The putty finger curl strengthens the muscles that bend your fingers and close your hand into a fist (finger flexors). You flatten therapy putty into a disc on a table, lay your straight fingers on it, then pull them in through the putty until you make a fist. The putty resists the fingers the whole way. Hand therapists and physios often use it to rebuild grip after a hand or wrist injury, surgery or a spell in a cast.

How to do the putty finger curl

Sit tall at a table. Press a piece of therapy putty into a flat, round disc and lay it on the tabletop in front of you.
Rest the hand you are working on the putty, palm down, with the fingers straight and pressed lightly into it.
Slowly curl your fingers in, dragging them through the putty toward your palm, until you have made as full a fist as you can.
Keep your shoulder and body still, so the work comes from the fingers.
Open the hand, press the putty flat into a disc again, and repeat.

What you should feel

Work in the palm and along the front of the forearm, which usually feels tired by the end of a set. Your knuckles and finger joints should stay pain free.

Common mistakes

Lifting the wrist or pulling with the whole arm to drag the putty in.
Curling only the fingertips, so the big knuckles never bend and the fist stays half made.
Choosing putty so firm that you cannot finish the fist with control.
Holding your breath as you squeeze.

How often

Many programs begin with soft putty and 2 or 3 sets of 10 to 15 slow curls, once or twice a day. Your physio will adjust this.

Stop and check with your physio if

Sharp pain in the palm, the wrist or any finger joint.
A finger catches or locks as you curl it, or clicks with pain. Stop and tell your physio about it.
Numbness or tingling in your fingers or hand that keeps building while you work. If it stays after you stop, or keeps getting worse, get medical advice the same day. 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.
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

Therapy putty comes in grades from very soft to firm, and brands color-code them differently, so go by the label rather than the color. Start soft. Every curl should end in a full fist made with control, with the last few still feeling like work. The voice guide also mentions plasticine, which will do if it is soft enough to curl through. Store the putty in its tub between sessions so it stays clean and does not dry out.

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. After a tendon repair on the palm side of a finger, a resisted fist pulls hard on the repair and usually comes later in rehab, so wait for your surgeon or hand therapist to say it is allowed. If you have rheumatoid arthritis or arthritis in the finger joints, ask your physio which grade to use, and leave the exercise out while your joints are hot and swollen. If you have high blood pressure, breathe steadily through every repetition and never hold your breath.

Hand grip squeeze works the same muscles with a soft ball, and finger spread with putty works the muscles that open the hand. A finger that clicks or locks as it bends may be trigger finger.

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.

Putty finger curl