Try This Warm-up Technique To Treat Parkinson’s Painful Stiff Hands

Have you noticed your hands becoming stiffer and less reactive when you try to move them? You need to exercise your hands like you do the rest of your body. Whether you have Parkinson’s or arthritis, if your hands become stiff, every task takes longer, and it really affects your quality of life.

People asked me to make a library or daily routine of hand exercises for Parkinson’s hand stiffness. I now have an easy-to-follow hand workout course that you can do at home: Rebel Fit Club’s PD Exercises to Improve Hand Dexterity & Mobility.

One of my clients with Parkinson’s who has taken this course is Nancy, an Occupational Therapist certified in Hand Therapy. She shared a great suggestion for warm-up “tools” that she used with her own hand therapy clients: rice and popcorn! I love these modalities because they are quick, inexpensive, and reusable.

Watch this video to see the techniques Nancy suggested for warming up and cooling down your hands to assist in your hand exercise program:

Instructions for warming and cooling your hands:

To warm up your hands, place a bag (1 lb. or more) of uncooked rice into a microwavable bowl and heat it for 1.5 minutes. It should be warm but not hot. If it’s not hot enough you can continue to heat it in 15 sec intervals until desired temperature.

Place your hands in the bowl and “massage” the rice, working it through your fingers until you feel your hands warming up and moving a little better. Keep the rice in a covered bowl or bag for future use. Just reheat when needed.

To cool down your hands after exercises or when they feel inflamed, fill a gallon sized bag with unpopped popcorn kernels and place it in the freezer. Any time you want to cool down your hands, just open up the bag, place your hands directly in the popcorn, and massage the kernels.

Be sure to check out my hand course—it has gotten great reviews! Click below to get started right away and regain some of your mobility: