Two exercises for arthritis finger pain in Ferndale, WA

Finger Hurts to Bend but Not Swollen

When your fingers hurt when they bend but aren’t swollen, there are several issues you could be dealing with. Osteoarthritis is the most common issue that causes these symptoms in Ferndale, Washington, and physical therapists in this area can help you find ways to treat your arthritis symptoms. Therapeutic exercises are one tool a therapy specialist might use to treat finger arthritis. Here are two exercises that your therapist might ask you to do that can help with your symptoms: 

  1. Finger bends

 

Although it might not seem like it, movement can actually be good for arthritis in the fingers. It can help reduce how much your fingers hurt when bent, and certain movements are intended to help decrease swelling or prevent it if you have no swelling yet. One therapeutic exercise that can provide these finger arthritis benefits is finger bends. 

Before you start this exercise, you’ll need to hold your left hand out with all the fingers straight. If you have difficulty holding your hand in this position, you can rest your forearm on a flat surface with your hand hanging over the edge. From this position, slowly bend your left thumb down down toward your palm. People who can’t touch their palms with their thumb shouldn’t worry. Just bend your thumb down until it’s as close to your palm as you can get it. Hold your thumb in a bent position for three to five seconds and then return the thumb to its starting position. Repeat these steps with each of the fingers on your left hand. Then, switch hands and repeat the steps for the right thumb and fingers. 

  1. Finger lifts

 

Another type of therapeutic finger exercises your therapist might show you is strengthening exercises. These exercises are designed to move your fingers, but they are also intended to strengthen the ligaments that move your fingers. An example of an exercise that helps strengthen the fingers is finger lifts. 

The starting position for this exercise is pretty easy to get into. First, place your hand and forearm on a table or other flat surface; make sure your palm is facing down. Start your finger lifts by placing your left hand in the starting position. From this position, slowly raise your left thumb off the table as far as you can while keeping your palm on the table. Hold your thumb up for three to five seconds before slowly lowering it back to the table. Your goal should be to repeat these steps five to 10 times with each finger of your left hand, and then, repeat the process with the fingers of your right hand. 

Come find out how Whatcom Physical Therapy in Ferndale, WA, can help with your finger arthritis

Arthritic fingers that hurt when bent, even if they aren’t swollen too, can make it harder to do routine activities. At Whatcom Physical Therapy, our goal is to help you return your fingers to the highest possible level of function. We can get you started with physical therapy with a free screening. This tool is designed to help our team learn how your arthritis is affecting you, and the information we gather from it is used to build your therapy plan. This plan will be personalized to your symptoms, and it can be designed to use therapy methods such as: 

Don’t wait to start getting our help with your arthritis symptoms. Contact our team today for more information or to schedule an initial appointment.