Stretches and exercises - hand, wrist, finger pain

To self massage your forearm muscles:

massage the elbow

Find the tender spot on the lateral (outside) aspect of your elbow and press in with your thumb. Then raise and lower your hand to "floss" the tight tendons.

self massage flossing

You can do the same for the medial aspect (inside) of your elbow.

medial elbow

While pressing on the tender spot in your muscle, raise and lower your hand to deepen the massage.

Pressure Points in the Hand and Wrist

You can also try pressing on tender spots in your hands to see if it helps your head pain. The spots shown below are considered by many to be effective pressure points. At worst, pressing on these points will help your hands feel better.

hand pressure points - posterior

hand pressure points wrist

If any of these spots are tender, press and hold for three breaths, relax, and repeat up to three times. You can repeat every hour as needed.

If you find other tender spots in your hand, work on them as well. If a spot is tender, it’s a sign that the tissue is not happy. Relieve the tenderness with the press-and-hold technique. This helps get the fluids flowing in your tissues, thereby facilitating their healing. Treating these pressure points may also help your hand pain.

I find the most common tender spot for hand and wrist pain suffers is in the web of the hand (the thenar eminence) between your thumb and forefinger (Figured above).

TO OPEN UP THE NERVE FLOW FROM THE NECK TO THE HANDS, TRY THIS TRICK:

Interlace your fingers and place your hands behind your head (Figured below). Tuck your chin in, press your head back into your hands, and squeeze your shoulder blades together. Hold this for five breaths.

hand behind head stretch for hand pain

You can do this exercise either seated or standing. If you do it while standing, be careful not to arch your back too much; otherwise, you will hyperextend it (you want the mid-back to arch, not the lower back to compress). The purpose of this stretch is to create space between the bones of your neck, so there is more room for the nerves that flow from your brain, out your neck into your hands. This stretch often relieves pain, tingling and numbness of the hand if these symptoms are caused by pinched nerves in the neck.