Do you want to live longer? Well, according to Dr.Liza Egbogah, your hand strength is a predictor of your life expectancy! Thanks to the pandemic, most of us have spent the last year and a half working from home. This change of location has been great in some ways but has also left us spending longer hours on our laptops which isn’t helping our wrists or hands at all! According to Dr.Liza, you may have felt your hands feeling sore or even numb due to the amount of time spent on devices. Don’t worry though, she has put together a list of 5 easy moves you can do to relieve tension in the hands. PS. some of the movement will also relieve stress and anxiety thanks to acupressure points (thanks Dr.Liza!)
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Here are 5 easy moves you can do to relieve tension in the hands, courtesy of Dr.Liza
Forearm Stretch
Outstretch your left arm in front of you with your palm facing up. Place your right thumb on the back of the wrist and place your other four fingers on the left palm. Use those four fingers to pull your left hand back while your right thumb supports the wrist. You should feel a stretch at the front of your forearm. Hold for 10 seconds.
Repeat for the other side of your forearm by outstretching your left arm in front of you with your palm facing down this time. Place your right thumb on the front of your wrist and place your other four fingers on the back of the left hand. Use those four fingers to pull your left hand down while your right thumb supports the wrist. You should feel a stretch at the back of the forearm. Hold for 10 seconds.
Repeat on the opposite arm.
Hand Spread Stretch
Start by forming a tight fist with your hand and holding for 2 seconds. Then slowly open up your hand as much as you can. You should feel your fingers lengthening and a stretch in the palm of your hands. Hold that stretch for 2 seconds and then repeat this movement 5 times for each hand.
Hand Massage
We don’t want to tire out our already weary hands by using them to massage each other, so we are going to use our elbows. Grab your left elbow with your right hand so that the meaty part of your hand right under your thumb is in contact with the pointiest part of your elbow. Use your elbow to provide comfortable pressure to the meaty part of your hand and use circular motions to massage. Go clockwise and counterclockwise. From there you can use the elbow to massage the rest of your hand using the same circular motions.
Repeat on the other hand.
Stress Bust
These two acupressure points are great because they alleviate tension in your hands and they also help to ease anxiety and stress:
Union Valley Point:
You find this pressure point in the webbing between your thumb and index finger. Stimulating this point is said to reduce stress.
To use this point: With your index finger and thumb, apply firm pressure to the webbing between the thumb and index finger of your other hand. Massage the pressure point for four to five seconds, taking slow, deep breaths.
Inner Frontier Gate Point:
You can find the inner frontier gate point on your arm, about three finger widths below your wrist. Stimulating this point may help to reduce anxiety.
To use this point: Turn one hand so your palm faces up. With your other hand, measure three fingers below your wrist. The point lies here, in the hollow between the tendons. Apply pressure to the point and massage for four to five seconds.
*Tips were written by Dr.Liza Egbogah. For more information on her, click here.