When sitting or lying down, prop your wrist up on a cushion so that your hand and wrist are elevated above your chest. Doing this will help to limit swelling, which can also limit the pain you experience.
Switch between these finger motion exercises until you feel like you can do them relatively easily without stress of pain.
Open your hand and keep your fingers straight. Open your fingers as wide as you can, then squeeze them back together. Repeat this exercise ten times.
As a reminder, you should not return to work for at least two weeks after your surgery so that your wrist muscles and tendons can heal. If you force yourself to begin typing again, your pain will get triggered again and your weak tendons will become irritated.
Wrap ice or a cold compress in a hand towel so that you do not apply the ice directly to your skin, as applying ice for too long a period of time could cause skin damage. Leave the cold compress on your wrist for 15 to 20 minutes.
While you will now be able to take a shower and get your wrist wet, you should not dunk your wrist in a pool or bowl filled with water.
You should remove the brace when taking a shower and when doing the exercises listed in the following steps.
Repeat this process about ten times.
Count to five then release. Repeat this process ten times.
Hold this position for five seconds. Repeat this process five times throughout the day.
Transition into the next part of this stretch. Point your palm down and use your other hand to grab your fingers. Move them up toward your forearm until you feel a stretch. Count to five and then release. Repeat this process five times.
Move your hand up and down by bending your wrist; do this very gently. Repeat this process ten time, then rotate your arm so that your palm points towards the floor. Move your hand up and down another ten times. You can use your other hand, rather than a table, to support your elbow.
Use lotion or cream to rub on the scars that the stitches may have left. Doing this will help to heal scar tissue that may have formed. Do not use perfumed lotion, as this may irritate the area where the stitches were. Massage the area with lotion for five minutes, twice a day.
If you decide to go back to work, you should continue to wear your brace for roughly six weeks after you return to work.
The wrist curls described in the previous section can be enhanced by holding a light weight, like a water bottle or tennis ball. This extra weight can increase the intensity of the exercise by increasing the resistance put on your wrist.
Raise your arm, then bend it toward your head while raising your elbow so that the circle made by your thumb and forefinger is placed next to your eye. The other three fingers should be placed on your face and ear. Apply pressure to your face with your wrist to fully extend your wrist. Count to five, then repeat ten times.
Lie on the floor on your stomach in front of the chair so that if you extend your arms you could grab its first two legs. Hold them tight with your hands while keeping your elbows straight and resting on the floor. The first exercise is to try to elevate the chair up in the air for ten seconds without making it touching the floor again, then return it back to the floor, the second exercise is the same but with elevating the chair for 30 to 40 seconds, you should have the minimal rest between each exercise and the other as much as possible to be able to work on the all forearm muscles group. The third exercise is done by raising the chair for two seconds, then lowering it down quickly without making it reach the floor, then raising it again for two seconds and lowering it and so on, the reason for the two seconds that you don’t want to perform much quick up and downs. The last exercise is done while making twisting motion that need more stability and strength from your muscles, just raise the chair above the floor for about twenty to thirty seconds while making a twist motion bringing it slightly quickly right and left.
