Dorothy,
after six months of temp work helping a company move their corporate offices, I started waking up with stiff fingers every morning. It would take me several minutes of gentle movement and knuckle popping before I could make a fist and have full range of motion.
I tried changing my diet (eliminating dairy and red meat), strengthening exercises and massage, with no success.
Since my fingers were fine during the day, I began thinking it was a build-up of (sinovial?) fluid during the night. So I tried keeping my hands in loose "fists" while I slept, since that is the range of motion I was looking for. Every time I woke up, I just reminded myself to keep them that way (it was actually pretty easy to do). The next morning I was surprised to wake up with no stiffness and full range of motion.
This is now the morning of my fourth day after trying this technique and the stiffness has not returned. I am also massaging my hands and fingers for five or so minutes each night with ayurvedic oil, but even on the nights when I am too tired to do that, the closed hand position has helped tremendously.
My educated guess is that sleeping with the fingers extended must somehow cut off the circulation in the hands and lead to pooling of fluid.
I suppose if you were not a light sleeper, you could resort to putting sock over your hands to keep them closed. That might sound funny, but I was willing to try almost anything to wake up without the stiffness!
I would be curious to hear from anyone who tries this.
Btw: I am a fifty year-old mail, otherwise in good health, but with a family history of arthritis, particularly in the fingers.
The copycat
| dorothy k. wrote: |
| i too have been waking up with my fingers really stiff. My doctor says it is probably arthritis, but didn't seem too concerned about it. It started suddenly and involves both hands. Every morning my hands are so stiff it takes awhile to loosen them up. I read somewhere that it has to do with fluid retention in the arms and hands while you sleep. Now my fingers are sore all the time. I wish I knew what is causing this and if there is anything I can do to keep it from getting worse or to stop it! :?: |