Stretching Your Hands

No matter what you do for a living or a hobby your hands can be your most valuable tool.  For those of us who use our hands all day, everyday for work it becomes stressful on them. We potters push and pull clay while we are throwing. We push, carve, cut and paint our clay to decorate it. It’s a lot of stress. Then in our spare time we play musical instruments, dig and pull weeds in the garden, and grab onto the dog leash for a healthy walk. Even if you’re not a potter you may participate in many activities that use your hands all day, like typing on a computer key board.

It’s important to take care of our hands. Most people would not perform exercises like running or biking without doing some stretches also, but for some reason stretching our hands isn’t emphasized as much as leg stretches. The thing is, if you’ve ever felt the pain of carpal tunnel syndrome you know how important it is to take care of your hands.

The first time I felt with carpal tunnel pain was after driving through the Pocono Mountains with a poorly loaded trailer when I was in my twenties. Whenever I went down hill the trailer would start to sway behind me, it even pulled the truck a bit so naturally I held on for dear life. I didn’t realize the problem was too much weight in the back of the trailer so I was unable to fix it, I just gripped the steering wheel until I got to flatter land. Two days later I couldn’t move my fingers and it felt like someone had driven a spike through my palm.

My hand got better by applying ice and taking aspirin but that experience left an impression on me so I started researching thing I could do to keep my hands healthy (and my trailer properly loaded).  I talked to Yoga instructors, chiropractors, and musicians and they all pretty much recommend the stretches that I demonstrate in this video. However, it would be a really good idea if you talked to your healthcare professional about doing these stretches before you start doing them. Your health situation may be unique so it’s a good idea to check with someone who has studied medicine first and, of course, if you experience any pain or discomfort.



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