I’d like to describe here the most often used methods of treating armwrestling injuries. I shall explain the construction of therapeutic apparatus, the methods of treatment and choosing treatment accordingly to the type of injury.

In my opinion, the most effective treatments for armwrestling-related inuries are: iontophoresis, ultrasounds, laser therapy, magnetic field therapy and criotherapy. To conclude the series I will present the most common injuries that demand surgical treatment and describe the surgical procedures. In this article I’ll describe the injuries.

In armwrestling the deciding factors are: overstraining the muscle-bone structure, inadequate technical preparation of fighter, inadequate regeneration time before tournaments and too-large ambitions (fighting with injuries, allowing to be put in a dangerous position).

Every fight is supervised by two referees – main and side. One of the most important functions of a referee is preventing injury-risk situations. From the point of safety of the contestants, the “Dangerous position” command is one of the most important. It’s uttered when a fighter’s body goes beyond the limit of the fighting arm’s forearm on the table. A fighter might think this will prevent them from loss, but in reality they put themselves in danger this way. This position is perilous to ligaments, joints: elbow and shoulder, and most of all the radial bone; this can cause strains and tears in ligaments and fastenings, and also sprains and breaks in joints and bones.

Another dangerous position is when a fighter lets the fighting arm go straight in elbow and lowers their shoulder below the table line. They may think this will prevent loss, but as above, so in here the elbow and shoulder joints are overstrained and the risk of injury is very high.

The shoulder joint is formed by the large head of shoulder bone and the three-times smaller scapula pane, stabilized by muscle and fastenings. Such construction allows for a lot of mobility within the joint. A shoulder joint sprain happens when the joint is subject to movement beyond its range. Frontal joint capsule is then damaged, along with shoulder fastenings and muscles. This results in acute pain when rotating shoulder. This injury may lead to complications, such as joint instability and rotator cuff damage.

During an elbow-joint sprain, the radial bone is often dislocated to the side and back, resulting in damage to soft tissue around the joint. The symptoms are side and back protrusion of the elbow protuberance, swelling, shortening of forearm length, inability to straighten the limb. A serious complication can result – namely separation of the elbow bone coronoid process and the epicondylus medialis of radial bone.

During a bout, various techniques are being utilized. One of them is the top roll – applying pressure to opponent’s fingers, beginning with the last finger, resulting in bending the wrist towards its ridge side. When applied with success, the defendant has to fight with their wrist supinated to the maximum. In this position the wrist joint and muscles are forced beyond their physical capacity. This can result in strains and tears of muscle fastenings. Wrist injuries in armwrestling are often caused by violent strain right after s bout starts, when two opposing forces collide. The effect of such strain can be wrist inflammation – a feeling of acute pain along the tendon or in the joint itself.

The most dangerous armwrestling technique is the so-called “triceps technique” involving pushing the opponent’s arm to the side and down. One of the basics of this technique is a very quick start and a forceful push to the side in order to prevent any counterattack on the opponent’s side. Using this technique can cause damage to elbow fastenings or even spraining of the elbow joint or breaking of the radial bone. The fighters utilizing the triceps technique often suffer damage to the fastenings of all three heads that end in a ligament on the back side of the elbow protuberance.

Armwrestlers have a very strong finger grip, responsible for preventing the use of the technique mentioned above. Most fighters use thumb lock during a grip – inserting further thumb joints between index and ring finger. However, if one of the fighters manages to force this technique or both try to apply it simultaneously, both thumbs may suffer from overload, resulting in damage to midcarpal joints. The sprained finger dislocates upwards and backwards.

It’s also very easy to suffer and injury when violent, quick side pressure is applied by the opponent. This happens during the start of a bout and sometimes mid-fight too. The first situation occurs after the “Ready-Go!”, when both fighters want to gain advantage as quick as possible. In this moment all the arm muscles suffer huge strains and are at risk of injury. The same happens during a fight, when both opponents are very equal in strength. When an attempt to go from defense to offence is made, using side pressure, the results are analogical to the first case.

During a fight and its start, strains are very high in the bicep and forearm muscles, often leading to the following injuries: damage to long head, separation of short head, damage to muscle belly, tearing of fastenings. The last one often happens to those practitioners who fight with the hook technique, which utilizes mainly the biceps. Tears happen seldom, but strains are very common. They are a result of violent effort or sum of pressures on the muscle. As a result, acute pain is present and also the elbow joint is weakened. When a tear occurs, an additional symptom occurs in the form of a visible muscle protrusion in the arm.

During a fight the fighters take a lot of care to keep their arm as close to their body as possible. This adduction is possible mainly thanks to the major chest muscle. This muscle is seldom injured in armwrestling, its components joined together by one fastening on the shoulder bone. When they happen, they are mostly tears. This results in acute pain in the tear area, limiting its mobility and visible bruising.

When contestants are positioned by the table, they are in contact with it not only at the elbow, but also at their sides. Many lighter fighters use the table to support themselves and keep balance. It’s also common for a fighter to push their legs deep under the table, pressing their belly against the table, thus creating leverage. This can sometimes cause the ribs to break or fracture. Ribs are stabilized at the top by the collarbone, scapula and chest muscles. At the bottom the ribcage is much more mobile, ribs are exposed and more vulnerable. The symptoms of damage are pain when breathing deeply, coughing reflex, changes in body alignment.

Read part two for injuries during training.

Piotr Szczerba