broken blood vessel in palm?

Hi everyone,

Mostly I just lurk in this group, trying to learn from you expert weight lifting people out there. I've been lifting for about a year off an on, although I just recently switched to free weights (I'm doing NRLW) a few weeks ago. On Monday night, I was loading up the bar (well, putting my dinky little weights on the end anyways) to do some deadlifts. I was put the clip thing on the end and then my hand started hurting like mad. It was sort of stinging/throbbing, and I saw a giant blue vein snaking around the bottom of my thumb on my palm. I went to the bathroom and put it under some cold water for a while, and it felt somewhat better. Now I have this big old bruise on my palm in the same place. I'm thinking I broke a blood vessel while I was squeezing the clip thing really hard to get it on the bar.

I'm wondering if anyone else has ever had a similar thing happen to them? Do you think it's dangerous? Does this mean I should give up weights?? (Hopefully not!) I have normal-to-low blood pressure, so I don't think it's that. And I *definitely* don't have hemophilia (in fact my blood clots more than it should).

Yeah, it's happened to me too. Only it's happened while cooking or writing or doing something else and always on the same pinky finger, on the knuckle (sp?). It started as a burning stinging feeling and then it burst. This was a few years back and it hasn't happened since.

I too have normal blood pressure and I have no idea why it happened. If you find out why please share the info.

I'm thinking it's not a dealbreaker for working out, but I'd be mindful and keep an eye on it.  I've heard a lot of people talk about similar incidents.  My gut feeling is that it's genetics, and likely has to do with either blood thickness, thickness of the walls of your capillaries and vessels, or a combination of the two.  It's been my experience that some folks are just "easy bruisers" and tend to have injuries like the one you describe more often.

My wife is one of those, by the way.   I swear she bruises just LOOKING at the corner of a table or footstool.  And if she connects, even a minor bump, she gets really big and dark bruises.  She's very fair-skinned, though I don't know if that has anything to do with it.  Her mother and grandmother share the same trait.

As you talked about, the thing I'd recommend you watch especially close is the possibility of clotting.  A rogue clot in your bloodstream is obviously no joke.  One that shows up in muscle tissue is not as risky, but if you're an easy bruiser or prone to injuries like the one you describe, you need to be more vigilant.  Obviously the bigger or darker the bruised area is, the higher the probability of a clot as it heals.

You might also invest in a nice pair of padded gloves for lifting to protect your hands if you don't already have a pair.  If you're using the tension spring-type clips on the end of your free weights, you can also try wrapping the portion of the clips that you grip and squeeze with something to soften them up without obstructing their movement--you could try a self-adhesive wrap .  It's pretty easy to find on the shelves and fairly cheap.

But I'm not a doc.  I could be way off.  Might be a good idea to talk to your sawbones about it on your next visit.

I used to get these playing softball. Swinging the bat would cause them in the knuckle close to the palm... sting... wow and hurt for a couple of days... but they always dissipated within a few days... if it continues I would get it checked.