Arthritis Hands
Help for Arthritis in the Hands

Sometimes, the benefits of a $50 hand therapy device can be mimicked for less. A lot less! Why spend $50 when you can spend pennies? Check out this idea.

Let’s cut to the chase, arthritis is a pain, but arthritis in your hands and fingers can really make daily activities difficult. When buttoning a shirt takes more time than ironing it, then wearing a snuggie to every event starts to look like a viable option.

I suffered from a different kind of hand injury. After an accident that took off the top 1/2 inch of my index finger, I lost complete use of that hand for some time. Doctors told me I’d probably never get full function out of that finger, and that I had to be careful not to let inactivity in that hand lead to degradation of other functions. This was not good news for a professional magician. Fortunately, magic provided the answer.

I had some magician friends that were working with stroke and arthritis patients. They were using magic as therapy and having tremendous success. I figured, if it could work for them, it would work for me. And it did! Fantastically actually. And the reason was simple:

If an exercise is boring, you won’t do it, and therefore, you will never see the results you seek. If it’s fun to do, you will do it, and you will see those results.

I know this is not on a par with Einsteins E=Mc squared. But sometimes the truth is that simple. How can you engage the hands if you don’t engage the mind?

After my injury, the doctors prescribed all kinds of really dull exercises. Almost all of which were variations on opening and closing the fingers. Let’s just say it was easy to forget to do my daily drills. My hand would tighten up and it became difficult to grab a doorknob.

When I went back to practicing magic, I was amazed at how quickly I made improvements. It was fun, I never forgot to do the drills, and I learned a few new tricks along the way. With 2 young kids running around, magic turned out to be the perfect therapy for all of us.

So, this blog is to explore alternative remedies to hand arthritis treatment. If I come across something good, I’ll post it. I am also going to start compiling some of the magic exercises my magician therapist friends put together for their patients. I think you’ll love them.

If you have any thing you’d like to see, drop me an email. Just click on over to the contact page and jot down your thoughts.

Patrick