Arthritis wears away at the cartilage of a joint, which is the cushioning material between bones, and can cause inflammation and irritation of the synovial lining, which produces the synovial fluid that helps protect and lubricate the joint. When arthritis affects the joints of the hands, it can cause pain and stiffness. That pain can get worse whenever you use the hand a lot for repetitive taks\u2014for example, when typing on a computer keyboard or gripping utensils in the kitchen. You may also lose strength in your hands. Weakness in your hands can make it hard to do even the simplest everyday tasks, such as opening jars.<\/p>\n
1. Make a Fist
\nYou can do this easy exercise anywhere, and any time your hand feels stiff. Start by holding your left hand up straight. Then, slowly bend your hand into a fist, placing your thumb on the outside of your hand. Be gentle\u2014don\u2019t squeeze your hand. Open your hand back up until your fingers are straight once again. Do the exercise 10 times with the left hand. Then repeat the whole sequence with the right hand.<\/p>\n
2. Finger Bends
\nStart in the same position as in the last exercise, with your left hand held up straight. Bend your thumb down toward your palm. Hold it for a couple of seconds. Straighten your thumb back up. Then bend your index finger down toward your palm. Hold it for a couple of seconds. Then straighten it. Repeat with each finger on the left hand. Then repeat the entire sequence on the right hand.<\/p>\n
3. Thumb Bend
\nFirst, hold your left hand up straight. Then, bend your thumb inward toward your palm. Stretch for the bottom of your pinky finger with your thumb. If you can\u2019t reach your pinky, don\u2019t worry. Just stretch your thumb as far as you can. Hold the position for a second or two, and then return your thumb to the starting position. Repeat 10 times. Then do the exercise with your right hand.<\/p>\n
4. Make an “O”
\nStart with your left hand pointing straight up. Then, curve all of your fingers inward until they touch. Your fingers should form the shape of an \u201cO.\u201d Hold this position for a few seconds. Then straighten your fingers again. Repeat this exercise a few times a day on each hand. You can do this stretch whenever your hands feel achy or stiff.<\/p>\n
5. Table Bend
\nPlace the pinky-side edge of your left hand on a table, with your thumb pointed up. Holding your thumb in the same position, bend the other four fingers inward until your hand makes an \u201cL\u201d shape. Hold it for a couple of seconds, and then straighten your fingers to move them back into the starting position. Repeat 10 times, and then do the same sequence on the right hand.<\/p>\n
6. Finger Lift
\nPlace your left hand flat on a table, palm down. Starting with your thumb, lift each finger slowly off the table\u2014one at a time. Hold each finger for a second or two, and then lower it. Do the same exercise with every finger of the left hand. After you\u2019re done with the left hand, repeat the entire sequence on the right hand.<\/p>\n
7. Wrist Stretch
\nDon\u2019t forget about your wrists, which can also get sore and stiff from arthritis. To exercise your wrist, hold your right arm out with the palm facing down. With your left hand, gently press down on the right hand until you feel a stretch in your wrist and arm. Hold the position for a few seconds. Repeat 10 times. Then, do the entire sequence with the left hand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Arthritis wears away at the cartilage of a joint, which is the cushioning material between bones, and can cause inflammation and irritation of the synovial lining, which produces the synovial fluid that helps protect and lubricate the joint. When arthritis affects the joints of the hands, it can cause pain and stiffness. That pain can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[18,158,157,43],"class_list":["post-965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-arthritis","tag-exercise","tag-hand","tag-pain"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbodywork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbodywork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbodywork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbodywork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbodywork.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=965"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/etbodywork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/965\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":966,"href":"https:\/\/etbodywork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/965\/revisions\/966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbodywork.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbodywork.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbodywork.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}