I have come up with an exercise that I call Hand Yoga for Muscle Cramps and Stiffness. It’s been hurting off and on for a few weeks, and I pushed it a little bit too hard. It is important to find a balance when we experience joint pain of any kind. We do not want to give in and become sedentary. But doing too much can create further problems and also prevent us from healing. Watch the video and then read on for tips on relief from joint pain.
Gentle stretches can fight the fatigue from Hepatitis C and Cirrhosis. The pain may be from HCV treatment, fibromyalgia, neuropathy, or carpal tunnel. Heck, it could just be from overdoing it. I know my joints are not as young as they used to be! Pain is pain and we have got to find a way to get relief and also to allow our body to heal. I am taking the safe route and posting a Youtube in order to give my body a rest. As always, I share with you.
Here are a few ways I have been getting some relief from joint pain.
Stretch gently and slowly. Do some hand yoga or full body yoga stretches. Even the though pain is mainly in my wrist and hand, it seems to radiate up toward my shoulder. Stretching my upper body seems to bring relief.
Apply an ice bag. You know that I use a bag of frozen vegetables like corn for quick ice pack. Cheap, refreezable, and disposable. It’s even edible!
Try a topical cream. I found one with Arnica Gel. Any ingredient that creates an icy hot feeling can bring relief. I have been using straight up peppermint oil also.
Rest when you are tired. Do some stretches and then allow your tired muscles and joints to just relax.
Just breathe. Use this time to breath slowly and deeply. Pain can disrupt your thinking. It is hard to focus when you are constantly trying to push pain away.
Drink plenty of water. Everything I have ever read says that water is crucial for joint and muscle health. It makes sense to lubricate every cell in our body to help bring pain relief and healing.
Wear a wrist support. I found an inexpensive one at the discount drug store. It serves as a reminder to not use my right hand as much. It also helps me to move correctly. When spending a lot of time on the computer, writing, or any other repetitive movement we tend to get lazy. Using a support can help us to be more aware of our movement.
I had a muscle cramp come on in my hand while making the video – hence the scrunched up face. I laughed at myself, so you can laugh at me. The desire of my heart is to connect and help you find ways to feel better. I know that the sound quality is not that good. I will try and work on the audio.
What is important is that we stay connected with our Best Friend’s while we are battling pain or any other symptoms or side effects from the Hepatitis C Virus, treatment, or liver disease. I have been doing my hand yoga for muscle cramps and stiffness several times a day.
I have several blogs in the works, but have decided to play it smart and give my hands a rest. I am already feeling pain just from typing this short blog. I love you guys and think about you always. xoxo Karen:)
You can also check out my blog on muscle cramps here
I started a Youtube channel and have posted videos relating to Hepatitis C and Cirrhosis. I am a newbie at this. It is a new thing for me, and has been a lot of fun, especially since it is painful to type right now. My grandkids are getting a kick out of it and I hope you do too! Give me some feedback! For sure you can laugh at my efforts.
You know me, I’m laughing all the way. Youtube videos are here.
6 thoughts on “Hand Yoga for Muscle Cramps and Stiffness”
Hi Karen,
Sorry for being late here – I know it’s been a while, just been a little involved with all the new things I’d started on my blog, and my Dad who was visiting us for a few days, though I’m glad to be here now 🙂
Congratulations on this wonderful video, and perhaps you’ve already done many more – great achievement indeed. Yes, yoga is well known for relieving any kind of aches or pains, provided you know the right way to go about it. I see my father-in-law practice is daily in the morning and he’s a very healthy and fit man at nearly 80 now.
Water is therapeutic too, and there is NO substitute for it, and so are friends – to remain connected and happy, isn’t it?
Thanks for sharing. Have a nice week ahead 🙂
Harleena Singh recently posted…How To Improve Your Writing Skills in Four Ways
Harleena,
Hello my friend! I can’t wait to get over and see what you’ve got going on at Aha.com. I’m glad your dad got to spend some time with you and the kids. I’ve been so busy too. It’s research paper grading and now getting ready for EOI tests at school. I’m needing some help on my blog too and have enlisted Angela McCall to help me! She’s a doll and is so much more knowledgeable than I am.
Thanks for the compliment. It’s an aw shucks kind of feeling. I had a film crew here taping for a web documentary and felt kind of brave after that. My hand has been bothering me and video blogging just made sense.
YES! Yoga is my mainstay. Great news about your father-in-law. That gives me hope! I’ll be sure to practice more now. Practice is what it is because I’m not so good, but I keep at it!
I always love seeing your comments on the site and welcome you with thanks once again. You’ve been a real friend to me since I started the blog.
Much love and great week to you also!
Karen:)
What a great video Karen and I hopped over to your YouTube channel and see that you’ve now done three in a row. Congratulations my friend and I’m sure that anyone who is having issues with their hands will certainly appreciate this.
Throw some of these in for when I get a leg cramp and I’ll love you forever! 😉
Good to see you sharing again and hope you’re feeling better. I can’t imagine my hands hurting with all the typing I do. I do know though that when my wrist starts smarting it’s time to call it a day.
Great video, loved it. Hope you’re having a good week you rock star.
~Adrienne
Adrienne recently posted…How Many Of Your Readers Are Using Mobile Devices
Oh Adrienne,
I love seeing your name on a comment. And you always give a great link from a blog that I need to read! I’ve been thinking more about how easy it will be for my readers once Angela McCall helps me with my site. Hopefully, it will help those who have mobile devices too! So many of us click from our phones or hand helds. I hate to think of them having any frustration while trying to read on my site. I’ll be rolling over to read your blog tonight!!
The video. Haha! I remember seeing your first one and thinking how beautiful you looked and so brave to do it! I had a film crew here for a few days and seeing my little farmhouse living room made me feel brave. With the hand pain, I thought, “Why not?” and it was fairly easy with Youtube. I have a slow router and need to check on that. It’s always something, isn’t it? But it’s fun and I love connecting with my Best Friends any way I can.
I hope your week is going great too. You’re a faithful friend to those of us who are learning to blog. All of your support is so appreciated dear friend.
Best to YOU,
xo Karen:)
4/6/15
Karen:
I enjoy reading your Blogs & comments, since I have been hear reading you have given me a lot of support & I feel better, you are so Optimistic. I wish I were as Optimistic as you are.
Wish that one day I can speak with you on phone. If you do ever get a chance…….. Thanks, Take care Linda.
One more thing I have been reading they have a trial drug, have you heard of GR-MD-02. Supposely it suppose to reverse End Stage 4, in my opinion I do not think all Dr. care.
Hello Linda! Thanks so much for writing to Karen. I am Dee, an old friend of Karen’s who is helping her out while she waits for her transplant. I know she appreciates your compliments very much. While I have taken your phone number off line, I am saving it for Karen.
She will see this. She sees everything I write and is commenting when she is able. Thanks so much for telling us about the trial drug. I am going to look it up and I am really interested in this. I was cured of HCV three years ago but I have scarring of the liver.
I agree with you, there are some doctors who are so great, so kind, so caring, so supportive. Then there are doctors who don’t seem to care at all. It is very difficult to find a really good doctor who cares. If you are looking I would try one of those sites where they grade doctors. They are patients just like us. I use many different places to look up the doctors first. Again, thanks so much for writing. This is a very good place to come to. Dee
Comments are closed.