Operating a mouse and keyboard all day can leave the muscles in your forearms tight and cranky. This self-massage routine can loosen those muscles and ease the pain in your forearms and wrists.
Anatomically, we will focus on the forearm flexor muscles, the muscles on the inside, or palm side, of your forearm. We focus on this side of the arm both because there are more and bigger muscles here and because these muscles are typically more shortened and tightened up by desk work.
If you have oil or lotion handy, you can rub a little into your forearms to warm them up and add a little lubrication. But you can do this self-massage just fine without any oil or lotion.
Stay mindful throughout of your comfort. You should feel a firm tugging as you do this, but no pain. If you feel nerve-ey sensations or any other discomfort, stop and read our disclaimer.
- Gently grasp your right forearm with your left hand just above the wrist, with your left thumb resting on the inside of your right forearm and the four fingers of your left hand resting on the back of the right forearm.
- Flex your right wrist about 80 degrees.
- Fairly firmly, but not too deeply, sink the pad (not tip) of your left thumb into the inside of your right forearm.
- Extend your right wrist back as far as you can keeping your left thumb pad firmly in place. You will feel the muscles and tendons deep in your right forearm sliding under your thumb.
- Move your left thumb a little further up your right forearm and repeat several times. Each time you should have the sensation of tissues deep in your arm sliding under your thumb.
- Notice in the illustration at right that there are several muscles in the forearm. Experiment with sinking your left thumb in at different points in your forearm, going both side to side and up and down your arm.
- Reverse your hand position and repeat the whole sequence on the left forearm.
See the video for a demonstration of this self-massage technique.
About the Author
Larry Swanson is a massage therapist in downtown Seattle, WA. His practices focuses on the unique needs of office workers and also includes injury treatment for sports and car-accident injuries as well as massage for wellness and athletic performance.