Stretching and Strengthening Exercises at Your Desk (3) - Hands

If you use a computer a lot, you might get wrist pain.  In fact, anybody who use their hands a lot, including massage therapists, are susceptible to carpal tunnel syndrome and tendinitis.  Here are a few tips to prevent them.  

Stretching

The muscles in the inner forearms are constantly flexed to move the fingers.  There are a number of stretching exercises. The easiest one you can do while seated is to use the other hand, and push forward so that the angle of the wrist gets smaller. If you have pain or inflammation, don’t do these exercises.

If you would like deeper and more precise stretching, stand up and put your palm on the desk with the fingers pointing forward.  Pull your thumb and each finger towards you.  This is my favorite.  Here is the video (1:52) showing step by step.

Strengthening

The muscle in the outer forearms should be strengthened.  Hold your hand with the other hand, and try to push forward while the other hand resists. 

Resting Hands Sideways

It is important to have your wrists rest on the desk to support the weight of your forearms.  If you have even a moment to rest your hands while typing, turn your pinky sides down and rest the sides of your hands (a thumb’s up position) on the desk, instead of the hands hovering over the keyboard.  Even this small change might help you in a long run.

Check out exercises for upper body at “Stretching and Strengthening Exercises at Your Desk (1) and (2).”  

Text Neck

Unfortunately, modern technology is not necessarily doing good for our bodies.  I wrote about a “Forward Head Posture” and “Texting Thumb” a while back.  There is an increasing problem we can’t overlook.

“Text Neck” is happening more to younger people, even small children.  It’s not caused by just texting, but using any types of handheld mobile devices including tablets for long periods of time.  Looking down at a device causes the back of the neck overstretched and inflamed.  The common symptoms are headaches, pain in the shoulders, neck, back, arms, elbows, and wrists, and even numbness and tingling of the arms and hands.  Dr. Dean Fishman, who coined the term “Text Neck,” calls this condition “a harmful and dangerous physical condition on the human body.”  The long term risks can be flattening or reversing the natural spinal curve, early onset of arthritis, spinal degeneration, disc herniations and etc.  This poor posture decreases the lung capacity leading to vascular disease, and puts pressure on the organs causing gastrointestinal problems.  It sounds pretty serious, doesn’t it?

How do we avoid “Text Neck”?  Old habits die hard, but think seriously about the long term consequences especially if you are still young.  Here are suggestions.  

Tablet stands / docking stations:

Use a stand or a docking station to put your device closer to your eye level.

“Text Neck Indicator” (for Android):

This app alerts you when you tilt a smartphone too low and are at risk for Text Neck.  Unfortunately, I haven’t yet found an app for iPhone.

Look up!

Look up and turn your head left and right 10 times whenever possible.

Do exercises:

Try these exercises I posted at “Stretching and Strengthening Exercises at Your Desk (1) and (2).”