Glad i am not the only one with hand quilting problems! I cannot rock the needle, it just KILLS my wrist. I found hoops to be too restraining so gave up that idea. Now I just use a running backstitch which gives a nice hand quilted effect wihtout hurting my wrists or nails.
As far as fingers go, i saw something in Michael's yesterday - they are adhesive pads that you stick onto the pad of your finger. I will have to try those....