Not sure where to post this cos it's not exactly an "Injury" per se but worried if it might lead to one. I'm right-handed but for a few sessions now, I notice my left hand feeling slightly numb and crampy after playing 1 - 2 hours. Anyone able to shed some light on why this might be so, should I be worried and if so, what should I do about it? Thanks!
Thanks teoky and pchospital Interesting questions. I'm actually not sure. Nerve compression due to constant looking up? Hmmm, so try using eyes to glance up instead of moving the head too high up? Could try that and see how it goes - anyway yeah, maybe moving the head too high up might cause me to lose sight of the opponent. Using left hand for balancing? I've never really thought about this and my answer would be - I don't think so, as far as I recall. Think my left hand doesn't move much. Guess I'll take these 2 to the next sessions to see if there's any difference.
Usually when one's playing level had reached a certain stage, our non playing hand will move for balancing.
Actually, I am just saying that numbness could be caused by pinched nerves. It could be a medical condition rather than a flaw in your technique. I am no doctor or neurosurgeon so my advice is to go see a doctor. If i have learnt anything in life, it is that sudden changes in our body usually means there's some issues. It is only a matter of serious or not.
Good advice from teoky. When you see the doctor, take a note of when it feels worse, how long does it last for, what do you do to make it better, the exact distribution over fingers and hands. Does it spread? Any shoulder or neck pain? Sometimes these things clear up spontaneously. Seeing a physio can be quite helpful for diagnosis and help with posture, stretching and some physio on the right areas.
Thanks for all the replies guys. That's the thing. It seems to be only on the left-hand itself. Forearms, shoulders, neck etc are all fine. Maybe I'll video myself playing to see if I'm doing anything unconsciously with my left hand that could cause it
i agree with teoky, pchospital & cheung. you should see a doctor touchwood, but from what i know...unexplainable numbness is an early sign of diabetic or heart problem act now! so that you won't regret it in the future
Now you're scaring me... I only get it when playing badminton and not any other times... annual health checkups have been giving me the all-clear (I'm in my 40s), even bad cholestrol levels are low...
Yeah... but I do appreciate aril79's comments, knowing he's erring on the side of caution. Guess it's not a common occurrence amongst other players. Maybe more investigation either through video or a visit to a physiotherapist is needed.