Your hands do it all. Having them less than fully functional can derail your entire routine.
Many people suffer from hand pain. Sometimes it comes and goes, other times it’s a constant presence. Many suffer in silence, afraid to admit their hand pain is putting a damper on their life and livelihood.
You don’t have to accept hand pain as your new normal. In many cases, hand pain relief is within reach—so you can get back to living your life, your way.
In this article, we’re unpacking common causes of hand pain, treatment strategies, and offering up a selection of my favorite tools to achieve hand pain relief.
If you’re ready to move past hand pain with expert advice and guidance from a Certified Hand Therapist and Occupational Therapist with decades of experience helping people recover from hand pain—read on!
Common causes of hand pain
Your hands are small but mighty.
They’re made up of intricate, finely tuned equipment. The muscles, ligaments, tendons, bones, and joints of your hand, wrists, and fingers allow you to grip, pinch, and perform essential movements for activities from playing an instrument to holding a baby to using the bathroom.
A network of arteries and veins delivers blood flow to your hands and fingers, while a cluster of nerves heightens their sensation.
With such delicate machinery that’s used so frequently, it makes sense that our hands are susceptible to injury, strain, and overuse.
The hand pain culprits:
Arthritis
This chronic joint inflammation can cause hand, wrist, and finger pain. Arthritis can seriously impact hand functioning in many ways.
- Rheumatoid arthritis often attacks the joints and tendons of your wrists and fingers, leading to pain, swelling, and restricted movement. It can even cause your fingers to become deformed and interfere with their functionality.
- Thumb arthritis can severely impact your thumb’s ability to move freely and without pain. Virtual Hand Care even has a full program devoted to helping you heal from thumb arthritis. Check it out!
Thumb CMC arthritis is located at the base of the thumb near the wrist.
- Osteoarthritis—this degenerative joint condition involves the breakdown of joint cartilage, causing stiffness, swelling, pain, and reduced hand strength.
Peripheral neuropathy
A condition involving nerve damage that can cause hand pain, a burning sensation, weakness, and reduced sensation.
- Carpal tunnel syndrome—this painful condition involves compression of the median nerve in the wrist. This nerve provides sensation and control to the thumbs, index, and middle fingers. Symptoms also include numbness, tingling, and a burning sensation.
- Cubital tunnel syndrome—the ulnar nerve is compressed in the elbow for this condition. However this nerve provides sensation to the ring and pinky fingers.
Overuse
People who regularly use their hands in their careers and hobbies are most at risk of pain from overuse. This includes musicians, doctors, tradespeople, teachers…everyone really!
- Tendonitis—inflammation or irritation of the cords that attach muscle to bone is the cause of tendonitis. It can impact the wrist, hand, and fingers, causing pain, swelling, and impaired function.
- Trigger finger and trigger thumb—sometimes, finger and thumb inflammation can cause these joints to painfully click or lock into place. Michelle has a full course dedicated to treating trigger thumb and finger. Take a look!
Traumatic injury
Hand sprains, strains, and fractures cause hand pain. If you experience a hand injury, it’s wise to seek out support from a qualified medical professional to determine the underlying issue and appropriate course of treatment.
Ganglion cysts
These fluid-filled sacs can develop in the hand and wrist, causing pain, discomfort, and tenderness. In some cases, they impact hand movement.
Raynaud’s phenomenon
This condition involves a heightened sensitivity to cold and stress in the hands, affecting blood flow. It can lead to numbness and tingling, and sometimes pain.
Finally, certain medical conditions can also increase your risk of hand pain. These include lupus, diabetes, and gout.
Next, let’s take a look at treatment options for hand pain.
Hand pain relief and treatment
When you’re experiencing hand pain, it’s vital to pinpoint the underlying cause.
Knowing the cause of your hand pain will help you ensure the treatment course you’re pursuing is appropriate for your condition. After all, you want your hand pain to get better, not worse!
This is why the best first step in finding hand pain relief should be to seek out assessment from a qualified healthcare professional.
If you’re not sure where to turn, start with a Fellowship trained hand surgeon. Seeing a specialist is necessary to determine the root of your hand pain. For one thing, you’ll save time but also the potential for misdiagnosis from nonspecialists.
Consulting with a hand doctor is especially important if your hand pain is caused by a traumatic event, is severe, or involves significant swelling and redness, as these can be serious and require immediate attention.
In general, chronic and mild to moderate hand pain can be treated with a variety of methods. These may include—
- Rest
- Icing
- Immobilization (often with a splint)
- Use of anti-inflammatory drugs (like Advil)
- Modifications and adaptations (such as using an ergonomic keyboard when typing)
- Gentle exercises
- Cortisone injections
- Surgery
You may already be well-versed in the cause of your hand pain. If you contend with carpal tunnel syndrome, trigger finger or thumb, or thumb arthritis—you likely know when you’re experiencing a flare-up.
Now, let’s dive into my favorite products for treating hand pain.
Michelle’s favorite hand pain relief tools and recovery resources
When searching for hand pain relief, it may feel like you’re throwing spaghetti at the wall to figure out what sticks. Some approaches may work for a while, but then stop being effective. Others can make your hand pain worse and complicate your issues.
Michelle Coil has dedicated her life to helping folks recover from hand pain and injuries. From her curated recovery programs to her YouTube channel, she’s passionate about helping you feel your best and achieving the recovery you deserve.
So, we picked her expert brain to discover her favorite tools, gadgets, and resources to banish hand pain to the past tense.
Ready to supercharge your recovery journey?
Let’s pull back the curtain and unveil Michelle’s favorite hand pain relief and recovery resources!
(*Disclaimer—Michelle is an affiliate for some of these products, but she only represents products she’s thoroughly vetted and wholeheartedly believes in. She may receive some type of compensation if you purchase one of these items through her Amazon storefront or website store. No pressure, of course!)
To help you select the items that are right for you, we separated them into categories based on how they support overall hand pain relief.
Michelle’s a big believer in these approaches to effectively and safely reduce and relieve hand pain when it strikes. You can also check out her hand pain videos, like this one!
Compression
Excuse our pun, but hand pain and swelling often go hand in hand. It’s even tougher to get a handle on your hand pain when swelling keeps fueling its fire.
Thankfully, we have some advice for dealing with hand swelling quickly and effectively.
You’ve probably heard about compression stockings. Folks who experience leg edema often wear them when sitting or travelling for long periods to promote blood flow and reduce swelling and fluid build up.
But did you know you can also harness the power of compression to reduce swelling in your hands?
Not only that, but hand compression can help relieve hand stiffness and even keep your chilly hands warm! They’re especially great for folks with carpal tunnel syndrome and hand arthritis.
Compression favorites
Michelle is a big fan of Grace and Able’s line of compression gloves. She’s proud to be an affiliate for this brand because she’s vetted their products and stands behind their values and approach.
Interested in learning more about this product and why Michelle lists it among her favorite hand health and recovery products? Check out this blog post, all about Grace and Able’s compression gloves, how they work, and why Michelle likes them.
Tired of suffering from hand stiffness and swelling? Want to learn how to use compression gloves and discover if they’re right for you? Michelle created a video to demonstrate how these gloves work and who they’re made for. In it, she also shares her expert tips for wearing and sizing these gloves. Watch it now!
Heat
Heat is your bestie when it comes to reducing and relieving hand pain, stiffness, and swelling.
The reason is heat therapy encourages blood flow. Your blood is your body’s oxygen and nutrient delivery system. This can help relax muscles and relieve stiffness.
And so, heat therapy is often recommended to help relieve and reduce symptoms of hand and thumb arthritis, tendonitis, and carpal tunnel syndrome.
Heat Favorites
When it comes to heat therapy, sometimes a warm soak will do the trick.
Take your experience from soothing to therapeutic with these warm water hand and finger stretches to help relieve stiffness and improve range of motion. Michelle walks you through everything in this helpful video!
She loves hot packs and paraffin wax treatments to target symptoms of hand pain, stiffness, and swelling.
In fact, she’s an affiliate for SunnyBay, who make a range of hot packs and wraps for various needs. Their microwavable hand warmer gloves can help soothe hand pain and stiffness.
- Want to see if a hot pack is the hand pain solution for you before spending money on one? Michelle will show you how to DIY your own handy hot pack, using items you likely already have around the house! Learn how here.
Paraffin wax treatments are another soothing way to relieve hand pain and stiffness. As a bonus, paraffin wax therapy is also moisturizing and nourishing.
It’s like a spa treatment coupled with therapy for your hands!
Additionally, paraffin wax treatments can help relieve achy hand joints, reduce pain, and enhance range of motion.
Her fave is this system from Therabath®, which is available for purchase through the Virtual Hand Care Store page.
Joint protection
The human hand contains 27 different joints. That’s a LOT!
Illustration of the skeleton of the hand in a top view
Protecting and supporting your hands’ joints can help them stay healthy, so they can do their job without pain.
Thankfully, Michelle has lots of advice and guidance for simple, effective ways to support hand pain relief while protecting your joints.
She’s a fan of everyday gadgets that reduce added stress and strain on hands and offer needed assistance to your joints. Michelle believes in the power of simple modifications to give the joints in your hands the care they deserve to reduce pain and strain.
Joint Protection Favorites
One of her favorite gadgets is a jar opener. Think about how painful trying to open cans and jars can be? Your joints don’t need that!
Thankfully, there’s a wide range of jar opener options to assist with this everyday task—from electric, to undercabinet, to ergonomic manual versions—you’re sure to find the right one to support your joint health and wellness!
Jar opening is just one common task that can be made infinitely easier on your hands with the use of simple gadgets and modifications.
Wondering what other activities you can get a hand with? Michelle loves discovering new tools and products that help support hand health—she’s even curated a whole collection of them you can browse on her Amazon store.
From grippers to choppers to clippers—we believe in giving your hands the support they deserve to feel their best, both now and in the future!
We hope this information will help you achieve lasting hand pain relief! For even more great hand health resources, check out Virtual Hand Care—we’re your trusted partner in hand wellness and recovery support!
