Opening and closing the hands is one of the simplest finger exercises there is. You sit in a chair with your forearms resting on the armrests or your hands in your lap, curl your fingers into a fist, then open them out and spread them as wide as you can. Physios often give it early on to keep the fingers moving after a hand or wrist injury, or during and after time in a cast or splint.

How to do the open and close the hands

Sit back in a chair with your feet flat on the floor. Rest your forearms on the armrests, or rest your hands in your lap if the chair has none.
Let your hands reach just past the end of the armrests, palms facing down and fingers relaxed, as in the video.
Slowly curl all your fingers into a fist, with your thumb wrapped over the outside of the fingers. In a cast or splint, close the hand only as far as it allows.
Open the hand again and spread your fingers as wide apart as they will comfortably go.
Keep going between fist and wide open hand at an easy, steady pace. The video shows both hands working together.

What you should feel

Movement through all the finger joints and the palm, and a mild stretch as the fingers spread. Stiff fingers may feel tight at the end of the fist, which should ease as you warm up.

Common mistakes

Making only half a fist, with the fingertips stopping well short of the palm.
Squeezing the fist hard. This is a movement exercise, not a grip exercise.
Letting the wrist bend down as you close the hand.
Hurrying, so the fingers never fully open or close.

How often

Many programs use 5 to 10 slow repetitions, 3 to 4 times a day. Your physio will adjust this.

Stop and check with your physio if

Sharp pain in a finger joint, the palm or the wrist.
Tingling or numbness in the fingers that comes on as you work. If one side of your face or body suddenly goes numb or weak, or your speech becomes slurred or muddled, call emergency services, even if it goes away.
Your fingers puff up or feel stiffer once you have finished.
Emergency: while you are in a cast or splint, your fingers turn blue, white or pale, or feel cold. Do not wait to see if raising your hand helps. Go to an emergency department straight away, and do not drive yourself. The cast or splint may be cutting off the blood supply, or pressure may be building up inside the forearm (compartment syndrome), and both need checking quickly.
In a cast or splint, the pain gets worse, your fingers feel numb or tingle or look more swollen, or the cast feels too tight. Stop, raise your hand above your head, keep moving your fingers and contact your fracture clinic or get medical advice straight away. If you cannot move your fingers, the pain is severe even after painkillers, or the numbness, tingling or swelling has not settled within 30 minutes of raising your hand, go to your fracture clinic or an emergency department straight away, and do not drive yourself.
Since the fracture or cast, the hand is getting more painful rather than less, the skin becomes very sensitive to light touch, or the hand changes color, temperature, swelling or sweating compared with the other one, or looks shiny. See your doctor or physio as soon as you can, within a few days at most, as this can be complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) and early treatment may help.

From the clinic

You can do this almost anywhere, which makes it easy to fit in several times a day. If one hand is stiff, working both together lets you compare them and see how far the stiff fingers still have to go. Go as far as is comfortable each way. Do not force a full fist.

After a wrist fracture, keep moving your fingers and thumb as far as the cast or splint allows, unless your fracture clinic has told you otherwise. After a broken hand or finger, a tendon repair or other hand surgery, how far you may move the fingers and thumb is often limited for several weeks, so do only the movements your surgeon or hand therapist has shown you. Mention it to your physio if a finger sticks in the bent position and then jumps straight. When this feels easy, tendon glides take the fingers through more positions, and the hand grip squeeze adds some resistance.

Written and checked by the PocketPhysio editorial team. Last updated 2026-09-28.

This page is general education, not a diagnosis or a personal treatment plan. If you have pain, an injury or a health condition, see a physiotherapist or doctor before starting new exercises.

Open and close the hands