If you're like me you were raised listening to the Skeleton Song.

"The foot bone's connected to the leg bone. The leg bone's connected to the knee bone. The knee bone's connected to the thigh bone."

Although there are so many things wrong with the lyrics to this popular childhood song, one thing is true—our body is a chain with many bones from bottom to top.

What makes pain in your elbow, wrist, hand, or finger so dangerous is that it can also cause pain up and down your chain.

This means that your hand pain might be related to your elbow pain. Your elbow pain might be related to your shoulder pain.

So, if you're in a situation where multiple joints are hurting, take some time to investigate all your painful spots. You never know what is the cause and what is the effect until you start investigating.

Here's everything you need to know to relieve pain in your elbow, wrist, hand, and/or finger.

5 Steps for Immediate Elbow Pain Relief

Plain and simple, elbow pain is tricky. When you're trying to figure out why you have elbow pain, it could be from a couple of different situations.

  1. Maybe you overextended your elbow joint (like when you were returning a ball in tennis) and some muscles and tendons are overstretched.
  2. Perhaps you have a tight muscle pulling on its neighbors or a weak muscle not doing its job.
  3. It's possible you overworked those elbow joint muscles by carrying a heavy load too heavy for you. This overstretches muscles and tendons in a similar way to the first option.

Regardless of what you did to get in this position, the question is the same:  What can I do to get out of pain?

By following these steps, you will get to figure out what may have caused your injury and what you can do to relieve your pain right now.

  1. Move your arm and notice how and when you feel pain. Do you feel pain when you bend your elbow? Straighten it? Rotate your forearm? Bend your wrist?
  2. Observe what happens to your elbow pain when you apply pressure in different spots on your arm. Use your free hand to apply pressure to several spots on your arm:  above your wrist, below your elbow, and above your elbow. Notice if applied pressure reduces or increases your pain.
  3. If applied pressure helps your elbow feel better, you have probably overstretched or overused some muscles and/or tendons. Rest your arm. If your injury is from carrying a heavy object with one arm, take action to ensure you don't make this same mistake in the future.
  4. However, if pressure doesn't help your elbow feet better, your pain might be caused by a weak or tight muscle. Use your hands or a massage ball to try to relieve any tension.
  5. Strengthen your arms. My favorite effective-yet-gentle arm exercises are Cat stretch, Downward facing dog, and Plank pose with your knees down.

What Muscles Could Cause Elbow Pain?

When you're trying to figure out why you're having elbow pain, you want to check out some important muscles both in your forearm and upper arm.

Remember that some muscles from your upper arm (like your biceps brachii) insert onto your forearm. Because they cross the elbow, they could cause elbow pain.

Plus, you have muscles that work exclusively in the elbow joint (like the anconeus).

All Muscles that Could Cause Elbow Pain

triceps brachii muscles

Thanks to Kenhub.com for the triceps brachii image.

Here is a complete list of all the muscles you should check out if you're trying to figure out what to do to get rid of your elbow pain:

Sarah Stockett

Hi, I'm Sarah.
I believe you can use simple exercises to relieve your aches + pains.

5 Exercises You Could Do Right Now for Immediate Wrist Pain Relief

Wrist pain can shoot up your arms and out your hands. It can make you drop what you're holding or completely unable to pick up small items.

Often times, your wrists just need some gentle stretches to help you feel better. Here are five exercises you can do that should help you feel better immediately.

  1. Stretch your hands on a flat surface. Connect the palms of your hands to a flat surface. Have your finger point away from you, to each, side, then toward you. After you've completed a round with your palms down, switch it up and turn the tops of your hands down.

  2. downward facing dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana)

    Downward Facing Dog Pose

    Circle your wrists. Draw circles with your wrists. Make sure to go clockwise and counter-clockwise. Try your circles both with fists and with your fingers spread. Do you notice a difference?

  3. Move your wrists right and left. This exercise is an odd one, I know. But, you're going to make loose fists with your hands, and challenge yourself to move at the wrist to slide your hand to the left. Then, move back to center. Then, move to the right and back to center. Complete several rounds of this exercise.
  4. Practice being weight-bearing on your wrists. The two best exercises for this are Downward facing dog and Plank pose.
  5. Massage your forearms. Sometimes, wrist pain can be caused by tight or dysfunctional forearm muscles. You can either use your hands or a massage ball to relieve your forearm tension.

What Muscles Could Cause Wrist Pain?

When you're trying to figure out why you're having wrist pain, you want to check out some important muscles both in your forearm and hand.

You'll see some repeating words in the list below.

Pollicis will let you know this is a muscle that helps move your thumb.

Digitorum indicates this muscle moves your fingers.

Flexor muscles help you reach the palm of your hand toward your forearm, and extensor muscles help your wrist bend the opposite way.

All Muscles that Could Cause Wrist Pain

Here is a complete list of all the muscles you should check out if you're trying to figure out what to do to get rid of your wrist pain:

You can do this. I believe in you.

This list can seem overwhelming at first, but try to really focus on where you feel your pain. By pinpointing a specific painful spot, you can get a good idea of a starting point.

For example, if your pain is more toward the thumb side of your hand, check out the muscles with pollicis in the name. If your pain is toward your fingers, check out muscles with digitorum in the name.

When you become a member of the Custom Pilates and Yoga community, you’ll learn simple, strengthening exercises to help you enjoy your favorite activities with less pain and more energy.

Just click here to sign up to become a member now!

5 Exercises You Could Do Right Now for Immediate Hand Pain Relief

Aching hands can take a toll on your spirit. With hand pain, you feel a sense of sadness and defeat that you might not feel with other joint pain.

Often times, your hands just need some gentle stretches to help you feel better. Here are five exercises you can do that should help you feel better immediately.

  1. wrist stretch with fingers facing each other

    Stretch with fingers facing each other.

    Stretch your hands on a flat surface. Connect the palms of your hands to a flat surface. Have your finger point away from you, to each, side, then toward you. After you've completed a round with your palms down, switch it up and turn the tops of your hands down.

  2. Circle your wrists. Draw circles with your wrists. Make sure to go clockwise and counter-clockwise. Try your circles both with fists and with your fingers spread. Do you notice a difference?
  3. Spread your fingers apart. Put your hands on a flat surface so you can ensure your digits don't lift as you spread them apart.
  4. Hug your digits together. After you've spread your digits apart, challenge yourself to slide them straight toward each other.
  5. Stretch each finger and thumb joint. Gently bend and extend each joint on your fingers and thumb. Make sure your digit moves in a straight line. (Don't let any joints move on an angle.)

For many people, just a little bit of extra hand love will help relieve the aches and pains that you're feeling.

What Muscles Could Cause Hand Pain?

When you're trying to figure out why you're having hand pain, you want to check out some important muscles both in your wrist and hand.

You'll see some repeating words in the list below.

Pollicis will let you know this is a muscle that helps move your thumb.

Digitorum indicates this muscle moves your fingers.

Flexor muscles help you curl your fingers and thumb toward your palm, and extensor muscles help your fingers and thumb move the opposite way.

Abductor muscles help spread your fingers apart.

All Muscles that Could Cause Hand Pain

Here is a complete list of all the muscles you should check out if you're trying to figure out what to do to get rid of your hand pain:

You can do this. I believe in you.

This list can seem overwhelming at first, but try to really focus on where you feel your pain. By pinpointing a specific painful spot, you can get a good idea of a starting point.

For example, if your pain is thumb-related, check out the muscles with pollicis in the name. If your pain is more in or near your fingers, check out muscles with digitorum in the name.

5 Exercises You Could Do Right Now for Immediate Finger Pain Relief

When your fingers or thumb hurt, you want relief—fast! Here are five exercises you can do that should help you feel better immediately.

  1. wrist stretch to relieve hand, wrist, and finger pain

    Stretch with fingers facing away.

    Stretch your hands on a flat surface. Connect the palms of your hands to a flat surface. Have your finger point away from you, to each, side, then toward you. After you've completed a round with your palms down, switch it up and turn the tops of your hands down.

  2. Draw circles with your digits. Use your other fingers to help circle each finger or thumb individually at its base. Make sure to move clockwise and counter-clockwise, and try to keep your digit as straight as possible.
  3. Spread your fingers apart. Put your hands on a flat surface so you can ensure your digits don't lift as you spread them apart.
  4. Hug your digits together. After you've spread your digits apart, challenge yourself to slide them straight toward each other.
  5. Bend each finger and thumb joint. Use your free hand to bend each individual finger or thumb joint. Make sure your digit moves in a straight line. (Don't let any joints move on an angle.)

For many people, just a little bit of extra finger and thumb TLC will help relieve the aches and pains that you're feeling.

What Muscles Could Cause Finger Pain?

When you're trying to figure out why you're having finger pain, you want to check out some important muscles both in your fingers and hand.

You'll see some repeating words in the list below.

Pollicis will let you know this is a muscle that helps move your thumb.

Digitorum indicates this muscle moves your fingers.

Flexor muscles help you curl your fingers and thumb toward your palm, and extensor muscles help your fingers and thumb move the opposite way.

Abductor muscles help spread your fingers apart.

All Muscles that Could Cause Finger Pain

Here is a complete list of all the muscles you should check out if you're trying to figure out what to do to get rid of your finger pain:

You can do this. I believe in you.

This list can seem overwhelming at first, but try to really focus on where you feel your pain. By pinpointing a specific painful spot, you can get a good idea of a starting point.

For example, if your pain is thumb-related, check out the muscles with pollicis in the name. If your pain is more in or near your fingers, check out muscles with digitorum in the name.

When you become a member of the Custom Pilates and Yoga community, you’ll learn simple, strengthening exercises to help you enjoy your favorite activities with less pain and more energy.

Just click here to sign up to become a member now!

Call Your Doctor When...

Although these exercises will help you relieve pain if you have tight or weak muscles, they won't do a bit of good if you have skeletal issues or torn muscles or tendons.

You should absolutely contact your doctor if:

  • your pain increases when you do these exercises.
  • you don't notice decreased pain after two weeks.
  • you notice numbness or tingling.

It's okay to want to try to relieve your pain yourself, but it's also okay to get your doctor's help.