Our hands are working all day long; typing, writing, lifting, squeezing. They do so much, often without us realising. A hand massage can help ease the over-tired muscles in our hands and arms by helping to reduce tension and pain. It also feels amazing. While the ultimate in relaxation is to have someone else give you a hand massage, there are still many benefits gained from doing a self-massage. And it also means that once you’ve learned the technique you can do it every day.
How to give yourself a hand massage
We recommend using a good quality oil or scrub for your hand massage to help hydrate your skin and make it an extra luxurious experience but it’s not essential. You can still reap the benefits of a relaxing massage without using an oil or scrub.
Get comfortable: sit in a comfortable position and gently lay one hand on a table and keep the other hand free.
Warm up your arm muscles: using the palm of your free hand, apply medium pressure to the wrist of your hand on the table and slowly move your palm up the forearm from the wrist to the elbow and back again. Repeat this three times on each side of your forearm.
Warm up your hand muscles: using the palm of your free hand, apply medium pressure to the wrist of your hand on the table and slowly move your palm from the wrist to the fingertips. Repeat this three times on each side of your hand.
Squeeze your arm: place your free hand around your wrist, with the thumb underneath, and applying medium pressure squeeze your wrist. Slowly move up your forearm to your elbow, continuing to squeeze your arm as you move. Repeat this three times.
Aid circulation: place the thumb and index finger of your free hand on your wrist, with the thumb underneath, and using back-and-forth motions or circular movements, slowly move up the forearm to the elbow and back again. Repeat three times. Using the same movements, place the thumb and index finger on your wrist and move down the hand and through each finger. Repeat three times.
Aid relaxation: place the thumb of your free hand on the palm of your hand and using circular motions move the thumb all around the palm by applying medium pressure. Spend a bit of extra time massaging the area between your thumb and forefinger by squeezing this area and moving your thumb around in circular motions.
Regularly doing a hand massage, even a self-massage, can help relieve pain, tension, stress and anxiety. It is also thought that doing a hand massage before bed can improve sleep. So tune into your hard working hands, give them a treat and reap the rewards.