14 ways a rubber band can save your hands
This is a short and sweet article jam-packed with ideas that you can try right now, so make sure you read all the way to the bottom!
One of my favorite things about being an Occupational Therapist is learning to think in creative and inventive ways 🤔
We aren’t BORN this way (well, maybe some of us are. I was not lol 🙃).
✨ It is an acquired skill. One that takes exposure to something new!
For me, it started the day we learned how to use a rubber band as a pencil grip in OT school 📝
It’s simple, our teacher told us. You wrap the rubber band a couple times around the end of the pencil, where you hold it, and it acts as a low-cost pencil grip.
🤯 🤯 🤯
This moment forever changed how I look at simple tools such as a rubber band.
It was like I put on ‘OT colored lens’ that day, that will forever color how I view the world (in the BEST way!) 😎
I have since been on a mission to use simple tools, such as a rubber band, to activity-hack anything and everything you could possibly think of.
Today I’m giving you 14 uses for a rubber band that will benefit your hands.
Put a rubber band around the lid to a tight jar (1), or dressing bottle (2) 🍶 and be amazed at how easy it is to open!
Wrap it a couple times around an ointment tube (3), toothpaste cap (4), or stuck nail polish bottle (5) 💅 to help your fingers open these smaller-lidded things!
Annoyingly slippery, round doorknob in your home? 🚪 WRAP A RUBBER BAND AROUND THAT KNOB (6)! You’ll cut the amount of effort your hand has to exert on the doorknob in half.
If your hands cramp up when you write, try wrapping a rubber band around a pencil where you grip it a couple of times (7) 📝. You could also try out this viral ‘pencil grip trick’ to force your fingers to grip your pencil correctly (8).
Get creative in the kitchen with rubber bands! Secure them around your kitchen knives (9) 🔪, spatulas (10), and mixing spoons (11) for added grip. You can even wrap them around your forks (12)🍴 and spoons (13) 🥄 as you eat dinner!
You can also use rubber bands to exercise your fingers!
Wrap one around your fingers, then open your hand (14). Repeat 10 times for stronger fingers 💪
I hope I have given some of my ‘OT colored lens’ to you, and that you, too, now view the world differently in a more adaptive way! 😎
Which rubber band hack will you be trying first??
Comment below to let me know, I’m dying to hear which one it is!
And if you liked this post, you would LOVE Module 5 of Hypermobile Hands Blueprint.
We have 9 video trainings showing you how to use over 100 different adaptive tools to make your daily activities WAY less strenuous on your hands 😀
Or, start with my free training and save $100 on the Blueprint 🙌
💛 YOUR HAND COACH,
Corinne