oh cruel, cruel pushups

So today has been a really up and down one. I have had problems with my right wrist with what I am pretty sure is carpal tunnel syndrome. I would get numbness from doing repetitive motion etc. It usually doesn't bother me. Of course doing from 100 to 200 pushups every day (somethingI'm not used to) has really exacerbated it. I have started working at a horse boarding facility where I do a lot of barn work that I don't think is helping much either. Last night I woke up 4 or 5 timesbecause my hand was numb. When I woke up this morning I went to check if my hand was blue and purple becauseit was so completly dead numb. I had trouble making breakfast for the kids and signing the homework etc.

This morning in class during warm up we did 30 pushups. Before the first 10 were done my hand was going numb and my wrist started to ache. I had to finish on my knees. argh! We mostly worked on techniques the rest of class so I was doing not to bad. Near the end we all did fitness testing which includes 30 pushups, 30 situps, 30 round housekicks each leg and 30 squat thrusts for my level. Of course my pushups were terrible. I've been doing knuckle pushups which helps but doesn't solve the problem completely. I had to stop every 5 to 7 pushups to shake my hands out to get the blood going. So the point of this really long post about my wrist and hand is that Sifu Laurie gave me some really great ideas to try. I thought I would post them in case there is anyone else having wrist issues. So #1 get the little handles for the floor to hold onto so my wrists are straight. #2 Apparently there are wooden wedges used in yoga for people with wrist issues to decrease the angle that there wrists are bent, on a side note, my husband has a balance board and if you plant your hands on the edge it tilts so your wrists aren't bent as much, which might work well also. She also made me promise to not do more than 125 pushups every day, I've been doing 200 so I can have rest days. I bought a wrist brace that looks really silly, but seemsto work not to bad.

It's really hard to take it easy. I feel a little like my body has betrayed me. I hope that some of the suggestions work out and I will be back to 100% as soon as possible. This has been my first setback and it made me feel grumpy for most of the day. I went to the UBBT website and read a bunch of journal entries, and it made me realize that I'm not alone in the setback department, and of course everyone is still going, which is what I will do. Just so you all know, it means a lot to me to be able to go on the website and read my fellow members journals. It always gives me and emotional boost and renewed purpose.