How to Reduce Yoga Wrist Pain while Doing Yoga at Home

One of the most common complaints from those interested in trying yoga is that they may experience physical discomfort. Wrist pain is at the top of the list for these issues.

Many floor yoga movements may require you to place part of your weight on your wrists, which can be difficult if you have problems such as carpal tunnel syndrome or arthritis.

The good news with wrist pain while doing yoga at home is that it is a condition that you can generally remedy with some simple changes in your form. Here are some suggestions for reducing wrist pain when doing yoga at home.

Warming Up Your Wrists Beforehand

Before attempting any wrist-intensive yoga poses, it is a good idea to spend some time gently warming up your wrist joints. This will help avoid wrist pain while doing yoga by preventing sudden movements or trauma to the wrist area.

You can do this simply by rotating the wrist a few times, bringing it back and forth through a range of motion, and going through some gentle wrist bends. This is a good way to gently warm up the wrist and make it more flexible before facing wrist-intensive poses.

Shift the Weight from Your Wrist

The easiest way is that when you are doing wrist-intensive poses, lighten the weight on your wrist by leaning more of your body weight into your legs rather than compressing all of it into one point on your wrist. 

Another way to reduce wrist pain is to allow some of your palm or fingers to rest lightly against the floor or mat and let your wrist and hands move independently of each other.

However, the problem might be that you are applying wrist pressure while performing other actions, such as gripping your thighs in poses like Warrior II or Triangle. If this is the case, try shifting the weight more evenly throughout your body so that you feel less wrist pressure and more weight distributed through your whole hand or fingers.

The problem might also be related to how tightly you are gripping your wrist. In poses like Downward-Facing Dog, try to let your wrist and the rest of your hand relax so that they hang loosely toward the floor. Then you can adjust your wrist position as necessary for support without gripping too tightly.

Avoid Locking Your Wrists

A usual recommendation is not to lock your wrist when doing yoga at home but instead, keep them slightly bent. This will make it easier for you to distribute the weight through your wrist evenly and may help you avoid the pain associated with wrist locking.

Here is how wrist locking work and why not to do it:

1. When you straighten your wrist, the weight of your body goes into a small area on your wrist and this can cause pain and stiffness later on.
2. Locking wrist also puts you at risk for tendinitis, bursitis and even wrist fractures.
3. Most wrist injuries occur when you land badly from a jump or fall and the wrist is forced to straighten out with too much force, which can be an issue in yoga poses like Downward-Facing Dog where your body is falling forward toward the floor. When you lock your wrist it puts a lot of weight through a small area and can make wrist injuries more likely.

Hold Your Wrist Correctly

If your wrist continues to hurt while doing yoga, try looking at the wrist position you are using in each pose. Try to imagine a line drawn parallel to the floor passing through the wrist and wrist and palm and fingers and thumb and see if your wrist is aligned with this imaginary line.

Another possible cause is that you are holding your wrist incorrectly, balancing your weight on the side of your wrist, or compressing your fingers together. You should spread your fingers out instead of being close together, spreading the pressure more equally over your entire hand rather than just on your wrist alone.

Treat the Cause of Your Wrist Pain

It is just as important to treat the cause of the wrist pain while doing yoga than to try and push through yoga with the pain already existing. If you do not treat the cause of your wrist pain, it will only continue to get worse and can lead to wrist injuries.

If your pain continues to be persistent despite lifestyle modifications, you should consult a doctor. In certain situations, see your doctor first to determine what is causing the wrist discomfort, whether it’s a medical problem like arthritis, simple inflammation not related to this condition, or perhaps carpal tunnel syndrome.

This might make it necessary to wear wrist supports while yoga to take pressure off the wrist. Letting go of wrist locks and trying not to use your wrist while doing pose can also help.

Conclusion

Wrist pain while doing yoga can be caused by wrist locks, not distributing weight correctly through your wrist or fingers, and gripping too tightly. If you are experiencing wrist pain during yoga due to any of these causes, try looking at your wrist positioning in each pose or holding your wrist in a position that is more parallel to the ground.

Treating the cause of wrist pain while doing yoga is equally important as treating the wrist pain itself. If wrist pain persists, you should consult a doctor and wear wrist supports if necessary.