Hand strengthening/relaxing exercises?

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**This is kind of a spin off of my request for prayers.

What are some good hand strengthening/relaxing exercises?

I have been doing a few things…
  1. Washing all our dishes by hand in hot water.
  2. Trying to keep typing, even though it hurts.
  3. Squeezing/molding Play Dough several times a day, and making sure to use both hands.
I still try to do everything I used to do also.

Anything else?

**
 
That sounds about right, although I think it’s a good idea to take breaks when you are experiencing pain, though.

I have a rubber squeeze ball that I use while I’m typing - I find that it helps to take a break and squeeze it for a while, to stretch my hand muscles and loosen them up a bit.
 
Have your doctor refer you to a physical therapist who can show you exercises that are appropriate for your condition, explain the right number of repetitions/frequency of exercise, and the proper way to do them.

Don’t take advice from non-medical professionals on this-- you could end up hurting yourself or making your condition worse.
 
**I don’t know how your fibro is, but with mine any thing I try makes it worse… I need to rest the affected joint/muscle and stop doing anything that causes pain. You use your hands enough in daily life that they are already getting exercise… and repetitive motion is a killer for me. You might want to get your hubby to give you gentle hand massages…

Malia**
 
There are those what-you-call-it thick wires with handles that you might be able to buy in a shop with gym equipment. Sorry I don’t know the proper name. 😉 But if you have any problem with your hand, don’t do it without asking the doctor first. Things can go wrong and that’s painful.
 
I don’t usually go to a shop to get my fingernails done, but my cousin did it once for me (she’s a professional nail artist), and it included a LOVELY massage of my hands with oil or lotion and (extra service) dipping them in warm (paraffin?) wax. When you take your hands out and don’t move, the wax hardens and is “broken” off in pieces, but the massage and warm wax are SO relaxing.

Please do consult a physician or physical therapist about this. Sometimes working through pain is the WORST thing you could do, worsens the injury or condition and the pain and gives you no benefit for your trouble.
 
Talk with an occupational therapist. (Any doctor can refer you). An OT can show you how to do things so that you don’t do more damage, even can relieve the pain.

And while some people think I am crazy, what helps me the most when my hands are bad, is 😊 cracking my knuckles! 🤷 (I found this out by accident).

Seriously, take it easy on yourself. Fibromyalgia is a tough thing to live with, but there are ways to treat it & work around it now. (I have had it since long before it had a name…Thank God for a doctor who believed that I had something, even if he didn’t know what to call it!)
 
Shaking your hands gets the circulation going.

Also I was just reading about this hand stretch in a knitting magazine! You press your palms together at shoulder height with your fingers spread apart, then slowly move your hands down toward your waist while still pressed together.
 
Please consult with an appropriate medical health professional.
 
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