A long time ago I nearly killed myself multiple times doing really stupid shit.
Quad biking, down hill mountain biking and being tackled shoulder first into a steel goal box during a hocky match can definitely do a number on your flesh vessel.
From broken and fractured wrists, to a crushed shoulder that I can pull out of socket any time…
Some said it’s a cool party trick (Like Martin Riggs in Lethal Weapon where he can dislocate his shoulder) but I just call it plain stupidity from not being cautious.
Then again. I was young and bones heal a lot faster back then.
Anyways. So for 20 years I’ve had crunchy wrists. Luckily I’ve never had to have plates put in them but when it gets cold and oh boy does it sometimes get cold here in sunny ‘ol England…
They hurt and ache and just make me into a rage filled goblin sometimes.
Now between South Africa, Europe and England.
I’ve always looked at finding a specialist who could help me fix my wrists.
The only pro that came from chatting to all of these professionals is that I wouldn’t have to go under the knife.
For some reason. Anesthesia just gives me bad vibes cause I’m always like “Well if I go under. What if I don’t wake up?”
Morbid I know.
So these professionals over the years have put me through the ringer with exercises and stretches to do…
From rotator cuff exercises to try and fix the ligaments in my shoulders to these weird as shit push up variations to help strengthen my wrists.
I’d be outright lying if I said they worked. Hell I wouldn’t be writing this email if they did.
Yeah they helped a little bit with tension when they got stiff but doing them for years and years with no actual improvement has just left me more pissed off than anything.
Fast forward to a few days ago.
I got chatting to a guy who is jacked. I mean this guy could probably tear me in half with one hand. He was built like a brick shit house…
Just out of my curious nature I asked him if he hand any experience or knowledge about something that I’ve been going through.
Low and behold. He said he had something similar happen to him years ago when he was training martial arts.
What his martial arts teacher suggested is getting those weird gripper type things you hold in your hand and squeeze to strengthen all the ligaments and fibres around your hands, fingers, wrists etc.
Then after doing that for a couple of months. You grab a plastic bucket and fill it with rice and dig your hands into the bucket while squeezing a fist and pulling out.
Do that for another few months and you’ll start to notice your grip, wrists and crunchy click-y noises will just magically start to vanish.
One of the side effects he also said was, you would get bigger forearms and you’ll have a vice like grip to the point where you could probably crush a grapefruit without thinking about it. (Now crushing a grapefruit in one hand sounds fun as shit)
But there is a point to all of this…
I put my trust in doctors/specialists who should’ve known a thing or two about tendons, resistance and wrist rotations to help get you back to where you were…
I mean fuck man. 20 years gone because as a youngster I trusted people who should’ve known better.
I just got to the point as I got older to where I was like “meh fuck it, I’ll just deal with it” and so I ended up just dealing with the pain and the annoyance of not being able to do the heavy physical shit that I used to.
Yeah I’m grateful that I’ve had to figure out how to do other things due to having half working wrists and a busted shoulder, but man…
20 years eh? That’s just mental.
Now as much as I believe you need to have specialist knowledge to enter certain fields, especially if its got to do with our bodies / mind.
Don’t forget that someone who has gone through what you’ve gone through often times has an angle and view that not even these experts have.
And if all goes well. This conversation has the potential fix years of my hands being fucked and maybe, just maybe I’ll also get my right shoulder back to full working order too.
So I’m going to do the thing and check back with the results in a few months.
I’m also actively making it more of a daily thing to just talk to people who are much wiser and experienced than me, cause if I sit around and try ask the purported experts…
Well I know how that all went.
So don’t wait around on expert or specialist advice. Go out and talk to people, get into the trenches because that’s where you’re going to learn and experience the best of both worlds.
Stephen Walker