Why sleeping and running can hurt your hands
Hand and wrist injuries are sometimes hard to avoid. Falls that cause an abrupt landing on the floor can cause a compressive or impact injury on various tissues. Twisting can also cause connective tissue and tendons to separate and tear. Holding a weighted object for long periods can also cause strains to the tendons of the hand, making it difficult to grip and support your weight. Whatever the cause, hand and wrist injuries are often inconvenient, painful, and potentially disabling for many routine tasks of the day. Surprisingly, the 2 most common sources of aggravation to hand and wrist injuries come from 2 activities that have nothing to do with hand function!
Sleeping is hard on the hands! If you ever observe anyone sleep, you’ll notice that the hand is often compressed under the pillow, bent, twisted, or all of the above. This phenomenon often takes place over hours, further amplifying the strain that is caused by these positions. Swelling is often accompanied by hand and wrist injuries and can exacerbate while sleeping because peripheral blood pressure is reduced while the body is in the horizontal position. Blood pressure can rise or fall depending on body posture due to it’s effect on blood vessel tone. Sleeping for 8 hours, for example, relaxes the blood vessels for roughly 1/3rd of the day, making swelling more common in the night time.
One of the best things to do in case of an acute hand or wrist injury is to properly brace the wrist and hand while sleeping. Keeping the wrist protected in a neutral position while sleeping helps reduce the compressive forces on the joints, while preventing excessive twist, rotation, or bend on the sensitive structures. The mild compression afforded by the brace can also help reduce or minimize the swelling phenomenon that takes place while sleeping.
Running is hard on the hands! There are 1500-1800 strides that takes place for every mile that you run. Each stride is accompanied by a downward force that causes the hand and wrist to whip back and forth equal to or greater than that of the running stride. Ordinary forces like the hand movements of a brisk walk or jog can therefore act as a force to further aggravate a hand and wrist injury. While it is probably best to avoid such forces while experiencing a hand and wrist injury, if you must run, run with the night time brace to reduce the whiplash effect on the hand.
Even under the best circumstances, the soft tissues of the hand and wrist can never truly rest unless it is immobilized fully, which has it’s own set of problems over time. Prolonged immobilization causes muscle and tendon atrophy and contractures on ligaments, but might be necessary in order for connective tissues, bones and cartilage to heal properly.
Find out from your healthcare professional what is actually hurt when your hand and wrist is injured. Being proactive in the healing process is always advised, and the more you observe your own behavior during the day and night time, the more you can identify aggravating factors to your injured body parts!
Dr. Adrian Pujayana has been providing drug-free solutions for health and wellness to adults, athletes, and youth since 2000 through his private practice at Family Chiropractic Center of South Pasadena, a place for strength training and nutrition based health care.
