Hand massages soothe muscle tension and can help you sleep. You can do them on yourself or on another person.
Steps
Step 1. First, make sure you have been able to identify all the stress areas in your hand
Try closing your eyes as you open and close your hand. You will find that what gives you the most pain, between opening and closing your hand, will force you to open your eyes, or to react directly to the pain.
Step 2. Get familiar with the hand muscles
Try searching for an image of the hand muscles on Google and identifying your pain area with the help of the image, locating the muscle area where the problem is occurring.
Step 3. After completing the last step, spread a small amount of the lotion the size of a dime on your palm
You can skip this step if necessary, but it is best to have a smooth base in case you are putting too much strain on your skin and not doing the massage properly.
Step 4. Begin rubbing the lotion around the palm with your thumb as you rub the back of your hand and knuckles with your other fingers
Step 5. Rub by pushing up to the fingers with the other hand, using both the thumb and fingers to reach the tip, then slowly move back towards the wrist, where most of the pain in the hand originates
Step 6. Now, paying attention to the ends of the hand muscles, work on those specific muscle structures that hurt the most, making sure you have completely and carefully covered the entire muscle structure with the lotion (add more if it dries)
Make sure you have identified muscle pains on both the palm and the back of the hand. *** You can also rotate your hands, opening and closing them while performing the massage; this will help to stretch the muscles during exercise.
Step 7. Once you have worked on the major muscle structures, go to the "lean" areas between the ends of the muscles and repeat the massages, which should be done in small clockwise / counterclockwise circles
*** The pain you experience may not be located in the main muscle structures, but between them. Make sure you have identified the areas where you feel the most pain. Random application of the lotion will not produce results. *** Arthritis pain should be massaged more gently. The pain associated with any level of arthritis is likely to increase (especially on the hands) if you massage very vigorously.
Step 8. Repeat on the other hand, but be sure to identify the areas of greatest pain first
After repeated exercises, you will begin to notice the specifics of the pain you feel in the hand. You will also start memorizing your main pain areas, which will help you avoid exercises during the day that could be at the origin of the pain that occurs every day.
Advice
- When using a keyboard or brush, or holding a coffee, or engaging in any activity (even sports), make sure you align the general structure of the hand with the wrist and elbow. This alignment will help you avoid the accumulation of any stress you may have suffered during the day's activities. For a keyboard, find a small pillow or spread out a towel vertically where your wrists can rest. Probably, most of the pain you feel in your hand is due to improper posture on the keyboard. For sure you will notice the difference after a week of well-rested wrists.
- Enjoy the massage!
- If you don't have a lotion on hand, it's also nice to massage your hand in warm water.
