How much long term damage to one’s hands is caused by practicing punches on targets/bags? I’m talking about amateur training intensity and strength. Does punching heavy bags with boxing gloves do more/less damage to one’s hands than punching softer, hand-held targets with light gloves or no gloves? Should, for example, a pianist worry about this?
The main danger of injury to the hands from boxing is a “boxer’s fracture,” a broken metacarpal in the hand, especially the pinky one. The possibility of getting a boxer’s fracture can be minimized by using handwraps and gloves, keeping a tight fist, and using proper technique - you’re much more likely to get them in a barroom brawl than in a boxing ring. There’s more danger of a boxer’s fracture with a heavy bag than with focus mitts (hand targets), but injury to the hand is possible with either if the puncher uses bad technique or punches as hard as he can with no wraps or gloves (or just pounds the heavy bag as hard as he can without control). If the person in question was a concert pianist I wouldn’t recommend anything that could put their hands in any danger whatsoever, but for the average person who just wants to take a boxing class to get in shape the danger of injury to the hands is fairly small if proper safety precautions are observed.
Without proper form, you could easily hurt your wrist as well. Mine began to ache after a few weeks of Muay Thai lessons, and I could have easily seen that turn into sprain if I kept it up.
There are reports in medical journals of damage being done by people to themselves by hitting makewara boards repeatedly and incorrectly. You can cause scarring and joint damage. I came across these when researching Karate back in the 1970s, but I’m sure there have been others since.
there’s also the guy who managed to break his arm trying to fracture ice, copying what he saw in some British advertisement. I get the impression that he wasn’t a martial arts student. (Also in the medical journals)
The other risks in boxing or martial arts greatly outweigh damage to the hands, even long term. Even sparring with headgear in boxing is almost certain to cause longterm brain damage. You can easily break your hand by punching wrong (I’ve felt the bones in my hand start to “give” when in a fist fight with no hand wraps and I punched the person’s elbow), but long term damage isn’t much.
When I started boxing I was giving myself a shoulder injury from bad form on my right hook by arm punching the heavy bag.
Repeated punching on a heavy bag (or whatever), even done correctly, will result in calluses forming around the knuckles, etc.
I would be concerned that these calluses may limit the amount of movement and spread you can get with your fingers - probably not a concern for most people - certainly a possible concern for a high level pianist.
However, if both pursuits were done as hobbies (as opposed to careers), it probably wouldn’t be a big deal. (The calluses that is - not fractured bones in you hands.)