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I’m beginning to notice tingling and pain in my wrists once I’m in Plank or Down Dog. It’s not only impacting my practice, but in addition my work. I’ve began to feel it in my hands once I’m typing on my laptop.

—V. in Lufkin, Texas

For this query, we turned to Sudha Carolyn Lundeen, RN, E-RYT, a licensed as a licensed holistic-health nurse, an Ayurvedic health and lifestyle coach, Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapist, and a senior faculty member at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Lenox, Massachusetts where she has been leading programs on yoga, health, and healing for greater than 20 years. Listed below are her thoughts.

Your symptoms sound like the start of a repetitive stress injury. It might occur to anyone—computer operators, photographers, graphics designers, and anyone whose work or hobby calls for long periods of regular hand movement, and repeated grasping, turning, and twisting.

What causes repetitive stress injuries?

The meridian nerve passes through the wrist in a narrow passageway formed by the carpal bones and a troublesome layer of ligaments. It controls sensation in your fingers, thumb, and a few muscles in your hand. Repeated motions cause the finger tendons (that also go through that tunnel) to swell and press the nerve against the bone. If the movement patterns that cause the symptoms proceed, the hands can eventually lose their ability to firmly grasp objects and even suffer everlasting damage.

Stopping repetitive stress injuries

The excellent news is that doesn’t need to occur. Prevention is the important thing. For instance, take time to warm up the wrist joint and fingers by simply opening and shutting your fist a dozen times. One other exercise is to rotate the hands clockwise for 15 seconds after which reverse the direction.

Also, massage your arms from the fingers as much as the elbows and start to construct strength. Certainly one of the best ways to do that is to squeeze and release a tennis ball several times a day, or place the ideas of your fingertips together and press into one another.

It is important that you just consistently release tension throughout the day too. Every hour, take a five- to ten-minute break from repetitive hand motions. (Set a timer so that you won’t forget.) Use that point to maneuver, massage, and shake out the fingers and wrists. Roll the shoulders and calm down the neck muscles by lowering the chin to the chest and rolling the pinnacle backward and forward.

Modify your asana practice

So long as you’ve gotten symptoms, either avoid or modify yoga poses that place weight on the wrist joint, reminiscent of Plank Pose or Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog). As an illustration, in Down Dog, make fists and place your knuckles on the ground to maintain the wrists straight. Or place your forearms on the ground and practice Dolphin Pose, as a substitute. Make use of props and supports. A folded blanket under the heels of your hands will decrease the angle of your wrists and cause less strain. You may also experiment with a wrist brace for added support and stability—while you’re practicing and throughout your day.

Sometimes it’s needed to take a break from the activities which might be causing the issue. But you don’t need to miss your yoga practice altogether. Just about all yoga postures have hands-free variations. Most could be done in a chair.

As for addressing how that is affecting you at work, it’s possible you’ll want to take a position in having an ergonomics expert to assist assess your posture and alignment in your workplace. They’ll offer you tips about the way to support your body to forestall repetitive stress injuries.

In case your symptoms persist, seek the advice of a physical therapist, yoga therapist, or a trusted health skilled.

Got a matter about alignment in a certain yoga pose? Want to raised understand a facet of yoga philosophy? Need advice on the way to approach a difficult situation in your class? Submit your questions here or email us at asktheteacher@yogajournal.com, and we may answer it in an upcoming column.

This text has been updated. It was originally published on August 28, 2007.