Cramps in Hands

The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world! Your hands do have a lot of hard work to do. But how can you do this work if your hands become stiff and cramped? Just like our legs and arms, our hands suffer from cramps too. If, like many other people, you also experience these cramps because of a specific activity, simply take a break and give your hands a rest. Cramps are often caused by activities that we perform for long hours every day – such as typing and playing a musical instrument, to name a few. If this seems to be the case with you, then you may be suffering from repetitive stress injuries. Make it a point to take a break after every hour and stretch your hands and shake them to avoid cramping. If your cramps recur too often, consult a doctor as it may also be another serious problem like tendonitis or carpal tunnel syndrome. It could also be just a deficiency of minerals (also called electrolytes) like potassium, sodium, calcium and magnesium. This is a dietary problem that you need to address. Sometimes cramps also occur as side effects of some medicines or therapies, like chemotherapy, for example.

However, the rare instance of cramps need not bother you as it is a temporary problem, probably because you held your hand in an uncomfortable position or performed some strenuous activity earlier. In such cases, stretching your hands and flexing your fingers gently can relieve the cramps. You can also relax the muscles of your hands using the warmth of a hot soak or compress. The use of hand exercisers or stress balls also alleviates such cramps. If you are looking at a more holistic healing, change your diet and include foods like whole-grain breads and cereals, nuts and beans to get magnesium, dairy products for calcium and bananas and oranges for potassium.

If your hand cramps are because of arthritis, drinking one cup each of carrot, celery, any green leafy vegetable and red beet juices would help a lot. Another juice that you can try is a cup of fresh pineapple juice, which has the enzyme bromelain that reduces swelling and inflammation. Juice extracted from fresh potatoes or juice prepared by placing thin potato slices, with the skin, overnight in a glass of cold water should be drunk on an empty stomach in the morning. If you follow all these tips, hand cramps will bother you much less.