Indians For Guns

Hi all,
Need some advice from experienced shooters regarding a weird problem I have been facing. I am a beginner air pistol shooter and have been shooting since last year. One morning during holding practice at home(with a dumbbell) I felt a sharp pain shoot-up on my wrist. Later there was a burning sensation on the inner wrist which also "spread" to my non-shooting hand. After that I could hardly lift my pistol or any other weights.

The injury took about 2 months to heal. But the pain keeps coming back every time I start shooting. I can barely shoot 10 shots before the burning sensation comes back. It usually lasts about a week.

Has anyone else faced a similar problem? Will this go away on its own should I continue with my shooting and holding practices?
I am worried so as not to do any long term damage to the tissues or tendons.

Wow, your problem is quite similar to what I faced when I got started. I started training in 10 meter air pistol with my right hand even though I am a lefty. Ranges don't really keep any lefty pistols or rifles since almost all their students are right handed and they try and "convert" lefties to a right handed shooter saying since you never fired before, it won't matter which hand you start with.

Anyhoo, after about a month, my wrist began to hurt after spending 30 odd minutes with the pistol. I tried tight sleeves, sports braces and every thing but nothing really helped much. The pain I had was kind of a dull ache which resulted in a loss of power followed by what felt like electric shocks running from the wrist down my arm. I would jerk the shot terribly every time it happened. Turns out I had developed tendonitis on my right wrist because of an old weight lifting injury. I switched over to left hand as a result and began practicing at a range that set me up with a student who had a left-handed Steyr.

I suggest you get in touch with a doctor to rule out tendonitis or other muscle/ligament injuries. You may end up aggravating it with continued practice so it's best to seek medical attention early on.

I echo Partheus's suggestion about seeing a qualified Doctor...hopefully, it will go away with physiotherapic sessessions... Only, a qualified medical professional, will perhaps suggest X rays or MRIs... even I have bike-related and other related injuries, although, I am more comfortable with a rifle than a handgun, as it's more convenient for me right now, especially for Rifle events requiring a kneeling position... so, finally, you have to take a call, based upon your abilities, after seeing an Ort
after seeing a qualified Doctor.

After seeing an orthopedic surgeon, I meant to say.

Hope, you are fine soon.

The Wrist Joint is one of the most delicate joints of the Human Body. It has a lot of tiny ligaments attaching the various bones . Too much weight can cause these ligaments to either tear or rupture out. It's in this scenario that it may induce pain. Now to see to it that these ligaments stay fit , you need to train and strengthen the muscles around them. Stronger muscles will always take care of the joint unless there is any disorder like Arthritis or Osteoporosis.

There are various Exercises which one needs to do in order to train the muscles of the arms including wrist joint. You can either consult a qualified Physiotherapist or a highly qualified Fitness Trainer to train you for these muscles. There needs to be gradual progression in your training. A qualified professional can guide you and explain you much better once you consult them.

Furthermore shooting not only involves the wrist joint , it requires your shoulder joint to be stronger as well , else in due course you will face issues with the joints and muscles around the shoulder.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.
@partheus - yes my symptoms do look like tendonitis of the wrist. In my case, it started happening after 6 months of continuous shooting.
I have been doing some exercises suggested by my trainer, like rolling of wrists and stretching of the arms. But yes, a qualified physiotherapist would be best person to consult.