Pinch and pull with a cloth trains the strength of your pinch grip. You sit with a face cloth in your lap, hold one edge firmly between the pads of your thumb and index finger, and pull on the other end with your free hand while the pinching hand holds on. Many programs then repeat it with the other fingers. Physios often use it to rebuild pinch strength after a hand or wrist injury, and the free hand lets you set how hard the pull is.

How to do the pinch and pull with a cloth

Sit on a chair with a face cloth or small hand towel resting in your lap.
With your working hand, pinch one edge of the cloth firmly between the pad of your thumb and the pad of your index finger, as in the video.
Take the other end of the cloth in your free hand and pull slowly, as if trying to slide the cloth out of the pinch. Hold on so it does not slip.
Keep the pull steady for a few seconds, then ease off and relax the pinch.
Repeat. In the video only the index finger pinches. If your physio includes the other fingers, as the voice guide describes, pinch with your middle, ring and little finger in turn. Swap hands if both are in your program.

What you should feel

Effort in the web of the thumb and the fleshy pad at its base, and in the finger doing the pinch. The pulling hand should hardly feel it.

Common mistakes

Pulling so hard that the cloth rips out of the pinch.
Jerking the cloth instead of building the pull up slowly.
Letting the thumb end joint bend backward under the load.
Holding your breath while you pinch.

How often

Many programs use 5 to 10 pulls, holding each one for about 3 to 5 seconds, once or twice a day. Give any other finger in your program the same number. Your physio will adjust this.

Stop and check with your physio if

Sharp pain in the thumb, especially where it meets the wrist, or in a finger joint.
Your thumb or fingers start to tingle or go numb. 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.
Hand or finger joints that are more swollen or sore for hours afterward.
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

Start with a gentle pull and only increase it once holding the cloth feels easy with each finger you use. The pull sets the effort, so you can make it easier or harder without buying anything. The app calls this a lateral pinch, the grip you use to hold a key, but the video shows the cloth held between the pads of the thumb and index finger, so the steps follow the video. If pinching of any kind is still tricky, thumb opposition gets the thumb and fingers moving first.

After a broken wrist, hand or forearm, or surgery on any of them such as a tendon repair, start only when your doctor, surgeon, physio or hand therapist says the bone or repair is ready for this, and follow their plan for how much to do. Resisted pinching usually comes later in rehab. Pinching loads the joint at the base of the thumb, so with arthritis there or rheumatoid arthritis in your hands, ask your physio first and keep the pull light on days when a joint is sore or swollen. The clothespin pinch works the same pinch against a spring instead of a pull.

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.

Pinch and pull with a cloth