Why Does Yoga Hurt My Hands?
and what to do to stop it
Pain in the hands after yoga practice is mainly caused by not balancing your body weight evenly while doing asanas such as the downward dog and the plank. To reduce pain in the hands, it is essential to spread your fingers evenly, pressing your knuckles into the earth rather than putting all of your weight in the heel of your palms.
When more weight is shifted to the hands due to a weaker arm, wrist, or core, hand injuries or soreness may arise; working on strengthening the wrists and core is vital to prevent it.
This article will help you understand why your hands are hurting and how to strengthen your wrists and core in order to avoid hand pain after your yoga practice.
We’ll also delve into how to use yoga props in case you have a more serious condition like arthritis.
Let’s begin!
How to stop your hands from hurting during Yoga
Due to weaker muscle groups in the wrist and arms, hands can’t sustain the body’s weight of the upper limbs like your feet can. This causes a strain in the hands that can translate to soreness and pain.
The wrists, in particular, should be strengthened to resist the body’s weight during the pose.
Here’s what you need to do:
1. Gentle body warm-up
One commonly used method of warming up the wrists and the body is the Sun Salutation sequence.
The benefits of warming up are:
- Lubrication of joints
- Good blood flow
- Muscle relaxation
- Preparation of the body for the session
2. Being mindful of body weight distribution
It is vital to ensure that you are not putting more pressure on one part of the palm and distributing it correctly.
Concentrate more on spreading out your fingers and ensuring that the palms are straight, not curved, to equally support the body’s weight.
3. Strengthening adjacent muscles around the wrist
The Easy Crow pose is the best way to ensure the strengthening of muscles around the wrist.
A healthy, strong wrist is essential to avoid hand pain after yoga. It is thus necessary to ensure that the muscles surrounding the wrist are in their best form.
4. Strengthening the core
Many hand injuries occur due to shifting body weight from the stronger group muscles of the body to the hands.
The plank posture and the push-up posture target mainly the core but, when performed incorrectly, can put excesive strain on the wrists.
If your core is weak, it will force your hands and wrists to support more body weight, increasing the chance of injury.
5. Taking it slow
New Yoga practitioners end up doing more exercises than their bodies can sustain.
They delve into intense practices too soon without paying attention to their bodies’ capabilities, which can lead to the soreness of the thumb and the palms.
It is essential to be mindful of your capabilities and be in touch with your body’s sensations at all times. Your body is telling you, whether or not you are pushing it too hard. Pay attention.
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Common reasons for thumb pain after Yoga
The thumb can be affected in certain yoga poses.
Thumb pain after yoga exercises occurs when the joints within the thumb have been sprained, fractured, or have arthritis, or due to an improper balance of your body weight generating an excessive strain on your thumb joint.
Below, we cover them in detail:
Thumb sprain
Too much strain to the thumb while doing hand postures can damage the ligaments within the thumb, which leads to thumb soreness and pain.
The thumb may swell and start hurting, especially closer to the knuckle joints when this happens.
Thumb fractures
Although very rare, while doing intense yoga workouts, the thumb may get fractured.
This presents as pain around the fractured area.
Occasionally, the pain may extend from the localized joint to the wrist and forearms.
Thumb arthritis
When the cartilage between the wrist and the thumb grows weaker, thumb arthritis occurs.
Resulting in:
- Pain and Swelling of the thumb
- Red skin around the thumb
- Less motion of the thumb
How to do Yoga with arthritis in hands
If you have a medical condition such as rheumatoid arthritis on your hands, your yoga practice can be painful as it involves repetitive motions of wrist and hand joints.
Here you have some tips on how to reduce and, in some cases, eliminate that soreness.
1. Warming up
Due to joint stiffness caused by arthritis, we advise doing a joint stretch warm-up for about 5 minutes.
You can warm up by opening up the hands and moving them in circles.
2. Reducing angulation between the wrists
Sometimes the pain occurs in the wrist more than the fingers or palm.
To prevent this, clench both fists and point them on the mat in a neutral position. You can do this by grabbing weights.
Also, put a folded blanket below the palms for comfort. You can curl the fingers if straightening them is strenuous.
3. Taking weight off the hands
Certain positions like the Cat-Cow pose put too much weight on the hands. In such a position, shift the body weight from your hands to your forearm. Put a block under the forearm for support.
When doing the Half Downward-Facing Dog pose, let your hands dangle over a chair with your back bent.
In a body weight-intensive pose such as the plank, place your hands against a wall instead of the floor. This lets you extend your wrist without exerting too much weight on the hands.
4. Change your grip when using a strap
When practicing Yoga with a yoga strap, wrap it around your hands in many loops to reduce the grip tension and pull it gently with the wrist.
Otherwise, loop the strap around your forearms to avoid too much tension on the hands and the wrists.
5. Cooling down
At the end of your yoga session and with your palms facing up, bring awareness to your hands and feel them.
Let them rest and give them a slight massage.
Yoga props for arthritic hands
Props can benefit everyone in the Yoga journey and are especially helpful for people with arthritis.
Here are some of the yoga props that we’d recommend.
Yoga wedge
A wedge is a unique tool made up of a triangle with an inclined horizon that helps regulate the angle of feet or hands on the floor.
It is placed under the hands in a Cow pose position or tucked under the elbows in a Downward Dog position.
Gaiam sells it for around $15.
Sandbag or Bolster
A Sandbag is a particular type of bag placed on top of thighs to increase pressure while opening up the hips.
You can choose to buy this bag pre-filled or buy it when empty and let the recipient fill it with either dry cereal or sand so that they can find the weight that suits them best.
You can get one from Amazon here
Yoga wheel
This type of prop is placed behind the back when doing backward bends.
Yogis kneel with their buttocks resting on the heels and lean onto the wheel, stretching the chest and shoulders.
Conclusion
To practice yoga, one has to be very mindful of body weight balance.
Before doing an intensive yoga exercise, work on the arms, wrist, and core strength and seek guidance from yoga instructors if you are already in pain.
Keep in mind the yoga props we recommended to ease your hand pain during your practice.
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