Today I want to talk about hands and wrists! Did you know we have 27 bones in each hand, allowing us to complete so many different movements. We use them all the time and I have a few simple ideas for how to protect them from strain and injury.
If we trip up and fall we are likely to put our hands out to save ourselves, which can lead to injury. Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) is also a really common injury for hands and wrists where repetitive movements (such as being on a laptop all day) can lead to overuse of the muscles and joints.
Symptoms of RSI include pain, tenderness, tingling, numbness and cramp.
Being aware of the risks is a good starting point, and there are things we can do daily to help prevent RSI.
1. Warm up on a morning. Before you start work, rotate your wrists each way a few times and open and close your fist. This warms up the muscles and starts to stretch them so they are less tense.
2. Check your alignment when typing or working. Keeping the muscles and tendons straight and supported goes a long way to preventing problems.
3. Take a 5 minute break every hour (!) This can be so hard to do when the workload is piling up but helps mental concentration as well as physical well-being!
4. When you are taking the break, do some hand rotations - keeping your fingers extended and straight, hold on to your wrist and move your fingers up, back to neutral and down.
5. Lay your hands palm down on a table. Lift each finger and thumb individually.
Do you have any other ideas for looking after your hands and wrists? Let me know below!
