4 Simple Hand Exercises to Alleviate Arthritis Symptoms
Arthritis wears away at the cartilage that
cushions our joints and keeps them healthy and pain-free. Over time,
this process of gradual but steady damage to the joints becomes more
noticeable and painful. With more damage comes more inflammation,
stiffness, weakness, and pain, especially after repetitive tasks like
typing on the keyboard or using kitchen utensils. Medications and
dietary changes can help reduce these worrisome symptoms in the long
run, but if you’re looking for instant arthritis relief, exercises are
probably the best option.
Hand exercises for arthritis strengthen the muscles that support the
joints. They also increase the production of synovial fluid that
lubricates the joints. As a result, you will experience pain relief and
improved range of motion of your hands and wrists right away. With
consistent practice, you will also notice more flexibility and a better
grip, so these exercises are definitely worth trying.
Exercise
1. Stretch your wrists to relieve stiffness and pain
Start by giving your hands and wrists a
general warmup. This will lubricate the joints, preparing them for the
exercises to follow. Wrists can also get stiff from arthritis, and these
exercises help improve their flexibility.
Follow these steps to perform the stretch:
Downward Stretch
1. Hold your arms out straight in front of you, with one palm facing
down.
2. Use the other hand to press down on the hand that’s facing down. Be
gentle, you should feel a stretch on the tops of the palm, wrist, and
arm, but no sharp pain.
3. Hold this position for 5 seconds, then release. Repeat 5-10 times,
and then do the same on the opposite side.
Upward Stretch
1. Hold your arms out straight in front of you, with one palm facing up.
2. Use the other hand to press on the base of the palm that’s facing up
until you sense a pleasant stretch in the inner part of the wrist and
arm.
3. Hold this position for 5 seconds, then release. Repeat 5-10 times,
and then follow the same steps on the opposite side.
2. Strengthen hand muscles with sequential finger bends
This exercise is like a pushup for your
fingers and the base of the palm. It helps strengthen the hand muscles
and will improve your grip and flexibility. In this exercise, you will
need to bend each finger one after the other.
There are two ways you can do this exercise. If your fingers are
relatively flexible, you can bend the finger completely until the
fingertip rests where the base of the finger meets the palm.
Alternatively, you can bend the finger to meet your thumb, as shown in
the image above - this is an easier version of this exercise.
The exercise itself is pretty straightforward.
Here are the steps:
1. Start in the same position, but with only one of your hands held up
straight.
2. Bend your pinkie down toward your palm (or the thumb). Hold this
position for 5 seconds.
3. Straighten the pinkie, and then bend the ring finger for 5 seconds.
Release, straighten, and move on to the middle finger, and so.
4. When you get to the thumb, simply bend it towards the palm and hold
for 5 seconds.
5. Repeat the same exercise on the other hand. You can do this exercise
several times throughout the day.
Exercise 3. Do the “O” or “C” finger bend whenever your hand is feeling stiff
Unlike the previous task, where we
exercised each finger separately, this finger bend activates all the
muscles together, which brings relief to hands that feel stiff and weak.
Just like the previous exercise, there are two methods of doing this
finger bend. The “O” stretch is more advanced and challenging, whereas
the “C” stretch is the easier one.
Here are the steps:
1. As the name suggests, this exercise requires you to curve all of your
fingers in until they form a shape similar to the letter “C” or “O”.
2. Hold for 5 seconds, then release and straighten the fingers.
3. Repeat 5-10 times on each hand.
Exercise 4. Improve strength and relieve stiffness with these variations
of a fist
This is probably the easiest and most
straightforward exercise we will show you. It’s also the last one. You
can do it anywhere and anytime, which makes it a great option for
instant stiffness relief.
As before, we will walk you through 2 versions of this exercise. The
easier one only requires bending your fingers halfway, whereas the more
advanced variation requires you to make a full fist. Follow these steps:
1. Hold your arms out straight in front of you, with all the fingers
straight.
2. Slowly bend your hand into a fist halfway, as shown in the image on
the right. Your thumb should be on the outside of the hand.
3. You can stop here and hold this position for 5 seconds.
Alternatively, you can bend your fingers inward completely, as shown in
the image on the left, and hold.
4. Open the hand and straighten the fingers. Repeat the exercise 10
times on each hand.