Fun & Fitness over 50

If you remember, almost 2 years ago now, I injured my left hand in a bike spill. I bent my fingers backwards the wrong way and I immediately thought "broken".

Luckily, nothing was broken although I was in considerable pain for a couple of days and the swelling lasted for weeks, if not months.

Today, although I would say I'm mostly recovered, I can still feel an occasional stiffness in those joints.

Recently, my wife saw this "Xtensor" product in Herrington's catalog and we decided to try it. The price was $39.95

The same model works on either hand so you only have to buy one even if you want to use it for both hands.

As you can see from the picture, the device consists of a plastic frame with straps around the wrist and a series of latex bands that attach to your fingers and then to mounting slots in the palm.

There are 3 rows of mounting slots to adjust the tension.

I found that it works well, as advertised, and I do believe it has helped strengthen my injured fingers and relieved some of the stiffness.

The biggest downside is that the latex bands tend to wear and break rather quickly. The Xtensor comes with lots of extra bands but eventually you will have to buy more if you continue to use it.

I also found that the band for my middle finger tends to work it's way out of the mounting slot after several reps and I need to stop and reset it or it will eventually release and go flying across the room.

The Xtensor comes with a DVD that provides a video demonstrating a variety of exercises as well as how to set up the device.

I would say this is a worthwhile purchase for anyone recovering from a hand injury although I would check with a physical therapist first about your specific situation. In my case, the physical therapist gave me plenty of exercises that I could do without purchasing any special equipment.

This would also probably be good for someone who uses a computer all day or plays a lot of video games.

There is more competitive pricing available if you look around.