The Pain in Painting- Hand Injuries & How to Prevent Them

Ack! Too Much Art And Now It Hurts…

Updated Sept 2026: This post was updated to include new examples and recommendations.

I can’t say I had ever thought too much about injuries associated with doing artwork. I’d gotten fatigued while doing long art sessions before, but I would generally just break for a while, rest my hand, and continue on. I had never had any hand injuries until recently.

After painting almost an entire week straight for my art show, I started getting symptoms of carpal tunnel.

Man did it bum me out! I could barely grip anything, had shooting pains up my arm, and numbness and weakness for 2-3 weeks. I had to try and use my non-dominant hand for everything and had to take a long break from all artwork and basic household tasks. My hand and arm started to feel better, but I noticed they fatigued more quickly; The healing wasn’t really complete after 3 weeks. I’ve recently re-injured my already artwork-weakened thumb because of a large digital art contract, and I’ve been careful not to push it too far again.

Having a hand injury is extremely tough when you use fine motor skills to make a living. I’ve pushed myself too far in many creative endeavors, including traditional painting, digital painting, sculpting, and crocheting. Through the duration of my hand injuries, my productivity has been significantly reduced.

This experience has made me realize how important it is to take preventative steps to avoid hand injuries as an artist (or anyone with hands, really).

So What Can You do to
Help Prevent Hand Injuries from Art?

If you’re a crafter, knitter, crocheter, artist, musician, use your computer like crazy, or even just do anything with your hands in a repetitive manner, you could possibly develop some swelling, pain, and strain sometime down the line. So what do you to keep things limber?

**It should first be said, (as you probably already know) I’m not a doctor! So if you’re having any pain or swelling, you should talk to your doctor. This isn’t medical advice and isn’t meant to replace professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Please visit your physician or another qualified health provider with any questions you might have about any pain or strain you may have and follow his/her recommendations.

Below are five main things that I try to pay attention to help prevent hand, wrist, and arm injury for myself:

1. Make yourself take breaks, even if you aren’t feeling fatigued.
   Don’t press your limits.

   I can paint traditionally for about 3.5 hours before I feel strain in my hand and wrist. It’s more like 2.5-3 hrs when digital painting on a tablet. I’ve found that waiting until my max limit before I take a break has lead to onset of injury in the long run, though. A couple 15 minute breaks to shake out and stretch my hand over the work period helps me keep things loose.

   I recommend finding your limits… and then staying away from them. If you have a tendency to get so caught up in your art that you lose track of time, it can be helpful to set yourself a break reminder time when starting your creative session.

2. Pay attention to your posture and creative setup. Stop that hunching!

   I’m definitely guilty of bad art posture. I’ve been caught Quasimodo-ing over projects or leaning weirdly over my art tablet on many occasions.  When you have weird posture, some muscles have to overcompensate in unexpectedly negative ways to keep you working.

   Try and sit up and have everything at a comfortable level for working.  If you aren’t comfortable, stop and readjust yourself or your workspace before continuing. This might include things like the height of your chair, the support of what you’re actually sitting on (is it something with a back to it or just a stool?), and how far you have to stretch to reach your work surface.

   For traditional art, if it’s something larger like a big painting, you might like to consider a support like a mahl stick! This tool lets you stabilize and rest your arm to while doing detail work on big paintings. You can make these yourself or purchase them at art stores or online. Check out this video by Harbinson Designs for a DIY version you can make.

   For digital art, sometimes the angle of your table-based drawing tablet might be too upright, which can sometimes cause more strain in your arm and wrist. Adjusting your art tablet to an angle where you can rest your hand more directly on the tablet can sometimes reduce that strain.

   For lap-based projects (crocheting, knitting, drawing on an ipad on the couch, etc.), sometimes it’s nice to have something like a pillow on your lap and even under your elbows to give some extra support to tired arms and tendons.

3. Get your stretch on.
   

   I’ve found some amazing hand stretch routines on Youtube that help me a lot.

   One of my favorite videos is by Smart Stretch and can be viewed here– Wrist, Hand & Finger Stretching Routine – Active Isolated Stretching. It teaches a large variety of stretches. I also like to just shake my hands around like I’m flicking water off of them to loosen them.  That can provide some relief as well.

4. Gel Packs and Pain Relief Creams

   If you’re starting to feel some strain already, you can try hot and cold compresses/gel packs.

   Hot compresses/gel packs are useful when you’re having joint stiffness (which is common when you hold your hand/fingers in a fixed position for a long time). Heat increases blood flow and causes muscle relaxation.
   
   Cold compresses/gel packs reduce blood flow to an area to help reduce pain caused by swelling and over-extension.  You can read more about thermotherapy and cryotherapy here.

   One of my favorite creams that helps me personally with tendonitis is called T-Relief (Arnica +12). It’s a homeopathic cream that contains a lot of herbal ingredients that are meant to provide temporary relief of muscle pain, joint paint, nerve pain, and arthritis pain. I’ve tried both the cream and the gel version. I know some other people that use other pain relief products, like Icy Hot or Tiger Balm, but my favorite so far has be T-Relief.

5. Wrap or brace your hand for added support.
   

   One of the most helpful tools in my kit to avoid injury these days has been to use wrist and elbow braces. I probably have 5 or 6 types at this point. Some are smaller and more flexible for lighter work sessions. Some are larger, firmer, and even have removable metal support rods to keep things in a more neutral position if you need that for healing.

   Here are some links to ones I personally use:

   Soft Wrist Braces:
   Mueller Wrist Support Wrap and 3M Futuro Wrap Around Wrist Support

   Elbow Support:
   3M Futuro Elbow Support

   Wrist Brace with Metal Support (support is removable):
   Mueller Carpal Tunnel Wrist Stabilizer

   I’ve also used compression gloves on occassion if my fingers and hands themselves are needing some extra support.

   If you need a quicker, more temporary wrist or arm compression solution, you can also use self-adherent sports or medical tape as a makeshift solution. I used this option a number of times before I could invest in braces and gloves.

Do you have any tips that you use to keep your busy hands in good shape?

Have you had any hand injuries you’ve had to work with before?

I’d love to hear your tips and stories.