Hands Connect - Hand exercises

The four fingers on the hand are used for the outermost performance; these four digits can be folded over the palm which allows the grasping of objects. Each finger, starting with the one closest to the thumb, has a colloquial name to distinguish it from the others:

* index finger (med./lat.:digitus secundus manus), pointer finger, or forefinger
* middle finger (med./lat.:digitus me´dius)
* ring finger (med./lat.:digitus annula´ris)
* little finger (med./lat.:digitus mi´nimus ma´nus) or 'pinky'

The thumb (connected to the trapezium) is located on one of the sides, parallel to the arm. The thumb can be easily rotated 90°, on a level perpendicular to the palm, unlike the other fingers which can only be rotated approximately 45°. A reliable way of identifying true hands is from the presence of opposable thumbs. Opposable thumbs are identified by the ability to be brought opposite to the fingers, a muscle action known as opposition.

Your arthritis can affect your ability to do your work, or home and leisure activities, as you used to. Joint problems can cause pain, weaken your hand grip, and reduce your muscle stamina so that you tire more quickly. Whichever type of arthritis you have it makes sense to start looking after your joints as soon as you know that you have arthritis. By making changes early on you can help to avoid problems becoming worse in the future. The things that you can do to help yourself are listed below and are explained in more detail in the sections which follow:

* Look after your joints - reducing strain should help to ease aches and pains.
* Pace yourself, plan ahead, and decide on your priorities to avoid becoming so tired.
* Try to get a good night's sleep.
* Keep to your ideal weight to reduce pressure on the hips, knees and feet.
* Try to keep as fit as possible, and to build up muscle stamina through regular exercise.
* Do hand exercises most days to improve your grip.

There are three main things which keep your joints stable. These are:

* the close fit of the bones
* the capsule and ligaments, which are like strong elastic and keep the bones together
* the muscles and tendons which make the joint move.

If you have arthritis, several parts of the joint can become damaged (see Figure 2). The bones and cartilage may be damaged and the muscles may weaken causing the joint to become unstable. This means that joints may slip out of shape and deformities develop. In rheumatoid arthritis, with repeated joint swelling, the ligaments are stretched and can become slack. These changes may start quite early in the disease.

The way you use your joints can contribute to the development of deformities. Hands are particularly vulnerable as we place a lot of strain on them during the course of the day. Typical deformities in the hands are rheumatoid and osteoarthritis are shown in Figures 3 and 4. These deformities can cause significant problems with activities which require a good grip. Have a look at your own hands to see if any of these have started to happen.

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