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When I decided to get massage for my RSI I went to a massage therapist who
really worked my arms & hands over & showed me how.

Big queestion in my mind then: "Hey, my arms & hands HURT. How can I
massage MYSELF with these damaged instruments?"

Well, I'm no expert.  Here's some tricks I use, though.

1 - knuckles.  Even without a tight fist, you can get good penetration
    with your knuckles - deep circular moves feel good to me.

2 - elbows - kind of awkward and you can overdo it but it gives
    immense force. Especially good for the hard pressure needed
    when releasing trigger points, a la Bonnie Prudden.

3 - rub your forearms/wrists ON something ELSE so you can use weight
    of 1 or both arms to penetrate instead of straining fingers/thumbs.
    I rub my forearms over my kneecaps while seated, maybe helping by
    pushing w/ other arm as well.  Combine with suggestion #1; make a
    loose fist with one hand, put it on thigh or table top with knuckles
    up, and rub other forearm over the knuckles.

4-  Kindergarten Pencils - my therapist used a widget like a pencil
    eraser to really scrape at the tendons in my hands, and told me an
    ordinary pencil will work,  My wife teaches K-garten and I spotted
    those glorious extra-fat red pencils the kids use.  Ah ha.  Went
    and bought a couple at a teacher's supply and they are great for
    working on small areas.  I sometimes set the (unsharpened) end on
    my thigh as I sit and lay my arm/hand on the eraser end so as to
    use the weight of my arm to dig deep with minimal muscle effort.

5-  What to massage?  In my case I'm massaging _across_ my forearm,
    hand & finger tendons, a technique recommended to rehab damage.
    I precede and finish this with gentler massage along the length
    of the tissues.

Does it help?  Feels good (though a bit bruised next day) and my tendinitis
_is_ getting better . . . but a bazillion other factors are present too,
so this is anecdotal.  Just wanted to chip in for others who worried
about the repeated advice to get deep massage  -it can be done even if
you haven't a therapists mighty hands.

- Paul Marxhausen