By Edwin Rivera
From PHN Issue 47, Fall 2021
This idea stemmed from the arthritis I’ve now had for several years. I have it on different parts of my body, but I am focusing on the arthritis on my hands, which causes my fingers to lock. And believe you me, it hurts when I have to pry them back into place! Anyone with this condition knows all too well what I’m talking about. It’s mainly my ring finger and my right pinky. I started to do light finger curls every day and washing my hands with hot water.
I take magazines, roll them up, tie or tape them while they’re rolled, and do finger curls. The magazines may weigh between 1 and 2 lbs a piece. I usually wash my hands with warm to not-too-hot water for 20 to 30 seconds before and after I do the finger curls. Maybe that hot water softens up my bones a little, and I’m able to do these curls without any pain.
- Hold the weights in your hands, with your palms up and fingers around the weights.
- Open your fingers downward, and let the weights roll toward your fingertips.
- Curl your fingertips back toward your palms so the weights go back to their original position.
Don’t ask me if it was a miracle, because it isn’t. But ever since I started doing these light curls (which, by the way, it has been months now) and washing my hands with hot water, my fingers don’t lock as much. This combination is somehow working out for me. Do I still have arthritis? Absolutely! Has this routine worked out for me? Yes, it has.
Stay safe, sisters and brothers in the penal system.
Prison Health News 