The Coffee Can Trick.....

Many of you have stopped me in the hall or emailed me about the coffee can trick. So here it is.

Many of us will suffer stiff and achy hands especially in the morning, during this time of year. Our fingers are just way too hard to move, painful and sometimes swollen.

During my stint at Health Performance Centers we did a lot of rehab work, and got a lot of referrals from physicians in the area. Often times we would get folks referred by rheumatologists or geriatric specialists.

Being able to move without pain was a priority. Well through trial and error, and little bit of luck we found a system that seemed to help most with stiff and painful hands and fingers.

During my tenure at the clinic I attended a really informative conference on Arthritis, during the trade show portion of this conference there was this machine that looked like a big box, that had a opening at one end where you slid your hand and forearm. If you need a better visual, think of the old Off bug spray commercials and that guy getting bit by a gazillion mosquitoes.

Anyway, after you slid you hand in the box, a fan started blowing a warm breeze onto your arm, then warmed corn husks were “blown” in and you would do various hand movements against the warm husks and stiff breeze. That contraption only costs ten thousand dollars. We didn’t buy it….Don’t get started on health care costs….

So when we got back to the clinic I started experimenting…. We took a 3 pound coffee can, that’s all we had in the office at the time and I filled it about half way with uncooked pinto beans.

What can I say, I’m Mexican and they were in my cupboard.

Sure enough, we started to use it with folks and their hands felt and looked a lot better. We had them moving their fingers in every direction we could think of.

Open them, closed them, we had them spread them apart then bring them together; we had them make circles clockwise and counter clockwise, every conceivable movement…

Movement increases a substance within the joint called synovial fluid…that is the stuff that lubricates the joints. (It has the consistency of 3 and 1 oil). The more movement...especially in every direction, the more lubrication in all the nooks and crannies of your joints. The more oil you produce, the less friction created and less pain and inflammation your body has to endure.

There were some other benefits as well. As our patients continued to use their hands against the resistance of the beans, they got stronger. You may think it is trite, but you should have seen the confident faces of folks who could open jars or bottles without asking their next of kin for help. They felt less pain, and also more confident. Confidence helps a lot in healing.

You aren’t limited to a 3 pound coffee can. Actually, a child’s sand bucket or paper bucket that from the paint department at the nearest home improvement store will work even better. A slightly wider opening is what you want. Just fill the bucket with some dried beans or rice. I even used uncooked pasta when I was helping to rehab my son’s hand and finger after surgery.

It works and its simple….sometimes we try to hard and make things too sophisticated, and we really don’t need to do that to improve our bodies.

Hope this helps….