In the hands, osteoarthritis occurs when joints wear down, so the bones rub against each other because the cartilage that normally cushions them wears away.
The hand has more than 10 joints, and wear in one or more of them can cause pain, limited mobility, and inflammation. Once inflammation sets in, the condition is called arthritis, notes Dr. María Fernanda Hernández Ugarte, rehabilitation medicine specialist at ABC Medical Center.
Mexico’s Ministry of Health notes that there are more than 100 types of arthritis, and it affects about 1.5% of the global population.
Among the joints in the hand, the most commonly affected is the fingertip joint, known as the distal interphalangeal joint, because it’s used constantly in daily activities, everything from picking up small objects to buttoning a shirt or holding a pen.
While osteoarthritis can affect anyone, it appears more frequently in women. It also becomes more common with age, and although it isn’t hereditary, having a family member who’s had it does increase the likelihood of developing it.
A great tool for managing this is using heat and cold, along with stretching and directly strengthening the hand. Before trying any of the following recommendations, it’s important to talk with your treating physician first to understand your specific situation and what would be most appropriate for you.
Rehabilitation is a valuable tool for reducing pain, improving motor function and mobility, and strengthening the hands overall.
Heat and Cold
Heat can help reduce pain and improve hand mobility. You can apply it by soaking your hand in warm water (be careful not to burn yourself), using warm moist compresses, or even warmed seed packs.
Alternating heat and cold can be a great tool for rehabilitation, but be sure to check with a specialist first on the proper way to use this technique.
Dr. Marta Elda Brito de León, also a rehabilitation medicine specialist at ABC Medical Center, notes that various exercises can help improve hand joint health. These exercises focus on strengthening the hand and improving grip.
Strengthening Exercises
These exercises help keep the hand healthy, stabilize the joints, prevent pain, and in some cases, reduce stiffness. You can do grip exercises without added tools when there’s pain, but as your hand improves, you can introduce therapy putty, resistance balls, or even clothespins.
Strengthening should also include extensor exercises using resistance bands or therapy putty.
Stretching Exercises
Simple stretching and flexion exercises are also important and help improve finger mobility.
Something important to keep in mind, the specialists note, is that when doing arthritis exercises, it’s important to plan out your activities and avoid doing every type of exercise at once, since this can overtax the hand and end up being counterproductive.
You can do these exercises at whatever time of day works best for you, whether morning, afternoon, or evening.
Another important point is recognizing when pain is severe, even to the point of being disabling. In these cases, there’s no need to feel embarrassed about using assistive strategies, such as relying on larger joints like your forearms to carry bags instead of your fingers, switching to clothing with larger buttons or zippers, or opting for clothing with elastic waistbands or closures instead.
At ABC Medical Center’s Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation area, we can provide you with specialized care. Contact us!
