My hands do not work or My hands are not working

I saw this sentence on "Man vs Wild" by Bear Gril with English subtitle on discovery channel,where he used this sentence."He was fighting with a crocodile.while fighting with the crocodile he said,"I am tired.My hands do not work properly.".
so my question is that why he used this sentence in simple present tense(hands do not work) instead of present continuous as in "My hands are not working properly".? I am confused. please explain in detail.
Thanking you.