Wrist and Hand Exercises, Phase 1: Calm and Move

Auto Injury Chiropractic · Home Exercise Library

Wrist and Hand Exercises, Phase 1: Calm and Move

WH-1 · Version 1.0, October 2026

Your home exercises for the first phase of your rehab plan, working on calming sore tissue, getting your wrist and fingers moving in gentle ranges, and easing swelling and stiffness with gentle gliding motion (no weights yet). Get checked by a provider before you start. If you are our patient, your provider will show you each exercise.

How often: Daily, for this phase. Your first session of the day takes about 15 minutes and the second about 10. A short third session (Wrist Active ROM and Tendon Glides) takes about 5 minutes.

What "no pain" means: Each exercise should not cause sharp pain. A small stretch is okay. If something hurts, stop. Try a smaller motion. If it still hurts, skip that one and tell your provider.

Do not use these exercises if:

• You may have a broken bone in your wrist, forearm, or hand. Wait until your provider checks your scans and says it is safe.
• You have any of the warning signs listed below.
• Your wrist clicks, locks, catches, or pops with movement, and your provider has not yet cleared you with imaging.
• You have pain when you press on the soft hollow on the thumb-side of your wrist (the "anatomical snuffbox"). This can mean a small bone in the wrist is broken even if an early X-ray was negative. Wait for follow-up imaging.
• Numbness or tingling in your hand wakes you up at night, or you are losing strength or muscle bulk at the base of your thumb. Wait for provider clearance.
• Your fingers feel cold or look pale, or your hand has gotten worse instead of better since the injury. Stop everything and seek immediate medical care.

1. Diaphragmatic Breathing

Dose: 2 times a day, 5 minutes each
You need: A chair, or a spot to lie down

How to do it

1. Lie on your back with knees bent and feet flat. Or sit up tall in a chair. Hands resting in your lap or at your sides, palms up.
2. Put one hand on your belly. Put the other on the side of your ribs (use the uninjured side if one hand is hurt).
3. Breathe in slow through your nose for 4 seconds. Feel your belly rise AND your ribs spread to the sides.
4. Breathe out slow through your mouth for 6 seconds. Let your shoulders, arms, and hands relax.
5. Keep going for 5 minutes. Do this two times a day.

Too hard? Try this: If feeling rib motion is hard, lie down with a folded towel under your low back. Or just focus on belly motion and skip the rib part.

Too easy? Try this: On each exhale, slowly open and close your hands once with the breath.

2. Wrist Active ROM in All Planes

Dose: 3 times a day, 10 reps in each motion
You need: A chair or table to support the forearm

How to do it

1. Sit with your forearm resting flat on a table. Wrist and hand hang off the edge of the table.
2. Flexion and Extension: slowly bend your wrist DOWN (palm toward forearm), then UP (back of hand toward forearm). Move only as far as feels comfortable. Do 10 slow reps.
3. Radial and Ulnar Deviation: keep the forearm flat. Slowly move the hand toward the thumb side, then toward the pinky side. Do 10 slow reps each direction.
4. Pronation and Supination: keep your elbow bent at your side. Slowly turn your palm DOWN, then UP toward the ceiling. Like turning a doorknob. Do 10 slow reps.
5. Move slow. Stop right before sharp pain. A small stretch at the end is okay.

Too hard? Try this: Skip the direction that hurts most and work the others. Or do only 5 reps to start.

Too easy? Try this: Add a 3-second hold at the end of each motion. Or work into a slightly larger range as it feels safe.

3. Tendon Glides

Dose: 3 times a day, 5 reps through all 5 positions
You need: None

How to do it

1. Hold your hand up in front of you, fingers and thumb pointing toward the ceiling. Position 1: Straight hand. All fingers fully open.
2. Position 2: Hook fist. Bend the top two finger joints while keeping the knuckles straight. Your fingers form a "hook" shape.
3. Position 3: Full fist. Now bend all the finger joints to make a regular closed fist, with the thumb on the outside.
4. Position 4: Tabletop. Open the fist, but only bend at the big knuckles (where your fingers meet your hand). The middle and end joints stay straight. The fingers form a "table top" shape.
5. Position 5: Straight fist. From tabletop, bend just the middle finger joints, keeping the end joints straight. Then return to the straight hand position to start over. Move slow and hold each position 2 seconds. Repeat the full sequence 5 times.

Too hard? Try this: Skip any position that causes sharp pain. Or do only the positions you can reach without pain.

Too easy? Try this: Add a 5-second hold at each position. Or do them with light resistance (a soft sponge in the palm).

4. Median Nerve Glides

Dose: 2 times a day, 10 reps
You need: None

How to do it

1. Stand or sit tall. Start with your arm at your side, palm facing forward (like making a stop sign).
2. Position 1: arm at side, elbow straight, wrist bent so fingers point UP and palm faces forward.
3. Position 2: keep the wrist bent the same way. Slowly bring the arm OUT to the side at shoulder height. Like a stop sign at shoulder level.
4. Position 3: keep the arm at shoulder height. As you bend your wrist back, tilt your head TOWARD this arm. As you relax your wrist, tilt your head AWAY. Move gently; you should feel a mild stretch in the arm, NOT shooting pain or zinging.
5. Slowly return to the start position. Do 10 slow reps. Stop if the motion increases your tingling.

Too hard? Try this: Skip the head tilt. Just do the arm and wrist motion. Or do it sitting with the arm supported on a counter.

Too easy? Try this: Add a small wrist circle at the end position before returning. Or add a slow extension of the fingers backward.

5. Forearm Self-Release (optional)

Only if your provider assigned it.

Dose: 1 time a day, 60 to 90 seconds per tender spot, each side
You need: A tennis ball or lacrosse ball, and a table or counter

How to do it

1. Place the ball on a table or counter. Rest your forearm on top of the ball with the palm DOWN (for the back of the forearm) or palm UP (for the front of the forearm).
2. Slowly let some of your body weight press through your forearm onto the ball.
3. Find a spot that feels tender but NOT sharp. Stay on that spot.
4. Belly breathe slow and deep for 60 to 90 seconds. Let the muscle slowly release.
5. Slowly come off. Move to a different tender spot if needed. Switch arms.

Too hard? Try this: Use a softer ball (tennis ball softer than lacrosse). Or shorten to 30 seconds and build up. Or skip the body weight and use just the pressure of the other hand.

Too easy? Try this: Slowly bend and straighten the wrist 5 times while staying on the spot.