Strange wrist/hand pain during pushups

About three or four weeks ago, I started feeling this strange pain in my left hand. To be clear—I can still use my arm normally; I can rotate my wrist without any issues, grip things tightly, or even lift something heavy without a single problem. But, when I try to do push-ups or apply firm pressure to a specific spot on my wrist, I get this sharp, intense pain radiating through my entire hand from that one pressure point. Basically, whenever I'm doing push-ups and put weight on my palm, the pain flares up—specifically in the upper part of my hand near my thumb and index finger. I haven't noticed any swelling or anything visible; everything looks perfectly fine on the surface.

Does anyone have an idea what might be going on?

My doctor told me that the wait time to see a physical therapist is about two months, so she suggested I just ice the area and use a non-steroidal cream for now.

Thanks in advance!

So where exactly does it hurt?? In the wrist??

You probably strained your wrist—that's why it's acting up—and honestly, it’s gonna keep throbbing as long as you keep grinding out pushups. You don't have to quit everything entirely, but maybe take at least two weeks off from them... just switch things up for a bit.

I actually did something similar once—I was trying to pry open a fence with my hand, basically just hammering my fist against it to get it to give way since it was stuck tight. A few days later, my wrist swelled up and was super tender to the touch. Everything finally settled down once I just stopped messing with it. If you're hitting pushups pretty regularly, there's a good chance you just overextended the joint, pushed it too far, and now it's paying the price.

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Andrew Peterson2 said:Where exactly is the pain? In the wrist area?

You probably strained your wrist—that’s why it hurts—and it’s going to keep acting up as long as you keep doing pushups. You don't necessarily have to quit entirely, but you should take at least a two-week break from them and try swapping in some different exercises in the meantime.

I remember once I was trying to pry open a gate by basically punching it a bit to get it to move because it was stuck, and a few days later, my wrist swelled up and became incredibly tender to the touch. Everything finally settled down once I took a break. If you're hitting pushups regularly, it’s very possible you just overextended the joint, pushing past its limit, and now it's hurting like hell.

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So, it's right in the wrist—well, actually just above the wrist, near that bone sitting right above it—where it hurts a little when pressed. But the real pain hits the palm area when the wrist itself is squeezed; it's not that the center of the pain is the wrist, rather the wrist acts like a trigger for the pressure. As for my training, I hadn't worked out for a few days before this hit me. I tried working out once after that, but the pain is still there. Over the last 20 days or so, it hasn't gotten any better or any worse. Honestly, if I wasn't doing pushups, I might not even have noticed it, because as long as the wrist isn't under load, there's zero pain. But the moment I apply pressure to that spot, it feels like my hand is going to fall apart from the intensity of the pain.

Also, the pain is most intense when my arm and hand are held at a 90-degree angle.