Managing Symptoms of Arthritis in Your Hands

“Physical therapy can help to alleviate arthritis hand pain by improving joint mobility and strength,” says Theresa Marko, DPT, a spokesperson for the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) and the founder and owner of Marko Physical Therapy, a private practice in New York City, specializing in orthopedics. “Improving mobility will reduce stiffness and improve movement in the knuckles and finger joints, helping to reduce pain,” she adds.

Dr. Marko notes that physical therapists (PTs) can do this through manual techniques, including gentle joint mobilizations, in which a passive force is applied in a specific direction to help the biomechanical glide of the joint. “When hands become stiff, the joints can benefit greatly from this technique,” she says.

It’s also important to improve the strength of your wrist, elbow, shoulder and shoulder blade in order to reduce demand on the small joints in the hands. “You want assistance from your larger joints to help support the work of the hands so that your force when performing activities is not all generated by your hands,” explains Marko. “Think of something like scrubbing the bathtub — a strong shoulder will mean the strength and stability is coming from the shoulder instead of straining the hands.”

Physical therapy can also help improve and maintain movement that might be limited by pain, to preserve a person’s quality of life, notes Marko. “This can include exercises for enhancing joint flexibility, general physical conditioning, muscle strength, and pain management.”

While it varies depending on the person and their symptoms, exercises typically include squeezing or closing the hand, opening the fingers with something like a gentle elastic, and some stretches with range of motion incorporated, says Marko.

Additional exercises to help the larger joints supporting the hands could include:

• Wrist flexion
• Wrist extension
• Exercises for the biceps and triceps
• Shoulder external rotation
• Reverse pec fly

Marko adds that if arthritis is making it too painful to hold a weight in the hand, she might opt for light ankle weights placed around the wrists when performing these exercises.

A benefit of PT is that it’s tailored to the individual. The signs and symptoms of OA and RA can vary, so the approach to care also will vary, says Marko, and what works for some may not work for others. But typically, low impact and more gentle exercises may be advised for both.

“People with RA may have more fatigue than usual, so energy-saving physical activity should be kept in mind,” she adds.