Being a physiotherapist means that we use our hands to help clients recover from their injuries. If we are not careful, we can develop stiff hands and stiff fingers over time.
In our Burnaby physiotherapy practice, we often share some of our favorite self treatment strategies to help relieve stiff hands and stiff fingers.
Stiff hands and stiff fingers are quite common in people that use their hands for work and in their daily life, like your registered physiotherapists in Burnaby near metrotown. You may experience this while working in the kitchen chopping up vegetables and preparing meals. Or you may be a desk jockey typing and clicking on the mouse all day.
Our hands can get overused and fatigued, resulting in hand and finger stiffness, and sometimes, even pain. The neglect of our hands adds up over time. Symptoms such as stiffness and fatigue can be warning signs. Remember, we only get a pair of hands in this lifetime, so let’s never take it for granted and make sure you take good care of it.
Self Treatment Strategies - Stiff Hands And Stiff Fingers
Hydrotherapy
Warm Water
One of the simple ways to decrease stiffness and improve mobility is to use warm water. Warm water increases blood circulation to the muscles, tendons, nerves, and joints.
If you wake up with stiff hands and fingers, either soak your hands in warm water for about 5 minutes. Move your hands and fingers by opening and closing your hands, and spreading and closing your fingers together.
Contrast Bath
If your daily activities need repetitive use of your hands and fingers, you may want to consider a contrast bath for your hands.
- have 2 tubs of water side by side, one warm and one cold
- alternate warm and cold water baths by using 30 seconds cold to 10 seconds warm
- repeat for 5-10 minutes per day, ending off with the cold cycle.
Contrast baths have been used for many years and have been shown to reduce stiffness and pain in the extremities. It can also speed up the recovery process from an injury.
Exercise Therapy For Stiff Hand And Stiff Fingers
Stretching Wrist And Finger Flexors And Extensors
The flexors of the hands and wrist originate from the inside of your elbows. The muscles that extend your hands and fingers originate from the outside of the elbow.
- keep your elbows extended
- bring your extended fingers downwards to the floor
- apply gentle pressure on the fingers to enhance the stretch
- you can turn your fingertips inwards and outwards to change the angle of the stretch
- hold for 30 seconds and repeat 3 times per day
- keep your elbows extended and have your palms pointed down to the floor
- use the other hand and apply gentle pressure to the back of the hand and direct it to the floor
- you should feel a light stretch on the outside of the forearm area
- hold for 30 seconds and repeat 3 times per day
Gentle Fist And Rapid Opening Of The Hands
- start by gently closing up your fist
- with a quick motion, open up your hands wide into extension
- repeat 10 times, 3 sets per day
- the quick opening of the hands can generate slight traction to the finger joints
Finger Traction
You can provide self treatment strategies by tractioning your fingers by using the thumb and index fingers on one hand to pull each finger on the other hand.
- Apply a gentle pull to each of the joints, from the thumb to the pinky finger.
- You can traction the fingers by pulling close to the knuckles all the way to the tip of each finger.
- As you traction the fingers by pulling away from the body, you can provide a gentle counterpressure by drawing your elbow back as you pull on your fingers.
- You can repeat this exercise throughout the day as needed.
You can also provide self treatment with generalized traction by flinging your hands down by your side keeping your shoulders, elbow, and wrist relaxed. Let gravity do the work for you. None of this should be painful and repeat throughout the day as needed.
Acupressure Points For Stiff Hands And Fingers
You can also use acupressure points called Baxie Points located on each hand to help relieve tension in your hands. These are nerve points that help stimulate the fingers and hands.
- This acupressure point is on the back of the hand, at the web of the fingers where the 2 different colors of your skin meet.
- There are 4 points in total on each hand.
The points are between the thumb and the index finger, index and middle finger, middle and ring finger, and between the ring and pinky finger.
They should be tender when pressure is applied and you can massage each point with your fingertips.
These are some quick strategies to help manage hand and finger stiffness. Should these symptoms persist, contact our physiotherapy Burnaby, BC for a consultation.
