Hi, I am a 55 year old new subscriber at an intermediate level. I have osteoarthritis of my left thumb joint and have pain when doing Downward Dog. Unfortunately, this eliminates many video options for me. Many videos without it, are a bit of a lighter challenge than I am looking for. Are there any modifications you might recommend for this pose, so I am not putting weight on the thumb joint?
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Hello and welcome! Yes, you can absolutely modify downward dog by going onto your forearms. It may make transitions a bit more challenging, but I’ve done it before when I had an injury and I got used to adapting. When in the pose (which is called dophin), do your best to keep your forearms as parallel as you can.
All the best,
David
DoYogaWithMe Founder
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This thread was helpful to me, so am posting a response. A recent hiking fall injured thumb joint and whew dolphin was a good rest of thumb pressure.
Another easy modification is doing table top pose whenever a teacher says downward dog, I often suggest this for people with wrist soreness too.
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Fiji! Your response was a birthday present (mine, today)! Thank you!
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Hi Fiji or David, (or someone else?)
Unfortunately, I have to for the first time in years, temporarily modify any poses with twisting of my wrist or putting weight on my left hand. I have been doing the asanas on my forearms, and tried a few poses on my fists (Crista often recommended this in several classes). Are there any cons or pitfalls to doing a lot on the forearms? I noticed David said to aim for parallel forearms. Or should fists also be avoided because of using the hands? Thanks.
Anna
Hi Anna,
I am sorry to hear you are having trouble with your wrist. I am wondering is this an acute injury or a long term change? I often suggest students don’t completely avoid movement of an injured area, stagnation actually is not great for healing. Some weight without pain might be helpful, modify for pain free range of motion. Forearms are a great option and actually can lead to more shoulder and core strength, fists are also an option and you could alternate between the two
Thank you so much for your reply, Fiji! I will modify as necessary and try to build my strength from my acute injury without doing too much (I think overused in the form of a continued daily practice after a recent bike accident until I felt the pain in side plank). I have been doing your, Melissa, Rachel and Jonni Lyn’s wrist free classes, as well as standing balance classes. Thanks again!
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