If you’ve had a privileged childhood, or an even more privileged adulthood, you probably get to enjoy video games.
Spamming attacks, toggling the analog stick left and right, constantly jamming your fingers on the controller.
Even repetitive use of clicking the mouse, along with the unnatural, un-anatomical position that your hands get in when you get deep into the use of your computer will do a number on your fingers and even the natural positioning of your hands.
Combining that with a bunch of typing you do on your computer and texting your friends on your smartphone, your fingers, thumbs, and the surrounding muscle around it has probably gone through a lot of damage.
Too much repetitive use of anything is not good.
Repetitive use of anything will cause wear and tear along with imbalance which will hurt in the long run.
If you’re wondering why your fingers have been hurting, especially your thumbs, here are a few ways you can treat and prevent them.
1. Stretch Your Hands Every Morning
This is something you should initially be doing. Especially if you want to promote general wellness for yourself. It’ll improve the quality of your life and you won’t be in as much pain and as stiff later on when you start getting old.
Stretching your hands will allow the blood flow circulation to run better through your fingers and will offset any of the imbalance and damage that you do to it doing something hardcore like playing video games.
What we recommend is to every morning, take your hands, put them into a soft fist, then fully extend your fingers out.
This will even help prevent arthritic fingers and offsets potential damage from carpal tunnel syndrome.
2. Lift Weights
The benefit from this comes indirectly, but its still applicable to protecting your hands and fingers.
What weight lifting allows for is strengthening of the joints through added muscle.
That extra “meat”, if you will, will promote the longevity onto your fingers and lessen the damage from the wear and tear over time.
We emphasize free weights as opposed to machines in the gym, as those machines only focus on “gym strength”.
Free weights make your body work more.
You essentially grip the weights with your hands, activating the muscles around the hands, your grip, and your forearms.
3. Learn How To Hang From A Pull Up Bar
Learning how to hang from a pull up bar, activating your fingers and hands properly will also strengthen your hands.
Ever wondered why climbers are able to put their fingers through so much stress?
It’s because their fingers are properly conditioned.
They wouldn’t be able to put their fingers through what they did if they weren’t.
They utilize the very same methods to protect their fingers as I talk about in their post.
4. Fill Your Diet With Anti-Inflammatories
Fish oil!
There is a reason why so many fitness gurus advocate fish oil.
The amazing benefits from the omega 3 fatty acids are what gets gym goers, MMA fighters, professional athletes to continue taking it.
Along with fish oil, a diet filled with anti-inflammatory property foods like tofu, veggies, and non-refined carbohydrates are simple ways to reduce inflammation in your body.
Look into it more and try it out for a week.
You’ll be shocked at the results!
Protect your fingers, before it is too late and you get arthritis that cannot be undone.