Does your pinky side ache? Here’s why (and what you can do!)

Have you ever noticed that the pinky side of your hand feels sore or fatigued, especially after holding something for a while?

There’s a reason for that! The pinky side of your hand is naturally less stable than your index/middle finger side. Try this: wiggle your pinky side in your palm—it probably moves a lot more than the other side of your hand.

That built-in wobbliness means that when you grip objects (like your phone 👀), the weight pulls toward the pinky side, making your muscles work overtime just to keep things steady.

And if you're hypermobile? That pinky-sided instability is likely even MORE significant, putting extra strain on your hand.

The good news? There are plenty of solutions 🙌

Some simple ways to combat pinky-sided soreness include:

Buddy straps & buddy ring splints – These provide extra support by stabilizing your pinky alongside your ring finger (or your middle finger, in the case of a 2 ½ buddy ring splint), which can greatly reduce strain.
Hand braces – Wearing a structured support can help ease the workload on your pinky-side muscles and ‘shut down’ the area. Supports with a lot of structure/restricted movement are generally not recommended for full-time use, but can definitely help get you through a pain flare!
Targeted exercises – Strengthening key muscles can improve stability and endurance over time…especially when it’s the right exercise (like this one below!)

Take a small piece of theraputty and squeeze it from your pinky to your ring finger.

This helps strengthen one of the muscles that helps to hold your pinky in proper alignment!

Small habit changes – Adjusting the way you grip objects can make a big difference in reducing daily strain - for example, rather than resting your phone on your pinky fingers when you use it, instead opt to prop it up on a pillow or grip it alternatively (like with a pop socket or phone strap).

I hope if you take away one thing from this email, it’s that you don’t have to live with pinky-sided soreness! There are a LOT of solutions out there, and I am passionate about helping you find the answers that are right for you 💛

That’s exactly why I created Hypermobile Hands Blueprint—to help hypermobile humans (like you!) find real solutions for hand pain.