Weird palm pain

Medical Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hi docs,
I have some weird palm pain that I’m not sure what to make of, and I’m having trouble finding much relevant info on it.

Probably 2-3 weeks ago, I started having some minor cramping of my left hand at random times through the day (FYI, I’m left handed, and I’ve generally been more prone to muscle cramps in the last several weeks than usual – not sure why).

Then, last week, I started having occasional, sharp tearing sensations in my left palm at the spot where the thenar crease would intersect a line drawn straight down from my middle finger. These weren’t super painful, but sharp enough to make me jump. At first, I honestly wondered if it was skin tearing or if it was below the surface, but there’s no visible skin damage. These sharp pains were never from heavy lifting, but other times when I use some squeeze and twist – adjusting the bar’s position in the j-cup, opening a jar, reaching forward with a ski pole, etc. In the last few days, the same experience has now gone to the right hand, as well.

Yesterday, I did chin-ups, barbell curls, and LTEs and didn’t have any discomfort, but by evening and this morning, I feel some constant general achiness across the width of both hands around the palmar creases. I benched and squatted this morning, hoping that pushing wouldn’t irritate it like pulling seemed to do, but the achiness and general tightness of both palms increased a bit. I’m talking like 2 or 3 out of 10 pain here, but constant awareness that something is off.

I’ve had relatively minor plantar fasciitis twice over the years, and everything I’m describing here seems very, very familiar: starting on one side and quickly moving to both, the tearing sensation, and general modest pain that doesn’t seem to correlate much with anything. Is it possible I’ve developed palmar fasciitis now? I’ve looked and such a thing seems to exist, but I can’t find much info on it.

I’d be grateful for any advice on what may be triggering this since I haven’t made any big changes to my hand usage lately, what things are or aren’t likely to piss it off further (it’s hard to anticipate what will/won’t cause a sharp tear feeling, and even harder to know what will cause longer-term ache since I don’t seem to feel that in the moment), and what (if anything) I should consider to help it other than following the principles in Austin’s pain in training article. And is there any guidance you can give on how long such a thing generally takes to heal?

Thanks so much!

2

Hi,

It sounds like you’ve had new onset cramping and pain in the left palm, which has now started happening in the right palm as well.

Unfortunately I don’t have much I can offer here. I have never seen or diagnosed a case of palmar fasciitis, and there may be other things to evaluate before chalking it up to that. This would likely be best for an in person evaluation with someone local to you. I can’t give any prognostic guidance since we don’t actually have a diagnosis.

3

Thanks, Austin. It was worth a shot!
It’s improving a bit with a few days of rest; hopefully, I was worried for nothing and this will clear up quickly. But the similarity to many months of past discomfort made me nervous!