Exercises For Autoimmune Arthritis Hand Pain & Stiffness

Hand pain and stiffness is something that I experience on a regular basis now a days. And it sucks.

Seriously, sucks.

It starts with hand pain and stiffness, then moves up my arm to a tingly forearm and can get all the way up to my shoulder. Somedays, if it’s really bad, I have to stop working and just rest my hands. I see that using my phone has profound effects on how my hands are feeling. If I use my phone for more than 5-10 minutes at a time, my hands will start to hurt and go numb. That doesn’t really help, especially when my job requires me to be checking social channels and to be on my computer. #arthritisProblems

Prior to this year, I would have the occasional problem with my wrist, but that was about it.

I remember when I was in high school I had “tendonitis” from scooping ice cream at Bruster’s ice cream in McMurray, Pa. I thought at the time it was a pretty shitty reason to have a wrist injury. And the worst part about it, I wasn’t able to get out of working because of it! haha

Fast forward a few years to when I was working 24/7/365. I would occasionally have problems with my wrist, but I just thought it was because I was ALWAYS on my computer. I remember thinking I was getting carpel tunnel and a coworker suggested I get a brace. I’d wear the brace at night when I slept and the I’d sometimes wear it at work. I never thought it was going to be a big problem. It would come and go. I’d go months without having issues, followed by a few weeks where it’d bother me.

I never put two and two together until the last few years. Of course, I had wrist and hand problems! I have autoimmune arthritis!

Now a days, there are many ways that I help manage my symptoms. Just recently I started wearing compression gloves while I’m working. I feel like they definitely help. I’m testing driving a few different pairs and will report back to which I think are the best!

But you should definitely check out these two posts I wrote for HealthCentral on ways I manage my hand pain and stiffness.

http://www.healthcentral.com/skin-care/c/357092/180604/tips-psoriatic-arthritis/?ap=423

http://www.healthcentral.com/skin-care/cf/slideshows/poses-psa-exercises-hand-stiffness-and-pain#slide=1/?ap=423

Have any tips to add? Comment with what you do below 🙂

Wishing You A Pain Free Day!

Julie Cerrone | Spoonie, Autoimmune Warrior, Certified Holistic Health Coach, DoTerra Wellness Advocate, 200 RYT Trainee, Reiki 1, Nutrition Geek, ePatient Advocate, IT Consultant, Pittsburgh Based Practitioner Living the Chronic Life

8 Comments

  1. Hi Julie, I love your upbeat attitude and saying your truth. I have RA and have the same problem. Thanks for sharing! Take care, Carol from NH

  2. I’m so excited to have just found your blog! And Yes to everything above! I just finally got compression gloves, too. My kids also thought they looked so awesome they want them too. I wish they weren’t so expensive.

  3. I love the wrist release and will add it to my routine.

  4. I’ve just been diagnosed with psoriasis but you are describing the exact pain I’ve been having in my left hand/arm for the past 6 months or so. Charis Hill turned me onto your blog. I’ll have to read more.

  5. Pingback:It\\\'s Just A Bad Day | AVN Knee, Psoriatic Arthritis, Complex Regional Pain Syndrome

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