I went to a massage therapist with pain between my shoulder blades. She told me it was tight chest muscles, work them out, and I have been pain free in that area for years. I truly had an epiphany about body function. There are some other things to consider about the injuries that most people don't consider. I can safely say that because until recently, I had not considered them, but they are adding up...
When you get injured, you can't use your wrist. You must keep it above your heart in the beginning. Being outdoors in the heat makes it swell and increases the pain. You can't use the wrist or anything attached to it. It causes depression. All of which cause a sedentary life style change.
Your apatite doesn't change as immediately as your injury occurred. You will gain weight, ore more importantly, shift body composition from muscle to fat fairly quickly.
Rehab focuses on the injury, so in the case of my wrist rehab, the hand, forearm and bicep. It does not focus on the shoulder, core, legs, etc.
It is important to recognize how this impacts behavior habits and body function. (I don't say understand because we all know how the body works).
During the time of recovery, about a year after the injury (because recovery doesn't end when we regain majority function of the injury), there are some major changes we must consider. We stop using the wrist, but we guard it by keeping it close to us at all times. We pull it into our chest and minimize shoulder movement.
Rehab hits the arm, but ignores the chest, traps and lats, which have also seen reduced mobility. We have compensated by only using our opposing side, which retains full mobility. The tight muscles around our right shoulder pull our spine closer, and without close attention to our posture, we will slouch toward the tighter muscles. This may lead to a tightening of the muscles of the neck and lower back, when they tighten, they will also begin to affect the hip and legs.
Being sedentary will result in more sitting. Our hip flexors and hamstrings tighten while our gluts atrophy. This is a huge deal for people who sit at work and now have to sit at home. If you cross your feet, or in my case, cross one foot over the other knee, you can expect to see a shortening of the piriformis, sartorius, and opposite side QL. The opposing muscles will weaken. There are still other factors like neuro functioning and response rates to consider.
This is just a tip of the iceburg kind of thing. True rehab is going to be much more intensive than what you get at physical therapy. All of us are out of balance and must make a conscious effort to maintain that balance. Those of us that are active in these sports must train outside the sport. Those of us who have been injured absolutely must recognize the full body impact of those injuries and work even harder to get back to where we should be. They only work on returning function to the injured area. Balance must be restored through an independent effort (either guided or self studied).
Just for the record, when I talk about balance, I am not talking about my chi or some universal power. I am an analytic thinker. I am talking specifically about body function.
Disclaimer: This is based on my own personal experiences, self-study and research.
My doctor told me when I shattered my foot 11 years ago that I was young and would not need rehab. Now that I am older, but still young for this sport, my body is less able to tolerate the compensation. My issues of muscle imbalances are probably more due to my foot than my wrist, but the inactivity from school and my (more recent) injury increased these issues. You should see much fewer issues with your wrist injury than I did, however, I believe that you will be effected in the same ways to at least some degree.
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IWannaYama
It is only water, it isn't suppose to break people.
