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Hi Amy, Lene gave you some very good info. As you know, RA can give you lots of swelling around your joints. When this happens around small joints(the hand) it can create incredible pain. If the swelling is severe enough in the wrist area, you can get carpal tunnel symptoms,ie: pain and/or numbness shooting into the thumb and first two to three fingers. Some people love the ice results and others hate it. Ice can slow circulation into and out of the hand, resulting in the effect of trapping the swelling there.(gives you the swollen "brick bat feeling".) Heat can increase circulation and may help,but could increase your swelling and result in more pain. This is not as pronounced in larger joints and they may respond well to ice. The effects of both of these can be a very individual thing. An alternative that may help is to use very gentle passive stretching, with passive meaning to use one hand to slowly stretch out the fingers of the other. It has to be very slow and easy, if it is too painful, don't force it. If you can get the fingers stretched out, then try gentle active movements, such as slowly opening and closing your hand on it's own. These two things together may help to get your tendons moving and then help pump some of the swelling out the hand. It may also help to lie down and elevate your hand over your head when doing the active part. Be sure not to force your joints too much. If you are still awake after reading this, I hope it will help. Chuck