ORTHOPEDICS/HAND & WRIST
Wrists are composite joints with many bones, muscular attachments, and nerves that travel through the zone. The muscles that move your wrists and forearms extend from zones above your elbow and from your forearm to your fingers.
Improving or maintaining strength of the wrists requires an appropriate training program.
Simple exercises may be perform at home. They only require a small weight and a table to relax your forearm on it.
These exercises can also be performed with a resistance band.
Strengthening Wrist Damages
Common damages that may require performing wrist strengthening trainings include:
Carpal tunnel disorder, Boxer’s crack, Colles’ crack, Smith’s crack, Humerus crack, following a shoulder, elbow, or wrist surgery and following a stroke.
1 Extending Wrist with a Dumbbell
A small weight can be used to perform wrist-strengthening movements.
To start the wrist strengthening movements, sit in a chair with your forearm relaxing on a table. Hang your wrist and hand over the edge of the table. Hold a two or three-pound dumbbell in your hand with your palm facing down and slowly lift your hand so the back of your hand moves towards the ceiling. (Your forearm should remain on the table).
Once your wrist is fully extended, hold the end position for a few seconds, and then slowly lower your hand down.
Repeat this movement for 10 to 15 times.
2 Wrist flexion with dumbbell
Relax your forearm on a table and flex your wrist to improve wrist strength.
After performing wrist extension, continuing relaxing your forearm on the table, and turn your hand over so your palm is facing the ceiling.
While keeping your forearm against the table, flex your wrist up so that your palm moves towards the ceiling. Once your wrist is fully flexed, hold the position for two to three seconds. Then, slowly lower hand back to the starting position.
Repeat the wrist flexion exercise for two to three sets of 10-15 times, then move on to the next movement.
3 Wrist Supination with a Dumbbell
Use a weight to add resistance to your wrist strengthening movements.
Wrist supination refers to the movement of turning your wrist over, so your palm is face-up. The main muscles that help to turn your wrist over are the biceps muscle in your upper arm.
To perform this movement, sit in a chair with your forearm relaxing on a table. Make sure your wrist and hand are over the table edge.
Hold a small 1-3 pound dumbbell in your hand with one end in your palm, (like holding a hammer). Slowly allow your hand and wrist to rotate over, so your palm is face up towards the ceiling. Hold the end position for a few seconds, then slowly rotate your hand back up, so the dumbbell is straight up once more.
You can then allow your hand and wrist to slowly rotate over, so your palm is facing down (a position called pronation). Hold this position for a second or two, and slowly rotate your hand back up, so the weight is pointing to the ceiling.
Repeat this exercise for 10 to 15 times.
Two to three sets of this exercise can be performed a few times each week.
4 Wrist Pronation with a Dumbbell
Wrist pronation refers to the position of your hand facing down as if you were pouring a pitcher of water.
To strengthen your wrist pronators, sit in a chair with your forearm supported on a table and your wrist and hand over the edge. Hold one end of a dumbbell with the weight pointing up towards the ceiling.
Slowly rotate your hand so your wrist and palm are facing down towards the floor. Hold this position for a few seconds, and then slowly rotate your hand back to the starting position with the weight pointing up towards the ceiling.
Slowly allow your wrist to rotate into supination with your palm facing up. Once your palm is facing up, hold the end position for a few seconds, and slowly return your wrist to the starting position.
Perform two to three sets of 10 to 15 times of wrist pronation.
The pronation exercise can be combined with the supination exercise in the previous step.
After a wrist, elbow, or shoulder damage, performing a physical therapy may improve a motion range and strengthen the arm.
Wrist strengthening trainings may be a part of this physical therapy program.
Note that physical therapist can also help developing a strengthening program to help preventing damage.
Wrist strengthening trainings may be an important rehab factor after a damage.