Recurrent knuckle pain? Glove issues?

[Jimmy Page]

Hi Guys,

In the past year and a half I've started some boxing training at home. Just heavy bag, speed bag, etc. I had done some with a club when I was younger but had been away for it for a while.

Anyways, I find myself having a recurrent pain in the middle knuckle of my right hand when punching the heavy bag. It's more than just a little bit of pain, it's very painful at times. A hard right cross can be excruciating.

At first I blamed the gloves, they were the Everlast shock foam, velcro strap ones that you see around ?5-?0. I found them okay, but the foam seemed quite hard and stiff, I would have preferred sometime more soft and cushioned against my knuckles, it seemed like they irritated the middle knuckle of my right with almost every punch I through after a few minutes on the heavy bag. I've since read online that Everlast gloves of low or medium price bracket are generally junk, and one must pay alot for good Everlast gloves.

So I bought some different gloves, I bought a pair of dirt cheap Title bag mitts (under ?0) and a pair of RDX bag mitts, which I must say both of which were WAY better than the more expensive Everlast IMO (I've since gave the Everlast away). Although that said the Title were quite light, wouldn't really offer that much protection or weight on the hands and wrists. With wanting something heavier, I thought I'd get another pair of more expensive Title as I was impressed with even their cheapest gloves. So I got a pair of their answer to my previous Everlast I guess you could say.. Shock foam, velcro strap, medium price, sparring gloves. While being better than the Everlast, I still find them quite similar in construction/density, and they are paining me a little with the middle knuckle on my right under medium-hard punches. I'm afraid to go too hard no incase I start the whole thing up again really bad where I can't do heavy bag for ages.

I wrap pretty well. At first I used 108 hand wraps but very soon I started using 180's to offer move protection. I also combined wraps and Adidas gel knuckle when I was using the Everlast but to no avail. I laid off the heavy bag for quite a while to recover and just done other things instead, to see if that made any difference but knuckle pain still comes back no matter how long it's left.

I guess I could go on buying gloves forever until I find one that works for me. Are there any good reasonable priced gloves preferably in the UK that are really good? Are all gloves filled with that shock foam these days? Is there other alternatives? I don't think it works for my hands, unless I'm doing something wrong or cursed with bad shaped/density gloves.

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

Thanks,

[boxingsmash69]

Hi Guys,

In the past year and a half I've started some boxing training at home. Just heavy bag, speed bag, etc. I had done some with a club when I was younger but had been away for it for a while.

Anyways, I find myself having a recurrent pain in the middle knuckle of my right hand when punching the heavy bag. It's more than just a little bit of pain, it's very painful at times. A hard right cross can be excruciating.

At first I blamed the gloves, they were the Everlast shock foam, velcro strap ones that you see around ?5-?0. I found them okay, but the foam seemed quite hard and stiff, I would have preferred sometime more soft and cushioned against my knuckles, it seemed like they irritated the middle knuckle of my right with almost every punch I through after a few minutes on the heavy bag. I've since read online that Everlast gloves of low or medium price bracket are generally junk, and one must pay alot for good Everlast gloves.

So I bought some different gloves, I bought a pair of dirt cheap Title bag mitts (under ?0) and a pair of RDX bag mitts, which I must say both of which were WAY better than the more expensive Everlast IMO (I've since gave the Everlast away). Although that said the Title were quite light, wouldn't really offer that much protection or weight on the hands and wrists. With wanting something heavier, I thought I'd get another pair of more expensive Title as I was impressed with even their cheapest gloves. So I got a pair of their answer to my previous Everlast I guess you could say.. Shock foam, velcro strap, medium price, sparring gloves. While being better than the Everlast, I still find them quite similar in construction/density, and they are paining me a little with the middle knuckle on my right under medium-hard punches. I'm afraid to go too hard no incase I start the whole thing up again really bad where I can't do heavy bag for ages.

I wrap pretty well. At first I used 108 hand wraps but very soon I started using 180's to offer move protection. I also combined wraps and Adidas gel knuckle when I was using the Everlast but to no avail. I laid off the heavy bag for quite a while to recover and just done other things instead, to see if that made any difference but knuckle pain still comes back no matter how long it's left.

I guess I could go on buying gloves forever until I find one that works for me. Are there any good reasonable priced gloves preferably in the UK that are really good? Are all gloves filled with that shock foam these days? Is there other alternatives? I don't think it works for my hands, unless I'm doing something wrong or cursed with bad shaped/density gloves.

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

Thanks,

I suggest taking a few days off to rest your hands (at least the one that's causing pain).

Then, definitely try out the NG-2 gel Winning knuckle guards:



If you've seen Juan Manuel Marquez's HBO 24/7, he uses 2 pairs of these with his wraps.

I have these myself and it made all knuckle issues literally disappear.

After all, they are a Winning brand product, the brand that has been known to provide the best hand protection in boxing.

[New England]

for starters you need a long rest. unless you remember some tramatic injury that started all of this it sounds like an overuse injury. the first step with any overuse injury is to decrease the demand, IE stop what you're doing to aggravate it.


secondly, i'd make sure you're wrapping your hands correctly. if it's only one knuckle getting hurt, and it's the one in the middle that protrudes the most, there's a chance that you're not properly spreading out the force of the impact through a proper wrap with padding placed and secured properly over your knuckles.

i am not a trainer, but there are guys here who can help you figure out what's going to work best for your hands. it sounds like you need to properly pad your knuckles. i think that's the main issue here. they can also point you in the direction of some good modern gloves. i used everlast and grant, very high quality gloves, but that was years ago. they're pretty expensive now, and you can get equal quality gloves for less. as with any product on that scale, you pay for the marketing.

your entire knuckles should address the target, not just one. you want a wrap that will allow for that. if you aren't wrapping your hands right you'll be wearing a neat little depression in the padding of your gloves where your problem knuckle is.

[Cuauhtémoc1520]

The first thing that I find people who are starting boxing is that they suffer from pain in their wrists and knuckles.

Rest it but eventually, you will just have to get used to the pain and your body will adjust.

[Jimmy Page]

I suggest taking a few days off to rest your hands (at least the one that's causing pain).

Then, definitely try out the NG-2 gel Winning knuckle guards:

If you've seen Juan Manuel Marquez's HBO 24/7, he uses 2 pairs of these with his wraps.

I have these myself and it made all knuckle issues literally disappear.

After all, they are a Winning brand product, the brand that has been known to provide the best hand protection in boxing.

Hello boxingsmash69.

Thank you very much for your reply. I have read the Winning NG-2 knuckle guards are indeed fantastic. Unfortunately, I'm in the UK so they are proving nigh on impossible to acquire. I can't buy them off the site as US sites will not accept UK cards and o the best of my knowledge they do not accept PayPal either! I've tried to find the NG-2's elsewhere, on eBay, UK stores, etc, but it seems like nowhere stocks them. Does anyone have any suggestions how I could get some?

for starters you need a long rest. unless you remember some tramatic injury that started all of this it sounds like an overuse injury. the first step with any overuse injury is to decrease the demand, IE stop what you're doing to aggravate it.


secondly, i'd make sure you're wrapping your hands correctly. if it's only one knuckle getting hurt, and it's the one in the middle that protrudes the most, there's a chance that you're not properly spreading out the force of the impact through a proper wrap with padding placed and secured properly over your knuckles.

i am not a trainer, but there are guys here who can help you figure out what's going to work best for your hands. it sounds like you need to properly pad your knuckles. i think that's the main issue here. they can also point you in the direction of some good modern gloves. i used everlast and grant, very high quality gloves, but that was years ago. they're pretty expensive now, and you can get equal quality gloves for less. as with any product on that scale, you pay for the marketing.

your entire knuckles should address the target, not just one. you want a wrap that will allow for that. if you aren't wrapping your hands right you'll be wearing a neat little depression in the padding of your gloves where your problem knuckle is.

Thanks alot for your explanation. It's been of great help. Yes, that all does make sense to me. I will look into padding the knuckles better now.

The first thing that I find people who are starting boxing is that they suffer from pain in their wrists and knuckles.

Rest it but eventually, you will just have to get used to the pain and your body will adjust.

Hello, thanks for your reply! I'm no fighter but I'm not a complete beginner either, I understand totally what you mean about the whole 'breaking in', stage, haha. But I'd say Yeah I'm pretty much past that, I'm basically just having issues with one knuckle, recurring, very painful. I don't really think fighting through a 'joint' issue/injury like this will work, as to my experience, it only makes it worse. It's irritating not being able to do heavy bag though. But I'll lay off for my right for a while and hopefully get me some NG-2... somewhere.

[Cuauhtémoc1520]

Hello boxingsmash69.
Hello, thanks for your reply! I'm no fighter but I'm not a complete beginner either, I understand totally what you mean about the whole 'breaking in', stage, haha. But I'd say Yeah I'm pretty much past that, I'm basically just having issues with one knuckle, recurring, very painful. I don't really think fighting through a 'joint' issue/injury like this will work, as to my experience, it only makes it worse. It's irritating not being able to do heavy bag though. But I'll lay off for my right for a while and hopefully get me some NG-2... somewhere.

Well you are going to get pains here and there from time to time. I think the only relief is just resting the hand. Now if you keep getting pain there, then something is wrong or your body is not adjusting.

My hands are brittle from boxing, and I have issues with them now but that "soreness" is long gone. My knuckles are built for hitting now, and my wrists are strong enough to where I have no issues at all.

You also might want to make sure you are hitting the heavy bag correctly and aren't hitting it full speed all the time. You don't need to pound on the bag to work it properly.

You also don't need the gel guards from winning to get some protection. Some gauze inside your wraps works just as good or go to Titleboxing.com or Ringside.com and they have many options for good gel knuckle guards.

[boxingsmash69]

I haven't really looked into this thread, but this may help with finding out how to acquire the NG-2:

[F l i c k e r]

These guys pretty much have it covered.

I would just add that make sure you are using proper punching form. Some guys just go ham on the bag for the sake of hitting the bag really hard and end up with their hands hurting.

So also do that. Otherwise, what everyone else said is pretty spot on.

[Big Boy Inc]

I broke my hand when I was in amatuer myself a few times.

[greynotsoold]

It isn't the gloves. I had a similar problem 20 odd years ago, and this was after 17 or 18 years of hitting stuff. It got to the point where I couldn't hit the heavy bag at all. I had good gloves, wrapped my hands well, and used every trick I had ever heard about protecting one's hands. I wrapped sponges over my knuckles, all that. But the middle knuckle on my right hand hurt constantly.
I sat down and decided that I needed to fix it, or I'd have to give up my favorite activity. So I sat down and really took apart how I was throwing my right hand. I determined that I was throwing it from too far away and waving it too much, if that makes sense, and that was causing it to land poorly on my knuckles. I started paying attention to my distance, and how I was controlling it with my left hand.
You can push the two small knuckles to the right of the middle knuckle pretty easily. Open your right hand, flat out, and look at the back of it. Where are those last three knuckles, the middle going out? You might find they are pushed up towards your wrist. The one between my middle and small fingers got pushed towards the center and it caused me problems until I learned how to land the punch properly.