Slowly getting weaker is a natural part of aging. But, unfortunately, weakening the hands prevents you from enjoying the same activities you used to enjoy. Fortunately, simple exercises will help you maintain and improve your manual dexterity even in old age. This post explains why we lose hand strength and agility as we age. We will also cover nine basic activities to restore or improve manual dexterity.
Why We Lose Manual Dexterity
Health conditions can affect hand health, strength, and agility. The diseases that cause hand weakness and pain include:
Carpal tunnel syndrome occurs when the nerve that runs from the neck to the thumb and ring finger gets compressed at the wrist. Carpal tunnel syndrome causes hand pain, weakness, tingling, or numbness. Other symptoms include stiff, swollen, or tight fingers. Carpal tunnel syndrome is also a prevalent cause of thumb strength and agility loss.
Cubital tunnel syndrome involves a different nerve that controls the hand’s nerve and muscle functions. Cubital tunnel syndrome happens when that nerve gets compressed and inflamed at the elbow. Symptoms include pain in the elbow, forearm, back of the hand, and tiny and ring fingers. The pain and weakness are more prominent with cubital tunnel syndrome than with carpal tunnel syndrome.
Arthritis: Two types of arthritis affect hand dexterity and strength: rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.
In rheumatoid arthritis, the lining of the joints and tendons experience chronic or nonstop inflammation. Smaller joints are usually the first affected areas, causing pain, swelling, and stiffness.
Osteoarthritis is the wearing away of joint cartilage that protects the bones. The disease causes weakness and pain; the finger joints may swell or stiff, particularly in the early hours of the day.
Osteoporosis is a disease that causes bones to become brittle and weak because the bones deteriorate faster than the body’s ability to create new bone tissue. Osteoporosis is a problem because it can induce fractures after the slightest fall or stress on the hands. These medical conditions should be diagnosed and treated by a doctor. However, there are several activities you can perform to retain or improve the hand’s dexterity as you age.
How to Improve Manual Dexterity in Old Age
The following activities are easy and simple enough to perform at home. However, that does not make them any less effective.
Finger Lifts
The finger lift exercise requires no equipment save for a flat surface, like a table. While laying your entire hand flat on a surface, lift your fingers one at a time. The challenge with this simple exercise is that your fingers will tend to move together; you should prevent that and stick with lifting only one finger at a time.
Lift one finger several times before moving on to the other fingers. This exercise will help you gain strength and flexibility in each digit.
Make Fists
Make a fist with your hand, squeeze it inward as hard as possible, and hold it for three to five seconds. After pressing as hard as you can, slowly release the pressure in your hands and do the same with the other hand. Repeat the exercise five times with each hand. Doing this exercise often will help you maintain manual strength and skill.
Learn to Play a Musical Instrument
Playing instruments require hands. Musical instruments like the clarinet, flute, violin, or piano need you to use your hand muscles, which are good practices for improving hand dexterity. Learning to play musical instruments hits two birds with one stone; you’re improving your hand dexterity while acquiring a new skill.
If learning to play an instrument is too challenging for you, then perhaps you can play music from a device and clap or snap your fingers along the beat.
Practice Handwriting
Writing by hand is slowly becoming an art form lost to the times. However, writing by hand is a worthy endeavor because it helps you maintain hand skills in old age while also sharpening your memory (writing things down by hand enables you to remember things better). You can also try registering with your non-dominant hand because that loses its talent faster than your dominant hand due to lack of use.
Try writing with each hand a couple of times today for optimum results.
Play String Games
String games like Cat’s Cradle keep your hands and fingers robust and flexible. They create these games to get your hands and fingers into their full range of motion while encouraging you to think creatively and strategically.
Delve into Origami
Origami is a fun hobby that will challenge your manual and mental agility. This fun paper-folding craft gives you something to do to relax while also resulting in beautiful pieces of art. You only need colorful sheets of paper and an origami guide (book or online) to start.
Try Sewing or Knitting
Knitting or sewing is an excellent way to be productive while strengthening your hand muscles. You can create fun and valuable items with needlecraft while keeping your hands dexterous.
Work with Clay or Putty
Another creative way to improve manual dexterity in old age is to work with clay or putty to make exciting shapes or artwork. Again, there’s practically no limit to what you can do with these materials as long as you maintain a creative mind.
Manual Dexterity for Higher Quality Living
Improving manual skills in old age is just one of the small ways to maintain a high quality of life.
Another way to live the best you can in your twilight years is to seek compassionate professional care from Infinite Love Homecare. We offer a wide array of services, including but not limited to medication reminders, mobility assistance, hygiene and grooming, transportation, light housekeeping, surgery recovery, meal preparation, specialized home care, and more.
You can contact us by phone at (949)-529-4130 or the form on our Contact Us page to get a free consultation. You can find us at City Tower 333 City Blvd. West Suite 1700, Orange, CA 92868.
