Finger Joint Pain? Silks?

AriFerrari started this discussion · 10/26/2012

Hey ladies, I was curious if anyone has every experienced pain in their finger joints? Mine usually occurs when I wake up in the mornings and it hurts in my knuckles, it's a vague ache and is more painful when I bend my fingers. It lessens after getting up and moving around but when I type or write I can still feel a slight discomfort. I've been poling for over a year now and never had this problem, however I did start Aerial classes a month and a half ago. I am really beginning to think it has to do with working on silks. I take classes once a week. The pain started about two weeks or so ago. Has anyone experienced this? If it does correlate with silks, will it improve with time? Thanks for any help!

8 replies

Kobajo84 · 10/26/2012
Joint pain is common when doing silks. Over time, like pole, your hands should adapt as your grip strength increases and it should no longer be a problem. Simply Circus recommends icing your hands. You can also do an ice/heat combo- applying ice for 20 mins then heat to help alleviate the pain. You can also take an OTC anti-inflammatory. I also have my students thoroughly stretch their hands post silks work- tennis balls/stress balls work wonders. You can also do those stretches throughout the day. You may also notice swelling. Sometimes the swelling goes unnoticed until you try to put on a ring. I actually had to have my wedding rings resized to a larger size as my hands have stayed larger since I started silks. Silks requires a different grip than pole which is much more involved with the muscles, tendons, & joints of the hands. If the pain persists for more than 3 months or starts to make daily tasks difficult, consult with your physician to make sure you don't have any thing else going on. To answer your question though, yes joint pain is expected and can last awhile.
Miraine · 10/26/2012
Yes yes yes, exactly as you describe :) Definitely to do with silks. In silks your hand grip is an awful lot more sustained and relied upon, plus the fabric is thinner than a pole and squishes, so it's a lot harder on the fingers. As you get stronger but also more relaxed on the silks, it should lessen. There is a bit of a tendency when you're new to have a deathgrip which is far tighter than you really need.
NikkiP20 · 10/26/2012
Same thing happened to me when I started silks last summer. It does get better with time. The more often you are able to do silks the faster the strength builds in your hands. If you are only doing silks once a week it may take longer...unless you do specific grip exercises between silk classes :) Good luck!
chemgoddess1 · 10/26/2012
I do not have as much of an issue with wider silks as I do with the narrower ones. My pain is not only from the grip but from my fingers getting smashed together when the fabric tightens around them. I also get really bad cramps on the side of my hand in the fleshy section.
Dancing Paws · 10/26/2012
I got it from overgripping
AriFerrari · 10/26/2012
Ladies, thank you SO much! Your responses have definitely reassured me. My mom scared me to death saying it sounded like arthritis!!! I have to admit, that had me freaking out a bit. All of what you have said about the stronger grip required for silks makes sense. Especially Miraine saying I may have a newbie deathgrip. I have to admit, I was also guilty of that when I started pole, too! Nikki, you commented that it may take longer for my hands to strengthen if I only take classes once a week. In your opinion, or anyone elses on here who practices/teaches silks, do you think that once a week is sufficient for aerial training? Currently I do pole about 2-3 times a week and plan to add some occasional running soon, I don't want to overdue it, especially since pole and aerial seem to use a lot of the same muscle groups. Yet I also don't want to underdo it, if that makes sense? Either way, thanks a bunch for reassuring me about the problem at hand, literally, lol!
NikkiP20 · 10/26/2012
Pole grip and silk grip are very different. I was doing pole for two years and moved solely to silk. I was doing silk 5-6 days a week and it took about a month for that arthritis feeling to go away. It depends on want you want to with the aerial training...if you are doing it to help with pole then once week is probably good...if you plan on performing you will probably want more than once week...I hope I was able to help you out :)
PippiParnasse · 10/27/2012
Best thing for me when I started back on silks after a long time away was to stick my hands in one of those wine sleeves you put in the freezer. As for whether once a week is sufficient... sufficient for what? Obvs that depends on a million things like your goals and current fitness levels, so I dont think anyone here can answer that. But, I would say don't add another class til you get the hand pain under control.