Joint issues

[Spenner]

No this isn't the Smoke Weed Thread type joint issues,

I have had a reconstructed elbow for most of my adult life and have recently started working out again... but I've quickly hit my limit, and can't put any pressure on my arm and won't be able to for a week or so until the inflamation goes back down. I put 8 years of kungfu+kickboxing and hard training outside of kungfu into my workout routine, combatting my mobility restrictions as best as I can, and have had no issues with it aside from a few stretches.

For those that find it relevant to know, on my right arm I cannot rotate my wrist (cannot move palm up > palm down, at all, it remains down unless I rotate my entire arm to force the palm up. Also means my elbow sticks out to the right while I type lol). I also cannot touch my shoulder on my right arm-- the elbow stops before 90 degrees. No amount of stretching or physio will bring it back due to the unique "formatting" my bones have now to fit the reconstructed elbow.

That being said, the issue I'm having mostly is any pressure on my right wrist, in any direction. I am a long time handstander, and while pressure to a properly positioned palm (in good handstanding position) is fine, pushups and things that involve even the slightest rotation under pressure have me dropping to the floor, if I ever put trust into my right hand.

In short, I'm wondering:
1) Anyone who can relate to this problem, or has knowledge about this kind of problem/working around it?
2) Know what kind of proper techniques I should be using to stretch the arm which are the most easy on the elbow joints?
3) What kind of supplements or dietary changes could be made to reduce inflamation and keep my joint as healthy as it can be?
4) Do I just need to see a doctor/there is no recommended way to go about this that you see fit?

I was told that later in life I'm likely to encounter arthritis but I didn't know how severe it might be, or that it could eventually lead to bone grinding (I hope not @_@).

Thanks, reader, even if you have no input.

[Tidus810]

Huh. Could you maybe provide a little more info about the reconstruction...? Do you remember/know any specifics as far as what was actually operated on?

Also, if you put your fingers on either side of your elbow (almost like a light pinching motion) and flex/extend, do you feel any grinding/rubbing?

If you want, try reading this to see if any of it sounds familiar. May require Google'ing some medical jargon, sorry.

And to clarify, turning your hand which way causes problems?


But ultimately you may just need to go see a sports med/orthopedics doc; an ortho surgeon or someone similar could do a thorough physical to get a good idea of what you're dealing with. Plus potential imaging, medical expertise, etc...

[Spenner]

I've been told surgery is the only option other than prevention of pain/damage, but that was after my final surgery which was years ago.

I still feel grinding while doing the "pinch".

As for the reconstruction, in the simpleton words I can speak of, the bone sticking out on the elbow had punched through the joint like a hammer hitting a spike, and that widened/tore the tissue, and the bones kept slipping out again and again. So, they needed to reposition the "cup" where the bone sits, and build tissue that would hold it in place, with a more dense surrounding to keep it from falling out. A consequence of that is limited mobility because its essentially locked into the joint (pins were in it for a long time to make sure the joint healed in place solidly).

As for my hand rotation, you know the two bones in the forearm? They cannot move. They stay vertically stacked, and nothing else. So, I can assist my wrist to bend palm down and palm up, but by default, I'm in handshake position, figuratively speaking.

My next doc appointment for unrelated issues will have this brought up to see what he says.

[Tidus810]

Dang. Yeah basically from the sound of it, the reconstruction and the healing that followed has acted as a sort of cement, greatly limiting your range of motion for the sake of stability. But really this probably seems obvious. I wish I could speak more to the muscle weakness when applying pressure (push ups and whatnot) but it's kinda hard to say. Is the wrist weakness a new thing, or has it been that way for a long time now...? If you have any newly developed symptoms like pain/weakness/cramps/tingling sensation, then it absolutely needs to be brought up in case of some kind of muscle/nerve damage. Seeing as I'm no doctor, that's about the extent of what I can say on the subject, maybe post in here if and when you learn more about it.

[FoJaR]

honestly i would just go to a doctor. this sounds like a problem that you're probably not going to be able to fix without surgery.

[FoJaR]

but even if you can fix it without surgery, go to a doctor. it's probably your best bet for a starting point.

if you can, go to an orthopedic specialist right away.

[Spenner]

That's the plan, thanks for the input anyway. I'll update when I get some more information about it Titus. Though I can tell you that my 2nd of 3 surgeries had to do with moving areas near a critical nerve point, and the 3rd was kind of building a brick wall around that. But yeah, we'll see.

[Spenner]

After some x-rays, I'm not going to see a specialist/surgeon for more than a month, but it appears that I had extra room in my elbow joint (surgically, filled with something synthetic also), to allow bone growth with the space between the joint and the radial bone. So when attempting to "cross cross" my two arm bones they are kind of prying at shit, and same with rotating my wrist (especially so).

Is joint inflamation something glucosamine will actually help? Or is it bs/placebo? Anyhow Im just open to suggestions for reducing pain in the joint. I just stared taking kungfu/kickboxing again and that is prolly not great for it.

[Reincarnate]

http://examine.com/supplements/Glucosamine/

http://examine.com/stacks/joint-health

[Arch0wl]

I have to second fojar here, the most knowledgeable strength/conditioning guys on here will be northstrong, reach, scwolf and me, and this is beyond any of our expertise. to make any judgment calls about what you should do would be irresponsible.

you might want to see a physical therapist after consulting an orthoped, since the ortho might not know as much about rehabilitation