Hand & Wrist Pain

Please remember the advice we give is general and not meant to be used as a substitute for professional medical or health advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If you want specific advice then please seek help from your doctor or local physio.

The purpose of this guide is to help you overcome any issues you have related to hand/wrist pain.

What to do about hand/wrist pain

There can be lots of different causes of hand/wrist pain. However, the majority of cases do not require any specific diagnoses or specific treatment to overcome. Most musculoskeletal pain gets better with time.

Whatever the cause of your hand/wrist pain, it is important to find ways to keep being physically active. Continuing with the program is likely helpful. Rest assured that even with a painful hand/wrist, exercise is usually safe and beneficial.

In order to continue with the program, modify the exercises to make them tolerable. There is no right and wrong here, it will be personal for each individual.

How to make the program exercises tolerable

The goal is to modify the exercises in order to make the tolerable, so that you can continue. The use of the word tolerable here is intentional. This doesn't mean the exercises have to be completely pain-free. Some pain with exercise is ok. It just has to be tolerable for you.

There are 3 general rules to follow when modifying exercises:

Reduce the weight that you are using
Reduce the range of movement
Vary the movement or find a similar alternative

Often, the push-up type exercises are the most problematic when it comes to hand/wrist pain. So check out this article to to learn how to modify push-up movements: How to modify push up movements

If none of these modifications are working for you, and you find certain exercises are just too painful, then it’s okay to just skip those exercises for a while. Keep going with all the other exercises in the workouts as best you can. Then try to gradually reintroduce the exercise that was previously too painful, starting with the easiest possible version and slowly progressing.

Hand Osteoarthritis

Hand/finger osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common causes of hand pain. Like nearly every condition affecting the human body, hand OA benefits from exercise. We recommend continuing with as much general exercise as you can manage (including the Be Mobile Online Programs). As always, some exercises may need to be modified in order to make them tolerable, so follow the general principles outlined above.

In addition to generally getting enough physical activity and exercise, specific hand exercises can also be useful to:

Encourage movement of the hand and finger joints
Build hand and finger strength

Click this link to read our hand OA blog, which will dive a bit deeper into this condition, and teach you some hand specific exercises that may be helpful.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) is another common cause of hand pain and symptoms. The symptoms usually come on gradually and often include:

Numbness, pain and tingling in the thumb, index, middle and ring fingers.
Pain that travels up the forearm
Shock like sensations in the hand and fingers
Reduced coordination and strength in the hand

Click here to read our CTS blog, if you want to learn a bit more about CTS. Usually it's worth consulting with a doctor or physiotherapist if you have CTS symptoms.

Even if you do have CTS, We recommend continuing with as much general exercise as you can manage. Some exercises may need to be modified in order to make them tolerable, so follow the general principles outlined above.

Summary

We hope you have found this guide helpful for overcoming your hand/wrist issues and giving you the confidence and know-how to continue with exercise.