dealing with wrists

by Carla Mullins

wrists - exercises for pilates instructors
to use with their clients

More than two decades ago I started to experience severe wrist and hand pain for the first time, and unfortunately not the last. I must admit it was excruciating and incredibly frustrating not to be able to use my hands for basic living tasks. Probably one of the lowest points of my life was during that period of time, when I ended up sitting in a gutter sobbing because carrying a loaf of bread was too painful. The road to recovery for my hands was a long one; I have to admit that there have been times when I have had my set backs and the old foe – wrist pain – returns. The peripheral neuropathy in the hands is constant and requires constant focus and effort to keep it at bay. The process has taught me many things, including:

  • Empathy for those in pain, because when it hits you it is difficult to concentrate and make chit chat

  • Appreciation of load and tolerance in the recovery process

  • Pacing and ensuring that you do not get into the boom bust cycle

  • Creativity in finding ways to work with the hands and wrists

  • And last but not least, it is very hard to dress and feed yourself if you can’t use your hands

In this article I will:

  • Give you a quick review of some anatomy

  • Share with you some of my favourite ways to strengthen the arches of the hands, and improve grip

  • Explore ideas to minimise compression on the wrists and protect the joints

  • Explore more hand-friendly ideas to strengthen the shoulders in order to reduce neural compression

To continue reading, click this link for the original article
*article includes photo explanations and videos you can apply with clients, so get to clicking!