{"id":22,"date":"2016-05-09T22:09:43","date_gmt":"2016-05-09T22:09:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/handsurgeon.org\/blog\/?p=22"},"modified":"2016-06-08T23:56:07","modified_gmt":"2016-06-08T23:56:07","slug":"5-activities-hurt-joints","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/handsurgeon.org\/blog\/5-activities-hurt-joints\/","title":{"rendered":"5 activities that hurt your joints"},"content":{"rendered":"

(republished with permission from ASSH)<\/p>\n

(Originally Published Apr 12,2016 \/ By The Hand Society<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"Joints-Wrist-Scaph[1]\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Certified hand therapist Michelle McMurray, MOT, OTR\/L, CHT discusses how you can save your joints while performing daily\u00a0activities.<\/p>\n

Sometimes it is our small, every day activities in our daily routines that we overlook.\u00a0 As we get busy with our daily lives, sometimes we are not aware of the little things that we do that can ultimately add up to big problems.\u00a0 We hear about many things that we can do to protect our joints, but in the business of daily lives we forget about ourselves\u2026and our joints.<\/p>\n

Here are some examples of some basic tasks we do all the time that can eventually lead to bigger problems:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Cleaning<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    When scrubbing carpet to remove a stain, it is very common that we pinch the cloth and apply pressure.\u00a0 A big problem that can occur if you happen to quickly catch the end of your finger is a mallet finger<\/a>.\u00a0 This is an injury that leaves a droop at the end of the finger. The rehab process can be long and tedious. The easiest way to avoid this is to grip the rag with a fist or use a brush with a handle.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Writing<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      With technology, we do not write as much as we did in the past.\u00a0 In that case, we are sometimes hurried when doing this activity, which may lead to increased pressure and gripping on the writing utensil.\u00a0 One thing that can help to decrease the pressure on the thumb is increasing the diameter of the pen\/pencil.<\/p>\n

      One of the easy and cost-effective ways to do this is to use Coban and wrap it around the writing utensil.\u00a0 I encourage my patients to purchase a roll of Coban and wrap it around the end of the utensil until it feels comfortable.<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Lifting<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        One of the easiest modifications that can be done in regards to elbow pain is to change the way we lift simple items throughout our daily lives.\u00a0 Instead of reaching for a jar over the top by the lid, come at it from the side or underneath.\u00a0 This uses a different muscle group (the flexors) and decreases the stress to the wrist extensors and the muscles that stabilize the wrist.<\/p>\n

          \n
        1. Yard Work<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Even though it is spring, it does not mean that there are no longer leaves in our yards!\u00a0 As we get the rakes out, be mindful of how you hold and move the rake.\u00a0 Similar to holding a pencil, as discussed above, the tighter we hold the item, the more stress on our joints and tissues.\u00a0 One suggestion is to make a conscious effort to vary the hand positions on the rake so that one side is not doing all the work.<\/p>\n

            \n
          1. Holding Children<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            New addition to the family?\u00a0 The quick and easy way to pick up the unhappy infant is to hook our thumbs in their armpits and lift.\u00a0 Problem solved.\u00a0 Temporarily.\u00a0 Unfortunately, repeated used of this motion can cause irritation.\u00a0 This irritation carries over to activities involving pinching, writing and other fine motor activities involving the thumb.<\/p>\n

            Solution: When picking up the child, use a scooping technique with one hand under the bottom and the other cradling the back.\u00a0 It is awkward at first, but over time, it saves on the discomfort and pain that can be caused.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            (republished with permission from ASSH) (Originally Published Apr 12,2016 \/ By The Hand Society) Certified hand therapist Michelle McMurray, MOT, OTR\/L, CHT discusses how you can save your joints while performing daily\u00a0activities. Sometimes it is our small, every day activities in our daily routines that we overlook.\u00a0 As we get busy with our daily lives, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-joints"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/handsurgeon.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/handsurgeon.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/handsurgeon.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/handsurgeon.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/handsurgeon.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/handsurgeon.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65,"href":"https:\/\/handsurgeon.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22\/revisions\/65"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/handsurgeon.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/handsurgeon.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/handsurgeon.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}