“The hand is the tool of tools.”
— Aristotle
Spoiler alert — this post begins with a spoiler, but it’s worth it.
In Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Luke Skywalker, after having a robotic hand attached to replace the one he lost to a lightsaber blow, looks at his new hand with something approaching amazement. The fingers move exactly as his own once did. The medical droid jabs the tips and he recoils instinctively.
The way Luke studies this new hand is interesting. I wonder, did he ever give as much thought or consideration to his hands before? Have you? Have any of us? Or is it only when something goes wrong that we suddenly realise how important our hands really are?
Our hands are the physical connection to our craft. Like the transmission in a car, without it, all the power in the engine is redundant. Likewise, without our hands, the images in our heads and the wishes of our clients simply disappear into the ether.
We move our hands, wrists, and fingers hundreds, possibly thousands, of times every day. Even more so in our profession. And yet, when you actually look at the range of movements we use, it’s surprisingly limited.
Take using scissors as an example. The thumb does most of the work; the fingers are the supporting cast. Holding the clippers, the hairdryer, the brushes, all require some form of gripping.
Our hands spend most of the day flexing and closing. The palm side, the flexor side, is doing the majority of the work. It happens almost without us realising, quietly increasing the potential for imbalance, stiffness, and injury over time.
Ask yourself this: when was the last time you fully extended your fingers and hand? When did you last give it the old jazz hands? There’s something deeply satisfying about splaying your fingers out as wide as you can, an almost exquisite sensation.
Try it now. Spread them as wide and as far as you can. How does it feel? Good, right? Now imagine doing that after a long day of chopping and blow-drying. It’s magical.
Another fantastic, simple stretch I love, and one that can easily be done between clients, is what I call the prayer hand stretch.
Bring your hands together as if you’re praying for something. Keep the fingers touching, then slowly separate the palms while keeping those fingers glued together. Hold it there and wait for the inevitable relief.
I love movements like this because they’re easy, quick, and genuinely effective. So much bang for your buck. They flip the script, reintroducing movements that may have been neglected, or quietly forgotten, over time.
Caring for our hands isn’t about adding another chore to an already busy day. It’s about professionalism. It’s about respect, for our craft, for our clients, and for ourselves. We spend years refining our eye, our technique, our taste. It makes sense to give the same consideration to the tools that allow all of that to exist in the first place.
These small moments of movement aren’t indulgent. They’re maintenance. Quiet acts of pride that say, this work matters, and I plan on doing it well for a long time.
Which brings me back to Luke Skywalker.
That moment where he turns his new hand over, flexes the fingers, and really looks at it, that awareness feels familiar. Most of us don’t think about our hands when everything is working. We only notice them when something hurts, stiffens, or fails.
The trick is not to wait for the lightsaber moment.
If we can learn to pay attention earlier, to move, extend, and care for our hands while they’re still healthy, we don’t just protect our livelihood. We honour it.
