In May of this year I took a bad fall while working out and broke the little finger on my left hand. Doesn’t sound so bad, does it? You’d be surprised. I didn’t just fracture it. I literally BROKE IT OFF at the base. It required surgery, pins, weeks in a splint up to my elbow, and then weeks of occupational therapy. It was a big pain in the, well, hand.
During therapy I used all sorts of tools from putty to rubber bands, but one of my favorites was the Gripmaster. I ended up buying one for myself and keep it on my desk within reach of my left hand. Several times a day I pick it up and use it to strengthen my hand, which still gives me trouble, now months later. And it’s a great little physical exercise – something to do when I push away from the keyboard for a bit and look at what I’ve just written. I’m doing it now as I edit this piece.
I highly recommend it for everyone, especially if you’re a musician or play sports and require a strong grip. What I like about this device is the separated “buttons” that make you work each finger independently. It would be too easy to let your stronger fingers do the work in a traditional one-piece grip strengthener.
They come in many different strengths. I use the nine-pound version, shown here, but you might want to work up to that.
My hand and fingers really do feel better after using it. Consider getting one to put next to your keyboard. It works much better than that little stress ball that’s probably sitting there now.
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