Senior Housing Connection

A HAND EXCERCISE TO KEEP YOUR FINGERS IN WORKING ORDER

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Aging often brings with it stiffness, soreness and loss of flexibility of mucles. Those we use everyday and some we don’t use often enough.

Our hands, used daily, would seem to be one of those we should not have to work on to keep them limber yet they do need exercise to keep them working well.

Answer this question for me:

Do you use your keyboard a lot, or have arthritis, or just have hands that are not as loose and flexible as you would like?

Try the following exercise for a few weeks and see if the slow controlled movements of your fingers help to improve the way your hands work for you.

Remember as you do this exercise to move your fingers as slow as you can. The slower you move, the more you work the muscle coordination Pay attention to how your fingers feel as they move and feel the muscles in your forearms as you go through the range of motion. You can do this with both hands at the same time, however I suggest you work one hand at a time so you can focus on how each hand feels and responds.

  1. Start with your hand open, fingers spread wide and back. Keep your hand as relaxed as you can while holding this position.
  2. As slowly as you can, begin the tips of your fingers into a small curl
  3. Continue to curl just the tips until they touch your hand; not in a full fist, but a “half fist”.
  4. Finish the curling into a full fist and clench your fist as tight as you can, hold for a count of 5, then slowly uncurl back to the start with your fingers wide and stretched back.
  5. Repeat this 4 or 5 times and practice a few times a day

By Scott Cohen