I think I partially tore a tendon in my wrist on a drive last night. I felt a little pop on the throw (backhand) and it hurt immediately. This morning it was a little red and swollen. After looking at an anatomy book, I think it is the flexor carpi ulnaris right as it courses over the end of the ulna. Has this ever happened to anyone else?

What kind of time frame do you think I am looking at before I should start throwing again? I'm worried about going back too soon and reinjurying it. I just tired to putt tonight and it was painful. Has it turned into a long term problem for anyone? Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

Todd

i'd talk to a doctor to make sure you don't do any permanent damage by throwing too soon.

Yeah, go see a doctor. Don't go back too soon either, you'll definitely do more damage in the long run.

Ouch.............man.............go see a doctor for an x-ray atleast. Not something to be messing with.

If you indeed sustained a tendon tear, then you need to be giving plenty of time for adequate healing. I tore 'something' in my forearm last Summer and as much as I didn't want to comprehend the magnitude of it all...a reasonable time for healing is 3-6 months.
While pain is a barometer of sorts, remember this axiom: pain is the last thing to show up, and the first thing to go away. This could very well be a repetitive use injury and likely did not 'happen' on one throw... Time is the healer...

I talked to a Dr. today and he said tendon injuries generally take at least 6 weeks to heal and once they heal they generally heal completely. With all the people who play disc golf these days I would think this would be a more prevelent problem like "tennis elbow" but I havn't heard of it before.

I wonder if it could be in my technique. I don't drive with the power grip. Only my pointer and middle fingers hold the rim while my ring and pinky fingers remain extended under the dome part of the disc. I need a lot of snap in my wirst to get it to 350ft. Maybe a power grip would help (does it require less snap?) but I'm not nearly as accurate with it and can't get it to go as far with my few attempts at it so far. I guess I'm going to have to learn to throw right handed for a while. Maybe I'll try to learn the power grip while I'm at it

Holmsey,
After you beat me by playing with your weak hand for everything but putting, I wish you a speedy recovery, but I think that your game will suffer too much.

guessing you probably hyper extended your wrist...

had this happen last year and i need surgery (whenever i get medical insurance) to repair tissue damage and i rested my wrist for 8 months.

the injury could be grip related in a sense that two finger grips generally allow a LOT of wrist mobility and a larger chance for hyper-extension.

That sounds like what I did to my wrist a few months ago ( except mine was from bowling ) I didn't even touch a disc with my right hand for 6 weeks. It seems to be better now.

I'd been fighting carpel tunnel syndrom for years due to working with computers all day, and playing with computers all night. (The mouse is a very ineffiecient design).

As it turns out, Disc Golf, is mostly responsible for fixing my wrist. The action of driving a disc way down the field really increases the flexibility of the wrist, and stretches it out very well.

I now have less wrist pain due to disc golf.

Not related, really to your problems, but I did want to show the other side of the equation ... sometimes disc golf is good for your wrist.

I spoke to another Dr. (an orthopod) who said my tendon is popping out of it's normal groove. Its called extensor carpi ulnaris (ECU) subluxation and is also seen in baseball players from swinging a bat. For those that are interested the ECU passes thru a groove at the end of ulna & is covered by a ligament. Recurrent subluxation of ECU tendon is characterized by a painful "snap" at that location when the tendon pops out of place, particularly on forearm rotation. This then causes a more chronic tendonitis. He said it might heal with a long period of rest but it is generally recurrent and requires surgery to hold it into place. Bummer. While I was playing with my right hand and throwing with a power grip I have now f*%#ed up my other hand. This time my middle finger and it seems like another tendon problem. I thought disc golf was low impact and I would be able to play forever. I must be turning into an old fart. :(

Thanks for the posts.
TH