There are more nerve stretching hand exercises for combating tendinitis in addition to those already described. Although you will probably not have time to complete every exercise listed here, especially if these exercises are being alternated with periods of work (your boss is likely to take an unfavorable view of half-hour exercise breaks), you can pick and choose those which seem to work best for you, or use different exercises in different workouts in order to keep your routine fresh.
Stretching the nerves with other exercises
The hand exercises used for stretching the nerves described here have the same limits and features as those described earlier. Here are some possibilities:
Ear curl stretches – these stretches emphasize stretching the ulnar nerve, which is mostly related to the elbow but which has forearm, wrist, and hand functions as well. Both arms are used simultaneously in this exercise, and there is no “free hand”.
Stretch your arms out on either side of you at shoulder height, with your hands upright – fingers together and pointed at the ceiling, palms facing outward.
Raise your forearms and curl them inward, while lifting the upper arms slightly as well. Keep your hands bent back at the wrist – this will cause your palms to face the ceiling and your fingertips to point at your ears toward the top of the raise. Stop at the point when tautness develops in your arms or wrists.
Flex your fingers downwards toward your shoulders as far as you can, and hold at this point of maximum tension. Then, return to the original pose, relax for a second, and repeat.
Side nerve stretches benefit the radial nerve, which supplies feeling and nerve impulses to the hand. This exercise is one of the few tendinitis hand exercises that begin with your hands and arms straight at your sides rather than stretched out in front of you or to the side. The backs of your hands should face forward, fingers held together, and your palms should face backward.
Bend your hands upward relative to your arm, until your fingers are pointing straight backward and your palms are facing the ceiling. Keep your fingers together and straight.
Push one shoulder towards the floor while keeping your back straight (do not tilt over in the direction of the lowered shoulder).
Extend this arm backwards and outwards at a slight angle, keeping the hand in the same position. Tautness should soon develop, at which point you should stop and hold for a few seconds before returning to the starting position and repeating on the other side.
A simple exercise is to stretch your arm out straight from your shoulder in some direction – usually forward, slightly downward, and out to the side at a 45 degree angle. Bend your hand back and bend your fingers even further back. Then, tilt your head in the opposite direction. This should create tautness and stretching throughout your arm, wrist, shoulder, and neck. Hold for the standard number of seconds, then relax and repeat with the other arm, alternating until you have completed your full set of repetitions.
Another simple hand exercise is to stretch your arm out and trace every letter of the alphabet in the air with your fingertips, while holding your fingertips together. This is an extremely mild exercise and is usually used only by those with such bad tendonitis that it is almost impossible to stretch the nerves and tendons without pain.
Rotating stretches involve extending your arms straight out in front of you, palms flat towards the floor and fingers together. Press the thumb lightly against the side of the hand. Then, bend the hand backwards until the fingers are pointing at the ceiling and the palms are facing forward. Rotate the hands as far as they will go in both directions – first pointing the fingers inwards towards the other hand, then outward away from the other hand. Tautness should be apparent in both the wrists and the forearms.