Finger joint blocking (single-joint finger bends)

How to move

1. Sit with your forearm resting on a table, palm up, and the fingers relaxed.
2. Middle joint: with the thumb and index finger of your other hand, hold the finger just below its middle joint, so the big knuckle stays straight. Bend the middle joint as far as is comfortable, pause, then straighten it fully.
3. End joint: move your grip up to hold the middle part of the finger, so the middle joint stays straight. Bend the end joint, pause, then straighten it fully.
4. In a boutonnière splint, hold the splint itself and bend only the tip: the middle joint stays straight in the splint.
5. Move slowly, and start and finish each set with the finger as straight as you can.

Form cues

• Only the joint above your grip moves.
• Bend gently; straighten all the way.
• Never force it.
• Avoid: letting the knuckle below your grip bend, or pushing the joint further with the other hand unless your therapist has shown you how.

Practice and cautions

After a jammed finger (a volar plate injury): 5 bends of each joint, holding each for 5 seconds, every 1 to 2 hours (North Tees), or tip bends 5 to 10 times every 1 to 2 hours (Calderdale and Huddersfield). After a dislocated finger: 5 bends of each joint, from about 3 to 5 weeks (University Hospitals Sussex and James Paget). In a splint for a torn central slip (a boutonnière injury): tip bends only, 5 times with 5-second holds every 1 to 2 hours (North Tees), or 3-second holds (Hull). After a flexor tendon repair: end-joint bends from about 6 weeks, only as your therapist allows (Bradford gives no dose). These are NHS hand therapy leaflets' doses; no trial has tested the move on its own.

After a tendon repair or a mallet finger, start only when your hand therapist says, and bend only as far as they set. In a boutonnière splint, bend the tip only: the middle joint must stay straight. Don't push into sharp pain. If the finger won't straighten after the exercise, stop and contact your therapist. This is movement education, not an assessment or treatment prescription. Stop for sharp or increasing pain, dizziness, numbness or tingling; seek individual guidance for symptoms, injury or restrictions.