is comfortable. Do this regularly and it will help you keep your mobility much better than continued iron hand practice.

As well, you may want to invest in a gripper to strengthen the muscles, and as well practice opening your hands under elastic band resistance(loop an elastic over your closed fingers).

For the pain, check with your doctor. Antiinflammatories such as ibuprofen should help.(be careful with Tylenol, because overdosing with it leads to liver damage pretty easily. Go with ibuprofen instead.) As well, fish oil capsules should help with the inflammation as well. The EPA and DHA in the fish oils have antiinflammatory properties. Try starting with 6g of your standard 180EPA 120-DHA fish oil capsules. Up to 10 g should be fine.

Also, joint care supplements such as Glucosamine Sulfate, Chondroiton, and MSM have helped some people. If you have the funds, you may want to give these a shot as well.

Take home message: see a doctor(have them refer you to an orthopedic specialist), practice keeping your hands mobile, STOP the iron hand, take some antiinflammatories to help with the pain and inflammation(check with your doctor to see which ones are suitable), and try joint care supplements.

[bodhitree]

learn to punch properly and then put gloves on. Don't hurt your own body needlessly

[Iron_Fisted_TKD]

learn to punch properly

I have perfect punching form, so I dont think I need to be told to punch properly.

William I did go to a doctor, but he pretty much told me I was a ****tard and that he didn't want to work on my hands because he thought I was going to mal-practice sue so...

I kind of want better hands, but I hear that if I stopped training, I wouldn't be able to break as many bricks as I can now (7, no spacers) also, I heard my fists wouldn't be iron anymore

I have started taking ibuprophen and I have to say.. TY SO MUCH FOR THAT ADVICE!! Ibuprophen is worth it's weight in gold to me. Also I started doing the closing and openings of the hands, and my fists are starting to feel even stronger

Ty for powering up my training, now my hands feel much more useful. Both for breaking things, and for doing things such as typing or painting.

My iron fists say "thank you!"

[neilhytholt]

Edit.

You might try Tom Bisio in New York.

[Iron_Fisted_TKD]

Edit.

You might try Tom Bisio in New York.

I will try to contact him. Thank you for that advice.

[dougadam]

I have been doing high reps of push-ups on my first two knucles on a hard wood floor for many years. I am now 46 and I have no problems with my hands.

What I do after each set of push-ups is massage my knuckes, and then after my workout I run cold water over them.

Also I feel a proper diet will keep you're bones strong.

Gelatin found in jello is good for you joints.

[BM2]

My wife has arthritis in her wrists and the only things that helps her is MSM. The quality of MSM varies. She buys it from GNC because the stuff at Sam's discount club was completly useless.
I use Glucosamine Sulfate, Chondroiton for my knees which have worn from over use and suggested that she try it. It didn't do a thing for her. I then gave her some of the MSM that I tried which didn't work for me but I heard that helped arthritis. It does wonders for her.