(upbeat music)
- Wrist, finger and hand pain.
I've actually experienced this directly
approximately in the last five years.
Grabbing things, opening things, working with tools,
and actually shaking people's hands
got very painful and I decided I need to look into this,
and I found out some excellent exercises
and treatments we're gonna go over how it cured me
or actually allowed me to manage it very successfully.
- So as we age, it is very common
that people start developing wrist
and hand issues, making everyday activities much more
challenging and it can be very frustrating.
- Yeah, it's not fun.
Okay, now we're gonna go through the exercises.
They're quite simple.
You probably do not wanna do these until you've been out
of bed for a while, maybe a half hour,
let your body warm up.
We're gonna go through the hand, the wrist,
and actually some very interesting other
options at the end of the video.
- So we're gonna begin with the wrist exercises.
So we're gonna do wrist flexion,
which is going down like this,
and then extension, which is going back like this.
Now you can just do 'em forward,
you don't have to go to the angle we were doing.
You can have your hands straight out
in front of you as well.
We're gonna do 10 in each direction.
And I have a little goofy wave going on
and our cameraman is laughing at me right now.
Now the next thing we're gonna do
is rotations like Brad is showing.
So simply turn in a circle what you can.
Again, keep your arms in a comfortable position
that works for you.
Make sure to go clockwise 10 times
and then go counterclockwise 10 times.
- Alright, now we're gonna show you the wrist exercise
that I learned a few years ago
that's been very helpful and we have a good response
to it from other videos as well.
Let's see, we're gonna look at this wrist.
We're actually gonna do some decompression
or traction on the wrist joint.
In other words, we're going to pull the wrist joint
apart a little bit,
that allows the synovial fluid to get into the joints,
stretches out some of the tissues.
It's a gentle exercise.
So the key is, is to keep this whole arm
as relaxed as possible.
Now I'm gonna take this hand,
grab around the knuckles just in
behind the knuckles here like this.
So we have a good grasp of this hand.
And as everything is relaxed,
if we get a good closeup right here, watch the joint here.
It's gonna actually separate.
You can see it right there, possibly right there
it's actually separating the joint.
We're not creating pain, this should feel good.
Now, once you get used to doing this,
it may take a little practice.
We're gonna add a little rotation.
So I grab, relax, do the distraction of the decompression,
and then watch
I'm gonna rotate my wrist,
but my hand will stay the same little rotation there.
We're not pushing it hard, it's gentle.
We do about five to 10 reps back and forth
and then repeat it on the other hand as well.
So nice stretch for that ink for the wrist joint.
Now let's go the fingers.
- Okay, now we're gonna get into the finger exercises.
First is flexion extension again,
but with the finger joints.
So essentially for flexion,
you're just gonna try to make a fist.
Obviously if you have bad arthritis, you may get stuck.
Just go down, which you can.
We'll show some other options later.
And then you're gonna work on extending your hand
all the way straight if possible.
We realize some people don't have as much range
of motion as Brad and I do,
so we'll show you some other ways
to get that range of motion
- Right, now I personally could not make a fist.
My fingers would get about this far
and it was very concerning to me.
This would be in the morning,
so I would work these exercises back and forth
and actually take usually my right hand's a little
tighter, my left hand
I'll go over the all four fingers and I'll help 'em
as long as it didn't create any sharp pain.
Pressure on pressure off
and after five or 10 repetitions, I would get further
and actually get to the point where I could touch
and then I would leave 'em alone, shake it off a little bit.
- Now if you're struggling with straightening your fingers
out, what you can do is put your fingertips together,
all five of them, and just try to press them together
and touch your palms if possible.
This is gonna push you into an extension pattern.
Obviously if it hurts here, just stop here.
Do what range of motion you have,
you can comfortably do.
Maybe over a while doing repetitions
you'll start to loosen up and you can almost
touch your palms together.
- That's right, now,
one thing I realize is sometimes people will have
one or two fingers in particular that are very tight,
and myself, it's my third digit.
Okay, that finger's very tight.
So what I'll do with that finger alone is I'll grab
that finger and I'm gonna do a little traction just like
on the wrist, but we're focusing on this joint.
So I'm just gonna relax, gently pull.
Again, this is gentle.
Do a little rotation back and forth,
the same concept as the wrist.
Okay, and then flex it a little bit.
Should get a little more.
Then I'll take my thumb, put it here,
grab the finger on top, and then work this first joint.
Okay, once that loosens up, I'll go to the next joint,
assuming it's tight and we work just that joint.
Again, you can put a little traction, a little rotation.
You're really just trying to loosen things up
getting all the soft tissue in there,
moving and the synovial fluid
and then this joint,
which I think most people don't have a lot of problems with,
but it's always nice to be complete.
All right, good.
We got three other nice things that are not exercise related
that have helped me quite a bit.
Now the first of my three simple tricks
that helped my hands get back into gear is heat.
Now typically people
that have arthritis in their hands respond well to heat.
It makes 'em feel good, you get a little more motion.
So that can include things like doing the dishes
where you actually get some range with the heat,
taking a bath, a shower, you can use a hot pack.
Now, one thing I wouldn't buy, just a normal hot pack
because using water would be the same thing
in the dishes or the bathtub.
If you want to get some real deep therapeutic heat,
there is a hot pack that's special and it's far infrared.
The difference is this'll heat more than two inches
into human tissue.
So when you wrap it around your hands,
you're gonna get the joints, the muscles all heated
through the hand versus if you were just in water,
you feel the heat, but it does not penetrate.
Mike, can we talk about this thermotex a little bit?
- So this is a thermotex far infrared heating system.
This is their platinum model.
It has three panels you can see right here.
And this is the side that's actually gonna be warm.
So I'm gonna wrap my hand up in it real quick
and show you what it can look like.
So you can see, you can wrap it up like this using the strap
and my hands are in here and stay nice and warm.
You can use this infrared system on any body part
by the way, it doesn't just have to be the hands,
but it's very versatile like that.
- That's right, they are expensive, but they do work well.
They get that deep heat.
And again, you can use an ankle, hip, knee,
shoulders, your back.
They're very versatile, so that's important to know.
Alright, now the next thing is diet.
Now we are not a channel that specializes in diet with us,
but I know personally, particularly
around Christmas time when there's a lot of chocolate,
which is my weakness, I'm going to eat it.
My hands, my joints do get more sore.
So I cut the sugar out.
Things get much better typically within a week.
Mike, you have similar issues at your age even.
- Yes, most refined foods, which have a lot
of carbohydrates, sugars, and salt as well.
Typically, if I overindulge in them
and I try to work out, my joints are much more achy
the next day, I'm more sore.
If I'm eating cleaner,
my body just feels better and functions better.
- That's right.
- So today's product we're talking about is the Q2 massager.
It comes in three color options.
We have blue, black, and red.
So this massage gun comes with five different heads
Brad is holding there.
We really like the air head, which is the cushioned one
'cause it can work well in boning areas
as well as the round head.
The other heads are very good,
but they're more for a specific trigger point area.
And it also comes with this convenient carrying case
where it can hold everything you need.
- This has been one of our most popular massage guns.
We've had it for about three years.
It's small, it only weighs one pound,
it's great for traveling with.
- It has a seven millimeter amplitude,
meaning how far into the muscle belly it can get,
and a 32 pound stall force, which is pretty strong
for a massage gun that only weighs one pound.
- That's right, and the nice thing about it is the cost.
You'll get these anywhere from $69 maybe plus
or minus, depending on what you find on Amazon.
It's a great device you will not be unhappy with
- It is also rechargeable, simply plug it in.
Typically takes two hours to charge
and roughly last about four hours,
depending upon how intense you have it.
- There you go, enjoy your massage gun, Bobandbrad.com,
You can get it there as well, I think.
- Yes, our store section.
- And the last thing,
now this is something that I've done.
I don't recommend it necessarily to other people
unless you watch the video.
So to make sure you're appropriate for it,
I had a patient who is about 80 years old
and he came in, he said, I start using apple cider vinegar
and my joints feel so much better.
So I thought, wow, that's interesting.
Maybe that would help me as well.
So I did some research on it to know how much to take
and how to really take apple cider vinegar
and if there's really something to it.
And sure enough, if I take apple cider vinegar,
one table spoon, it has to be with the mother organic,
get the good stuff with four to eight ounces
of water daily within a week
I notice things are getting better and calming down.
However, don't take my word for it.
Make sure you watch this video.
It's called Apple cider Vinegar, can it harm you?
We have a pharmacist who did a lot of research on how,
if it's gonna bother you, particularly,
there's a couple medications you do not want
to take apple cider vinegar with.
You need to know that.
And of course, how to take it.
This video is very complete and you'll find it very useful.
Sorry Mike, I took all of your talk,
maybe you want to throw something in.
- You can click the video link right now on the screen
to watch that video specifically.
Do not just take a shot of it, it's rather bitter.
- Yeah, it's, you gotta do it right.
♪ Bob and Brad, the two most famous ♪
♪ Physical therapists on the internet. ♪