How to Exercise Hands to Relieve Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis, or RA, is a chronic disease where your immune system attacks your own tissues. Symptoms are pain, swelling, stiff joints and loss of motion mostly in the hands and wrists. However, strengthening the muscles around those joints through simple exercises can lead to improved function in the hands.

Instructions

• 1

  Check with your doctor. Discuss which exercises will most benefit your afflicted joints and work well for you.

• 2

  Take each exercise slowly. Here are a few examples of good arthritis exercises. Put your hand out flat, palm up, and bend each finger one at a time toward your palm. Another is to squeeze an exercise ball in your hand. For better finger mobility, take screws and bolts out of one box by the handful, transfer them into your other hand and then put them into another box.

• 3

  Be brave. Exercising sore joints can be painful, but keep doing them and you will see the benefits.

• 4

  Rest during flare-ups. People with RA go through phases. Flare-ups are when the joints become extremely painful and swollen. During a significant flare-up, the joints need more rest so you may have to put the exercise on hold or do far less during that period.

• 5

  Keep at it. Slow and steady wins the race. Though it's unlikely the RA stiffness will permanently go away, hand exercises will improve what you can do and give you a much better quality of life.