What do you do if your hand cramps up when writing?
Cramps while writing or tiredness of the hand can also occur if you have the correct pen- and body posture. With a wrong writing technique, however, cramps are almost inevitable. If you haven’t yet read how to improve your writing technique, take a look here.
To nevertheless complete your text as quickly and legibly as possible, you can relax your muscles with the following relaxation tips. The exercises are inconspicuous and do not disturb anyone. This means you can also do them during an exam.
The relaxation exercises work well for me and all other people who have tested them. However, I would like to point out that I am not a physiotherapist. Should you have real pain or permanent tension, I strongly recommend that you seek medical advice, for example to rule out tendinitis.
Cramps while writing – these exercises will help you:
- Take deep breaths during the exercises. This helps you to relax better overall.
- Let your arm hang down your side of your body freely. Shake your arm slightly so that the shoulder and arm muscles loosen.
- Make a fist and rotate it. The movement is done through your wrist. Rotate the fist a few times.
- Now spread your fingers and then make a fist as if you were grabbing something and repeat this 5-10 times
- Massage the forearm of your writing arm by palpating the muscles and then knead gently to firmly. Do the same with your thenar.
- Extend your arm with the palms facing down. Now flip your hand up, so the back of your hand is facing you and pull your fingers with your other hand towards you to stretch it. You should feel a slight pull in your forearm. Now hold the tension for about one minute and then shake your hand and arm out.
Attention: None of the exercises should be painful.
Tip for particularly strenuous writing phases
Smile! This may seem a little strange to you. Why would you start smiling in a stressful exam? Maybe you’ve heard the studies that show that when we smile, endorphins are produced in the brain. This leads to relaxation and stress reduction. You can concentrate better during exam stress and gain more energy for the final phase of the exam. If you don’t want to smile in front of everyone, just do so when you go to the toilet.
Here you can find out which pen is best for long writing sessions.