hands | Wellness Secrets of a SuperAger

As if protecting ourselves from the deadly coronavirus weren’t reason enough, here is yet another important reason to wash our hands thoroughly and often.

Harmful flame retardants may be lurking on your hands and cell phone, according to a peer-reviewed study published today in Environmental Science & Technology Letters.

The researchers found that halogenated flame retardants added to plastic TV cases can move from the TV to indoor air and dust, to hands, and then to cell phones and other hand-held electronic devices. Once on your cell phone, that surface provides an ongoing source of exposure to these chemicals each time you touch your cell phone.

“It’s well-known that viruses are transferred between surfaces and hands,” said co-author Miriam Diamond, a Professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Toronto. “Our study shows that toxic chemicals like flame retardants do the same. That’s another reason we should all wash our hands often and well.”

Pages: 1 2

I have written numerous times about the arthritis I suffer from in my hands and the various techniques I have tried to relieve the pain. Here is Harvard with five exercises that will restore some of the mobility in your hands.

If you find daily tasks difficult to do because you suffer from stiffness, swelling, or pain in your hands, the right hand mobility exercises can help get you back in motion.

Therapists usually suggest specific exercises depending on your particular hand or wrist condition. Some help increase a joint’s range of motion or lengthen the muscle and tendons via stretching. Other exercises strengthen muscles around a joint to generate more power or to build greater endurance.

Your muscles and tendons move the joints through arcs of motion, such as when you bend and straighten your fingers. If your normal range of motion is impaired — if you can’t bend your thumb without pain, for example — you may have trouble doing ordinary things like opening a jar.

These exercises move your wrist and fingers through their normal ranges of motion and require all the hand’s tendons to perform their specific functions. They should be done slowly and deliberately, to avoid injury. If you feel numbness or pain during or after exercising, stop and contact your doctor. Continue reading →