# Finger joint pain?



## dchan (Jun 29, 2004)

Uhmm.

you know the line, "doc, it hurts when I do xyz"

Doc's response ..."Then don't do that!"

Sounds like you might be overdoing it. I know being new to recurve archery is addicting but take a break and let your body recover. Lighter weight bow, thicker tab, Ice after sessions are other suggestions. Maybe so some sessions that you don't actually shoot but just workout your opposite arm so you build up the muscles on your other side. (pull therabands) Sessions where you draw, while aiming at a 3 spot, or 5 spot. as you get close to full draw try moving to each spot, then let down. If you used to shoot compound maybe pull the compound back out. Get a true backtension release and practice with that.


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## x1440 (Jan 5, 2003)

Coban works great. Just don't wrap too much on your fingers. You can find it at any drug store or super market, in the first aid section.


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## Huntmaster (Jan 30, 2003)

Depends on which joints hurt. If it's your knuckels or the next joint, you may have too much tension in those joints. _Ideally_ those joints should be prety much relaxed, and your last joint should act like a hook.

Ya, I know it's easier said than done, but if you have too much tension on those joints would make the muscles and joints score. Just a guess though. 

Try making sure your pinky and thumb are relaxed. It'll help the rest of your hand relax right.


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## EPLC (May 21, 2002)

x1440 said:


> Coban works great. Just don't wrap too much on your fingers. You can find it at any drug store or super market, in the first aid section.


What is coban, tape?


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## Leighton (Aug 24, 2004)

Great advice dchan. When I was coming back from a long hiatus, everything hurt. I just had to take it slower and realize that not shooting for a year meant that all the shooting muscles, calluses and whatnots had disappeared.


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## x1440 (Jan 5, 2003)

It's kind of like tape, but it only sticks to itself. I think they're 3" wide so you just cut it into 1/2" to 1" widths and wrap your finger. You'll see a lot of archers with coban on their fingers at competitions. Some people also wrap their grips with this stuff.


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## baldmountain (Apr 21, 2003)

Keeping in mind that Paul is a new recurve archer I like this explanation. Using tape would be hiding the issue rather than a fix.



Huntmaster said:


> Depends on which joints hurt. If it's your knuckels or the next joint, you may have too much tension in those joints. _Ideally_ those joints should be prety much relaxed, and your last joint should act like a hook.
> 
> Ya, I know it's easier said than done, but if you have too much tension on those joints would make the muscles and joints score. Just a guess though.
> 
> Try making sure your pinky and thumb are relaxed. It'll help the rest of your hand relax right.


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## cc46 (Jan 22, 2005)

I agree with Baldmountain...with Paul being a new recurve archer the pain is not likely a surface pain that can for helped with tape. It sounds like overuse pain. 

I'm not Paul, but when I returned to archery from a long break I noticed that apart from obvious initial muscle pain that overuse pain showed up at the about the 3rd week. Mainly in the drawing hand and forearm, the tendons I figure just need a longer time to strengthen and grow. Sometimes the pain is a feeling of fullness in the knuckles and the top of the hand or under the wrist. I do not have a remedy except to say that it will subside as time goes on. Rest and moderation and breaks between sessions are the only real treatment, oh and maybe an asprin. It's just part of the game, don't sweat it! 

After a rest try a little work with your form --- try to relax the hand at draw, since this is where the pain is centered and it's a common tendency to try to hold too much string on your fingers fearing it will release too soon --- let the string roll down to the fleshy portion of the finger tips a bit and straighten out your fingers and hand so that they are all in a line, knuckles, back of hand and wrist 

Good luck 

Cheers


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## c3hammer (Sep 20, 2002)

What was it we were saying about 25 lbs limbs to start out? LOL! Just had to through that little dig in there Paul   

Seriously though, I'll second dchan's advice and say to lay off some, ice your knuckles and do lots of stretching of your fingers when driving around in the car and such.

Warming up really well before ever pulling the bow back is extremely important. I'm mean like work yourself into a sweat type of warmed up. Recurve shooting is way more of a physical activity than compound shooting.

Next is to only shoot 30 arrows per session or less a few times a day. This one is really hard to find the time for, but if you could do 30 in the morning, 30 at home after work, then 30 - 60 at the range in the evening you'd become a super hero in short order.

It keeps your mind fresh for executing perfect shots and allows your body to recover and build much more quickly. I've been able to do this for the last few years, as I can shoot almost when ever I want at my shop.

So, slow down, ice and stretch way more often, and break up your training into fewer arrows more often.

Those two and three hour shooting sessions are counter productive in my opinion, especially at first.

Cheers,
Pete


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## EPLC (May 21, 2002)

If memory serves me, about a year ago I decided to shoot fingers with my compound and had to give it up due to this problem. The pain isn't in the joint itself, but more in the tendons. It also seems to be a contact or pressure on the area more than strain. I think wraping the fingers may help. At least I hope so. It also could be the tab, as I do not have this problem with my 55# X-200 but I use a different tab (which is back in RI, like most of my stuff < very frustrating).


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## EPLC (May 21, 2002)

I wrapped my 2nd and 3rd fingers with a coban like product and it helped a lot. I shot for about 3 hours today and the fingers were ok with no increase in the pain that was already there. I'm going to try a new tab and see if that helps also.


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## x1440 (Jan 5, 2003)

What tab are you using now? I use a cavalier and I try to get the thickest cordovan face I can find. If your fingers should feel a little sore after practice. I trained in Korea with one of the pro teams over there. One of my relatives over there knew someone at the KAA. I trained with the Seoul Government team. If you've never seen the drawing hand of a Korean archer, you'll be shocked. Guy Krueger and Chris Shull are other US archers that I know have trainned in Korea. They trained with a high school team which is more strict. If you ask them about the hands of the archers over there, they'll tell you that the 3 drawing fingers are almost as big as a big toe! Kind of like ET's fingers! One of the first things the coach did was feel the fingers on my drawing hand. I had some callouses, but no where near as much as the koreans. The coach said I don't shot much and that my finger tips would be bigger and harder by the time I left.
By the way, if I'm planning on going back this summer to train with them again. If any of you are interested, I might be able to have you guys come along. I only had to pay for room and food at the Seoul sports center. It's where all the seoul government's sports teams live. They didn't charge me a coaching fee since I'm korean. If anyone is intereted, let me know. I'll see if they will do a training camp thing.


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## EPLC (May 21, 2002)

After shooting about 5 hours between yesterday and today I'm pleased to report that the finger wrap works :teeth: Thanks to all that provided input. I shot Saturday without the wrap and my third finger was killing me. Since I came off that painful session Saturday and still shot yesterday and today without problems I'm sure the wrap is the answer for me...


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## Reed (Jun 18, 2002)

x1440 said:


> It's kind of like tape, but it only sticks to itself. I think they're 3" wide so you just cut it into 1/2" to 1" widths and wrap your finger. You'll see a lot of archers with coban on their fingers at competitions. Some people also wrap their grips with this stuff.


 also called Vet wrap.  


Reed


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## palmer (Sep 23, 2003)

When I first started shooting recurve, I struggled with joint pain for about a year until I found that my hand/fingers were not as relaxed as I thought they were.


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