Powerball?

[billwarwick]

I have recently joined the Forum ‘old gits with injuries’ section, which seems to be thriving. I’m getting physio for a torn rotator cuff [ shoulder] and have been looking online at a Powerball gyroscopic exercise thingy which is supposed to aid recovery. Anyone tried it and does it work ? Physio seemed a bit lukewarm when asked about it , but I suppose if it reduces the number of £40 sessions that I have to have with them, they would wouldn’t they?

 

[steve_sordy]

Nope never used one. If the power ball has never been tested by the medical profession and written up for peer review in a medical journal, then that will be why your physio is lukewarm.

I swear by Glucosamine sulphate tablets. When I take them my hip pain stops. When I stop, the pain returns after a few weeks. When I resume, the pain fades away after a few weeks. But my GP is dismissive and says that there is no reliable evidence and said to me that if it was "pharmacologicly active, you'd have to get it prescribed, therefore it is no more than a placebo!"
My response to that was that if it worked, even as a placebo, then why wasn't the NHS prescribing it because it would save them a fortune in painkillers and hip operations!

I suspect that Big Pharma have decided to do no work on Glucosamine because they can't patent it.

 

[Mad Mark]

Nope never used one. If the power ball has never been tested by the medical profession and written up for peer review in a medical journal, then that will be why your physio is lukewarm.

I swear by Glucosamine sulphate tablets. When I take them my hip pain stops. When I stop, the pain returns after a few weeks. When I resume, the pain fades away after a few weeks. But my GP is dismissive and says that there is no reliable evidence and said to me that if it was "pharmacologicly active, you'd have to get it prescribed, therefore it is no more than a placebo!"
My response to that was that if it worked, even as a placebo, then why wasn't the NHS prescribing it because it would save them a fortune in painkillers and hip operations!

I suspect that Big Pharma have decided to do no work on Glucosamine because they can't patent it.

I use the same tablets for my dodgy hip and knees, if I stop taking them the pain returns within a week or so
I'm with you Steve they definitely ease the pain in your joints ?

 

[Gary]

Powerball is a hand excercise equipment product.
Does it work?
Yes. Using it quite clearly excercises your hand.

We all have personal hand excercise equipment at our disposal... I even lend mine out from time to time i think i'll try and charge £40 next time

 

[Benson]

I have one, used to use it for hand strengthening for guitar playing. Bit of a waste of money to be honest and it’s been sat gathering dust ever since.

 

[billwarwick]

Gary..£40 for 10 seconds is a bit steep!?

 

[Mikerb]

Aches and pains are pretty common if you engage in extreme sports once you get old! I windsurf and MTB and whilst windsurfing uses a lot of muscle energy I suffer no injuries or specific muscle group pain. I find MTB more impactive and am certainly experiencing shoulder pain since buying an E Bike. Nothing disabling so I use Ibuprofen gel. As far as my experience goes in deaaling with specific injuries such as torn ligaments etc I think there are 2 stages. First stage is repair when lain killers and anti inflamatory treatments help. Second stage is rethrning the muscle or ligament to normal strength and flex. For that stage hot and cold treatment plus gradual increase of both stretch and stress/load is needed. Virtually any forms of exercise that combine those and can be graduated does the job. I use a med ball and a multi gym for general conditioning and both can be used ....sensibly....for recovery.

 

[Gary]

Gary..£40 for 10 seconds is a bit steep!?

If you're that good i might be persuaded to offer you a discount on your second go.

 

[billwarwick]

Gary?
Mike.. you’re right ,
it is a slow process. The frustrating thing is the time that things take to heal. I and lots of other people of my age still think we are 30 years old and are impatient with the slowness of recovery.
It’s doubly annoying when you reach a stage of life when you are able to afford things like an ebike and then you can’t enjoy it.

 

[Mikerb]

I guess at 68 I have that to come!!

 

[rockkyle11]

Powerball is a gyroscopic exercise tool is a device used to exercise the wrist as part of physical therapy or in order to build palm, forearm and finger strength

 

[MountainBoy]

I have a few Powerballs and think they are pretty cool. They are a good strengthening exercise for your wrists, not sure how much they would help your shoulder although I'm sure you could design an exercise using the PB to help your shoulder. But there are lots of ways to strengthen and exercise a shoulder without a Powerball.