‘Tis the season to go shopping! And to carry handfuls of bags. The simple task of carrying bags of goods can certainly cause stress and injury to your hands.

Have you ever gotten home from the store and instead of making two or three trips to carry everything inside, you end up carrying all the bags at once? With each of your fingers and thumb acting as a hanger, you might have felt the stress and strain of heavy bags pulling your phalanges in directions you never thought possible. A bag of groceries or gifts may not be all that heavy alone, but with multiple bags, you begin to develop symptoms of pain.

If you’ve ever done this you’re not alone. In fact, more often than not with our busy lifestyles, when the going gets fast, most people tend to place a little too much stress on their hands. Maybe you don’t normally carry your bags in such a compromising fashion, but you probably can relate to some other area in your life where you commonly use your hands.

Your hands are very versatile and as a result, without realizing it you may use them in such a way that could cause undue stress and injury.

The best rule of thumb (no pun intended), is to always keep your hands in as neutral of a position as possible. Especially when performing enduring tasks like carrying bags of groceries. Using your hands in an unnatural posture may result in strain or injury to the hands, wrists, or elbows.

It’s healthier to slow things down a little and make an extra trip or two back to your vehicle if it means keeping those fingers in a non-contorted, more relaxed position.

Even when you take precautions to protect your hands, you may still encounter stress or pain after prolonged physical activity.

If you ever feel like you may have stressed your hands a little too much, you should come in to have us check your wrists and hands for misalignments.

We provide full-body chiropractic care, focusing on adjusting the tiny bones in the hands, feet, and other body areas in addition to the spine. A chiropractic adjustment to your wrist and hands can make all the difference in alleviating stress in that area.