If you suffer from chronic wrist or hand pain, or are recovering from an injury, activities such as typing or eating may be painful. Your doctor may recommend a series of exercises to help improve the range of motion in your hands and wrists, reduce nerve and joint pain, and reduce pain from an injury. Consult your doctor before trying exercises to reduce your hand and wrist pain.
Arthritis
Bend your fingers to reduce pain in the fingers due to arthritis, recommends MayoClinic.com in the article titled "Hand Exercises for People With Arthritis." Hold your hand up with your fingers completely straight. Slowly bend the top two knuckles of your fingers, keeping your third knuckle and the rest of your hand completely still. Hold for a second, then release back to the starting position. Repeat on both hands until the joints feel loose.
Wrist Sprain
Move the wrist slowly from side-to-side to reduce pain and rehabilitate a sprained wrist, recommends the University Sports Medicine website in the article titled "Carpal Tunnel Relief." Make a loose fist and tilt your wrist to the right. Hold the position for five seconds, then tilt your wrist to the left and hold for five seconds. Repeat 10 times, then rest and do an additional three sets of 10 reps, notes the University Sports Medicine website.
Carpal Tunnel
To relax the wrists and soothe the nerves that cause carpal tunnel pain, fan out the fingers, recommends Donna Rae Siegfried of "Arthritis Today" in the article titled "Carpal Tunnel Relief." Make a gentle fist, then slide your fingers up the inside of your palm until your fingers are straight up in the air. Repeat for a total of 10 repetitions. Then make a gentle fist and open it, fanning out your fingers as much as possible. Repeat for a total of five to 10 repetitions.
Range of Motion Exercise
To reduce wrist stiffness due to injury, use range of motion exercises, recommends the Ohio State University Medical Center website in the article "Active Range of Motion Exercises." Place your forearm on the edge of a tabletop so your wrist and hand are hanging off the edge. Bend your wrist all the way down so it is resting against the edge of the tabletop and pointing down toward the floor. Hold for a few seconds, then raise your hand to the ceiling, bending your wrist in the opposite direction. Repeat as recommended by your doctor.
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