My Hands Are Hard To Make A Fist And Hurt If I Even Touch Them Against

Leo Migdal

-Nov 26, 2025, 11:23 AM

my hands are hard to make a fist and hurt if i even touch them against

By providing your email address, you are agreeing to our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use. Psoriatic-Arthritis.com is a Health Union community. Health Union reaches millions of people through condition-specific online health communities and a Social Health Network of patient leaders across virtually all health conditions. © 2025 Health Union, LLC. All rights reserved. This information is not designed to replace a physician’s independent judgment about the appropriateness or risks of a procedure for a given patient.

Always consult your doctor about your medical conditions. Psoriatic-Arthritis.com does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Use of the site is conditional upon your acceptance of our terms of use. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Most of us know when our body is telling us something just isn’t quite right. Like if you’re suddenly having trouble doing something simple that you’ve been able to do your whole life—like closing your hand into a fist.

If you’ve noticed any pain or weakness in one or both of your hands to the point that you can’t make a fist, a hand condition may be to blame. Read on to learn three potential conditions that may be why you’re having trouble gripping, what causes them, and when to see a hand specialist for treatment. Most of the time, when patients can’t make a fist, it’s because they have one of these three common hand conditions: One potential culprit for why you can’t make a fist is osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is the most common type of hand arthritis. In fact, about half of all women and a quarter of all men will experience it by the time they hit age 85.

When making a fist causes discomfort, understanding the underlying issues within the hand’s bones, tendons, ligaments, and nerves is important. This article explores common conditions that lead to pain when clenching your hand. Pain when making a fist often stems from arthritis, which involves joint inflammation. Osteoarthritis, a result of wear and tear, affects small joints at the thumb’s base or knuckles. As cartilage degenerates, bone may rub against bone, causing pain and stiffness when joints are compressed. Rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune condition, causes the immune system to attack the joint lining, leading to widespread inflammation, swelling, and a characteristic warm, boggy feeling in affected joints.

This inflammation limits joint movement, making actions like making a fist painful as inflamed tissues are squeezed. Tendonitis, which is inflammation of a tendon, can also cause pain when forming a fist. De Quervain’s tenosynovitis affects tendons on the thumb side of the wrist, where they pass through a narrow tunnel. When inflamed, these tendons cause sharp pain during thumb and wrist movements like grasping or clenching, as swollen tendons rub against their constricting sheath. Trigger finger (stenosing tenosynovitis) occurs when a palm tendon sheath becomes inflamed and thickened, impeding tendon gliding. This can cause a finger to catch, lock, or produce a painful popping sensation when bending into a fist or straightening.

Nerve compression in the wrist can also cause pain during hand movements. Carpal tunnel syndrome occurs when the median nerve, running through a narrow wrist passageway, becomes compressed. This compression can result from inflammation or swelling of surrounding tendons, leading to numbness, tingling, weakness, and pain in the thumb, index, middle, and part of the ring finger. Making a fist can exacerbate these symptoms by increasing pressure within the carpal tunnel, leading to increased pain or a sensation of weakness. Sprains and strains are common causes of hand pain. A sprain involves stretching or tearing ligaments, the tough bands of tissue that connect bones, often from a sudden twist or impact.

A strain refers to stretching or tearing a muscle or tendon, which connects muscle to bone. Both injuries cause acute pain, swelling, and tenderness, making fist clenching painful due to stress on damaged tissues. Your hands and wrists are essential for nearly every daily activity—from gripping a steering wheel to typing on a keyboard. When an injury occurs, even minor movements can become painful or difficult. At Raleigh Orthopaedic Clinic, our hand and wrist specialists are here to diagnose, treat, and help you recover from a wide range of injuries. Here’s what you need to know about some of the most common hand and wrist injuries, their symptoms, causes, and when it’s time to seek expert care.

Causes:Sprains involve stretched or torn ligaments, while strains affect muscles or tendons. These injuries often occur from falls, sports, or overuse. Causes:This condition is caused by pressure on the median nerve as it passes through the wrist. It’s common in people with repetitive hand movements, such as typing or using tools. Causes:Falls onto an outstretched hand, direct trauma, or accidents can lead to fractures in the fingers, hand, or wrist bones. Causes:Tendonitis results from inflammation of the tendons, often due to repetitive activities or overuse.

Deciphering the Pain: Unraveling the Reasons Behind Hand Pain When Making a Fist Ever experienced a sudden, unexpected pain shooting through your hand as you clench it into a fist? It's a peculiar sensation, isn't it? One moment you're simply trying to grasp something or perhaps just flexing your hand, and the next, you're recoiling in discomfort. If this scenario seems all too familiar, rest assured, you're not alone. Many individuals grapple with this issue of experiencing hand pain when making a fist, but few truly understand why it happens.

Today, we're going to delve into this intriguing mystery and shed light on the potential reasons behind this discomfort. To comprehend the source of the pain, we first need to appreciate the complex structure that is our hand. This marvel of nature, housing 27 bones, numerous muscles, and a vast network of nerves and blood vessels, works in perfect harmony to enable a wide range of movements and functions we often take... However, like any intricate machinery, things can sometimes go awry, resulting in discomfort or pain, especially when you make a fist. One of the most frequent offenders causing this discomfort is arthritis. Characterized by inflammation in the joints, arthritis can transform even the simplest tasks into monumental challenges.

Imagine trying to squeeze a stress ball with a hand that's already stressed out! That's what arthritis can feel like. Difficulty making a fist often stems from disruptions in the bones, joints, muscles, tendons, or nerves of the hand and wrist, commonly caused by injuries, inflammatory conditions, tendon problems, nerve compression, or swelling. The ability to make a fist is a fundamental movement, crucial for countless daily activities, from grasping objects to simply waving hello. When this seemingly simple action becomes difficult or impossible, it can significantly impact your quality of life and signal an underlying health issue. Difficulty making a fist can range from a minor inconvenience to a sign of a more serious condition affecting the bones, muscles, tendons, or nerves in your hand and wrist.

Understanding why you might be struggling to clench your hand can help you seek appropriate care and regain function. To understand why you might not be able to make a fist, it helps to know how your hand normally performs this action. Making a fist is a complex coordinated movement involving: Any disruption to these components can hinder your ability to make a fist. Home About Arthritis Rheumatoid Arthritis Rheumatoid Arthritis Overview <img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-2213" src="http://creakyjoints.org//wp-content/uploads/2018/11/1118_Hand-Exercises-300x200.jpg" alt="Hand Exercises for Arthritis" width="800" height="533" srcset="https://creakyjoints.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/1118_Hand-Exercises-300x200.jpg 300w, https://creakyjoints.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/1118_Hand-Exercises-768x512.jpg 768w, https://creakyjoints.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/1118_Hand-Exercises-1024x683.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" />

If the joints in your hand have recently started aching, it’s natural to worry about why. Are they just over-taxed, or could you be developing progressive autoimmune condition like rheumatoid arthritis (RA)? In 2017, the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) stated that seven factors can help doctors determine which patients with arthralgia — joint pain without other obvious arthritis symptoms — were most likely to progress... Those factors include morning stiffness and family history of rheumatoid arthritis. Difficulty making a fist is also on that list of early RA risk factors, but according to authors of a new Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases research letter, there hasn’t been much scientific evidence... The human hand is an intricate structure, capable of a vast range of movements from powerful grips to delicate tasks.

Its ability to form a fist, a seemingly simple action, relies on the coordinated function of numerous bones, muscles, tendons, nerves, and blood vessels. When this fundamental movement becomes difficult or impossible, it can be a concerning symptom that points to various underlying issues affecting the complex mechanics of the hand and forearm. Difficulty forming a fist often originates from problems within the hand, wrist, or forearm, impacting the mechanical integrity of involved structures. Injuries like fractures to the metacarpals or phalanges can mechanically block full finger flexion due to bone displacement or swelling. Sprains, involving stretched or torn ligaments, also limit movement and cause pain when attempting to clench the hand. Dislocations, where bones are forced out of alignment, similarly prevent the smooth articulation required for a fist.

Inflammatory conditions also frequently impair hand closure. Tendinitis, an inflammation of the tendons, causes pain and stiffness, hindering smooth tendon movement. Tenosynovitis, inflammation of the tendon sheath, further restricts movement and can lead to “trigger finger,” where the finger catches or locks. Localized forms of arthritis, such as osteoarthritis, involve cartilage breakdown in finger joints, leading to friction, pain, and reduced range of motion. Rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune condition, targets the synovial lining of joints, causing inflammation, swelling, and joint damage that can deform fingers and prevent fist formation. Beyond localized issues, difficulty forming a fist can stem from conditions originating elsewhere, affecting the hand’s neurological control or systemic health.

Nerve compression syndromes are a frequent cause, where pressure on a nerve disrupts signal transmission. Carpal tunnel syndrome involves median nerve compression at the wrist, leading to numbness, tingling, and weakness in the thumb, index, middle, and part of the ring finger, impairing grip strength. Cubital tunnel syndrome affects the ulnar nerve at the elbow, causing similar symptoms in the little finger and the other half of the ring finger, and can weaken intrinsic hand muscles. Compression of nerve roots in the neck, known as cervical radiculopathy, can also result in pain, numbness, and weakness radiating down the arm into the hand, impacting muscle function. Broader neurological disorders can also hinder hand function by disrupting the brain’s control over movement. A stroke, resulting from interrupted blood flow to the brain, can damage the motor cortex, leading to weakness or paralysis on one side of the body, including the hand, sometimes causing spasticity that keeps...

Parkinson’s disease, a progressive central nervous system disorder, often causes rigidity, tremors, and bradykinesia (slowness of movement), making it challenging to form a fist. Multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease damaging nerve fibers’ myelin sheath, can disrupt nerve signals, leading to muscle weakness, coordination problems, and impaired hand dexterity.

My Hands Are Hard To Make A Fist And Hurt If I Even Touch Them Against

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