Wrist Rehab Exercises

A wrist injury can greatly challenge us in our everyday life and activities. If we fall down, especially from a height, our natural inclination is to protect our head and body, outstretching our hands to break our fall. The weight of our body lands completely on two small bones, causing a fracture. Depending upon the severity of the fracture, surgery is sometimes needed to help repair the damage. Some form of rehabilitation will be needed. The recommendation for rehabilitation can also stem from repetitive stress injury, which can also cause daily pain and hinder mobility.

After the Initial Healing Period

• Whether the injury was a sudden impact fracture or a repetitive stress injury, your orthopedic physician or surgeon will help guide you in your next step after the cast and/or your stitches have been removed and the sensation of sharp pain has ended. In any case, you have a fairly long road ahead in your recovery process. The doctor may ask you to do some basic exercises, such as holding a broom handle and turning it over in the palm of your hand, from palm up to palm down, which is meant to help rebuild grip strength and improve your range of motion and dexterity.

Occupational Therapy

• If you have practiced the basic at-home therapy methods and are still struggling, you may need occupational therapy. The therapist will evaluate how far along you have already come in the healing process and will generally begin each session with a warming portion of the therapy, which is often a box of warm, blowing sand to make your bones more open to the work ahead.

  The therapist will then work on manipulation of your hand, including your fingers and entire hand. You may want to let the therapist know if your elbow is stiff due to the extended bent position of the arm, which may often be the case because it is a protective instinct to hold the wrist close to the body and bending the arm in is a natural way to do this.

Nature of the Exercises in Rehabilitation

• The most important things to focus on are flexibility and strengthening. Your wrist has been through trauma and has been inactive for at least six to eight weeks or overworked for a long period. It is stiff and weak. You have to find the balance between being gentle yet firm with yourself, finding your tolerance for the pain the rehabilitation may inflict, but knowing you must forge through a certain degree of pain to regain as much utility as possible.

  The exercises themselves will involve flexing and extending your wrist forward and back and from side to side. You may be asked to stand and place your hand palm flat down on a tabletop or hold a light 1- to 3-lb. dumbbell in the palm of your hand and move it in different directions, building flexibility and grip strength. You may also do rubber ball squeezes to further improve your grip strength. Your therapist will introduce a wide array of exercises.

In the Case of Scar Tissue

• If you have a scar from surgery, you will also want to tend to that as part of your rehabilitation, as sometimes scar tissue can cause its own pain due to the lack of circulation to the scar, further limiting mobility. Use lotion and massage the scar tissue, starting in the center and then moving outward toward the edges. Sometimes you can use a soft-bristled hairbrush to bring additional blood flow to the area, using the same motion as massage.

Be Patient with Your Body

• The recovery process for a wrist injury is usually at least six months to a year. Each individual and injury is different and it is important to remember this. Keep exercising and remain positive.