Fell on my wrist playing pickup, lingering soreness near thumb

About 11 days ago (New Year’s Eve) I fell while playing basketball and landed on my left wrist, kind of on the thumb side. Right after it happened I was holding my wrist with my other hand, but there was no obvious swelling or bruising.

Since then it’s gotten mostly better. Day-to-day stuff is fine. The pain is more of a dull, sore feeling, not sharp. It mainly shows up when my wrist is bent back under load (pushups, barbell bench) and sometimes when I golf. Dumbbell benching with a neutral grip feels fine.

There’s no instability or loss of strength. I work out a lot and don’t really take rest days, which seems to make it flare back up a bit. I’ve also noticed the area under my thumb feels a little knotted compared to the other side.

Has anyone had something similar from a fall in basketball? Did you play through it and let it calm down, or did you end up getting it checked? Mostly trying to figure out if this sounds like a minor sprain / bone bruise or if I’m being dumb by ignoring it.

Posted Jan 14, 2026, 12:07 AM UTC

06
Loading comments…