Luba:

I doubt there is a bright-line distinction between gently & aggressive stretching our hands.

But, my therapist said that if I'm overly aggressive I can cause some kind of damage - I think he said at the microscopic or cellular level, but I don't remember his exact wording.

Dr. Denkler & Dr. Benhaim both suggested stretching to me, so that's not the issue. The only issue is how aggressive to be.

Left to my own devices, I've tended to stretch my hands quite vigorously. For example, prior to seeing my therapist I would put my hand on a table & bend my hand backwards until it hurt like heck.

Instead, my therapist said I should do the same stretching exercise, but more gently -- He said to flex my hand only to the point at which it begins to hurt, but then to hold that stretch for a full 30 seconds.

Similarly, when Dr. Denkler gave me my temporary, post-NA splint, I tightened that sucker so much that my hand throbbed & hurt like the dickens.

Now, with my new night splint, my therapist says I should back off from where it hurts. He even said that if the thing really hurts, I should just take it off.

I have a whole bunch of stretching exercises that the therapist wants me to do. I couldn’t begin to describe them. But, he gave a sheet in which some of the exercises are illustrated. If you want me to do so, I could fax that sheet to you.

I hope this post helps.

I'd like to know any points of agreement or disagreement you may have.

I'm not sure anyone knows for sure what is best, so it's good to exchange ideas.

Mark

Luba:

I had about 28 degrees of contraction in my PIP joint.

About half of that in my first joint.

Both joints were on my right hand's ring finger.

I've haven't had much swelling - at least after the first few days.

Take care.

Mark