Work Hands

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

A common complaint we see at Stay Tuned Therapeutics, when working with office and production workers, is forearm discomfort. We see many people coming in with pain at the outside, top of the elbow, when the palm is facing down. It may be that the tendons at the lateral condyle are week, and in need of strength rather than the stretch. Stretch is commonly prescribed when anything hurts. What if it is to long and weak already?

Theraband products are a big help, easy to use and affordable. This simple elastic resistance band has many uses, today we will explore finger/wrist extension so those little tendons don't get so beat up.

Fig.1) Start. Begin by making a gentle fist and covering it with the resistance band as shown in the image.

Fig. 2) Slowly extend the fingers and wrist, as shown in Fig. 2. Hold for 4 seconds, then allow the fingers to curl back under, slowly. Slow is a key factor, have control of this movement. This is known as concentric and eccentric exercise.

Do a set of 10 on each wrist/hand, with 4 second holds in extension. Repeat this strength movement 3 times a day. Often times I have seen a much quicker recovery from hand and wrist pain using these strength exercises than I have with stretching the heck out of it......