Joint Protection for Flexible Fingers
Overly flexible, also known as hypermobile, fingers can be prone to injury and pain if not properly cared for. Thankfully, caring for hypermobile fingers does not need to be complicated. There are simple and practical ways to protect fingers and reduce injury. Learn how the therapists at Freedom PT Services provide joint protection for flexible fingers.
Defining Joint Hypermobility
A joint is the point where two bones meet and allows the bones to move in different directions. A joint is hypermobile if it has more range of motion than is typical. Hypermobility has different intensities: A joint could have slightly more range of motion than needed, or so much more motion that it becomes unstable.
Sometimes, someone can have only one overly flexible joint, which is often caused by an injury or a specific training routine. In other situations, joint hypermobility runs in families and affects many joints throughout the body.
Having flexible joints is not always a cause for concern. Some people with hypermobile joints have no issues related to their hypermobility. However, in general, if a hypermobile joint is not well cared for and often pushed to its limit, it is at an increased risk for injury and irritation.
The Challenge of Finger Hypermobility
Hands are amazing tools for humans! Fingers help us move objects, sense what is around us, and communicate with others. Because fingers are used for many precise movements, their anatomy is complex. A typical hand, from the base of the palm to the tips of the fingers, has 27 bones. The pointer, middle, ring, and pinky fingers have three bones each, and the thumb has two. That means that the four fingers plus the thumb have a combined total of 14 joints!
Like any other joint in the body, finger joints can be hypermobile. Due to how often we use our fingers with daily tasks and how complex our hand anatomy is, an issue with even one finger joint can make a big impact. Now, imagine having joint hypermobility in all 14 of those joints, as many with full-body hypermobility have . . . That can be challenging to manage.
It is essential to take proper care of our fingers. Hypermobile finger joints, if not properly protected, can make even the simplest tasks daunting and painful.
Ways to Protect Flexible Fingers
There are many ways to protect and stabilize flexible fingers. Often, people with hypermobile fingers use a combination of all of these strategies to protect their joints.
Muscle Matters!
We must first address our most important joint support: the muscle. The sole purpose of muscle is to move our limbs by attaching to our joints in certain ways. Strong muscles provide excellent stability and control to our joints. On the other hand, weak muscles can cause unstable joints that are more prone to injury. The following are a few tips on how to strengthen hypermobile fingers.
- Use therapy putty. Putty can be an excellent exercise tool to strengthen fingers for different movements. The exercises can be made easier or harder based on the firmness of the putty. Webbing and squish balls can also be used, but they do not allow for as many unique exercises as therapy putty does.
- Focus on slow, low-impact exercises. Exercises do not need to be complicated to be effective. Slow, low-impact activities are a great first step. Some people who have milder joint hypermobility may be able to work toward more complicated exercises. Others—specifically those who have unstable joints—need to learn how to avoid their extra range of motion and focus on simpler exercises.
- Remember your wrists. Wrist strengthening is also important for finger protection. Some muscles that control our fingers start in the forearm and pass through the wrist to attach to the fingers. Strong wrists give great support and stability to the hand.
- Seek guidance. Choosing exercises can be challenging, especially for people with more extreme joint hypermobility. Some hypermobility conditions can coincide with other issues, such as feeling faint when standing, having fragile skin, and being constantly tired. A trained occupational or physical therapist can choose exercises that take into account these other factors when designing a strengthening program.
Splints
Splints are used to block the motion of a joint, either in a specific direction or all directions. This is possible because splints are made of rigid, immovable materials. Braces differ from splints, though the names are often interchanged. While splints are meant to block movement, braces mainly give extra support to joints. Braces typically do not have a rigid structure, so they can not do much to stop excessive movement.
Finger splints (sometimes called ring splints) can be excellent tools for people with flexible fingers. They can be worn in different ways based on individual needs. Below is an example of ways ring splints can be worn. There are also splints for the knuckles and thumbs that are shaped differently.
Finger splints can be washed and reused. They can be plastic or metal, and they can be custom-made. The metal versions can be a fashionable alternative to the plastic versions, but they are usually more expensive. Certain insurances may cover finger splints. Unfortunately, some people may find that splints irritate their skin if worn for too long. In that case, splints should be worn only during more challenging tasks.
Since our fingers have multiple joints, someone who has many painful and problematic finger joints may struggle with wearing a splint over all of them. But if someone has only a couple of problematic joints, finger splints are a great way to care for them.
Compression and Taping Techniques
People who have flexible joints often struggle with the ability to sense where their body is in space, particularly without the need to watch and focus their attention on their movement. The ability to sense the position and movement of your body is called proprioception. Joints play a vital role in proprioception, and proprioception becomes much more difficult for someone with hypermobile joints. If there is too much space in a joint, the nerves involved in proprioception, which are in the joint and the connecting bones, muscles, and ligaments, struggle to get the information they need. Poor proprioception can increase your risk for injury.
Thankfully, there are ways to give more input to nerves to improve proprioception.
Compression gloves
Compression gloves can improve proprioception by giving a “hug” or “squeeze” to all angles of the fingers. This extra pressure can give better information to the proprioceptive nerves in the area. Additionally, some people with full-body hypermobility often struggle with blood flow issues to the hands and feet. Compression gloves can also help with blood flow, inflammation, and swelling in the hands, which may improve movement and reduce pain. They can be washed and worn throughout the day. Their fabric also may not be as irritating to the skin compared to plastics, metals, or adhesives. For someone who struggles with hypermobility in all fingers, this can be a nice option to give all sides of the fingers the support they crave.
Taping
Taping can be a helpful short-term technique to improve proprioception. Stretchy tape, such as Kinesio tape, can be put on the fingers, hands, and forearms in specific ways to help people be more aware of how they use their fingers. The stretching mechanism of Kinesio tape is also thought to improve blood flow, which may reduce inflammation and swelling. Other types of tape that are not stretchy can still improve proprioception, but are often used to support a joint and limit movement (similar to a brace). As a downside, the tape can only be kept on temporarily, and sometimes the tape adhesive is too irritating to sensitive and fragile skin—a common issue for some people with full-body hypermobility.
Activity Modifications
Finally, even with strengthening and the proper tools to protect hypermobile fingers, it is important to know your limits. This is especially true for people who often subluxate or dislocate their hypermobile joints. Commonly, people with hypermobile joints do not understand the point at which their movement moves past the “typical” range of motion. Occupational and physical therapists can help people with flexible fingers understand how to move their fingers in a safe range.
It is important to use splints, taping techniques, assistive devices, and compression gloves wisely. Although they are excellent tools to protect hypermobile fingers, using them too often without strengthening the muscles can still put hypermobile fingers at risk for injury. A combination of all these strategies is an excellent way to give flexible fingers the support they need.
Fingers in need of additional help? Schedule an appointment with the Freedom Physical Therapy Occupational Therapists.
References
Carroll MB. Hypermobility spectrum disorders: A review. Rheumatology and Immunology Research. 2023;4(2):60-68. doi:https://doi.org/10.2478/rir-2023-0010
The Ehlers-Danlos Society. The Ehlers Danlos Society. Published 2016. https://www.ehlers-danlos.com/
Hypermobility Syndromes Association (HMSA). Hypermobility Syndromes Association (HMSA). https://www.hypermobility.org/