Wrists are of great importance for us, I hope you agree! We use our wrists almost all the time and take their smooth performance for granted. Until the moment something goes wrong, usually our more used wrist becomes sore and we are not able to type (who needs it today anyway…?) or cut a piece of bread in the morning. I guess all of you know how such sore wrist feels. My right wrist actually started to hurt recently when under pressure in certain angle, so I better do these exercises regularly too!

It does not have to be like that because we can make our wrists strong and healthy with regular exercise. Here is a simple sequence for you with 5 easy-to-follow exercises that could be done anytime, anywhere, next to your desk or at home, no equipment required.

Please note that if you wait with exercise until some kind of pain arrives, that’s usually too late. When performing the exercises, you should feel your muscles stretching but no sharp pain in your wrist. If you have any history of wrist injuries, make sure to consult your physician before starting any exercise routine. This short program is not a substitute to a proper medical advice if you already have some wrists issues.

Some basics about wrists in case you are interested:

The wrist is a complex joint that bridges the hand to the forearm. It is actually a collection of multiple bones and joints. The bones comprising the wrist include the radius and ulna, 8 carpal bones, and portions of the 5 metacarpal bones, several tendons, ligaments and muscles. Such complicated (probably the most complicated in human body) joint is required to enable the hands to be both strong and flexible, allowing them to move in all directions.

You can learn more about the anatomy and shoulder function for example here: Wikipedia – Wrist.

The most common wrists injuries include bone fractures (either radius, ulna or carpal bones) or ligament sprains. Everyone heard about the carpal tunnel syndrome. Not every wrist pain is caused by the carpal tunnel syndrome, however. Carpal tunnel is fairly crowded passage between palm and wrist, tendons moving fingers and median nerve run through this tunnel. Inflammation of the tendons immediately presses on the nerve causing pain or tingling in some of the fingers. It is important to check with the physician because permanent pressure on the nerve can cause irreversible damage. There could be other causes of wrist pain that resemble carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms – yet another reason to see your doctor in case you feel pain there for a prolonged period of time.

Once we injure our wrist, we usually have to rest, apply ice, adjust our activities and seek medical advice. Some injuries are possible to address with specific physiotherapy, medication, others require surgery. There are so many different options why our wrist could be painful, hence proper examination using modern tools like MRI is a very good idea. From my view, any surgery should be avoided unless absolutely necessary, until we find out that physiotherapy with an experienced therapist or other non-invasive treatments do not work.

Enjoy your wrist exercises and have a great day! Please let me know your experience after you have done the routine for a couple of weeks.