I don't know if this will work or not, but I bought a set of "Finger Expanders" (which sounds like a product that could be used for other things) a couple weeks ago and have been using them as I sit in meetings.
Gymstick finger resistance bands can improve finger strength for athletes (rock climbing enthusiasts, fitness, tennis, baseball, boxing, tennis, golf and shooting) and musicians (guitar players, bass players, pianists and violinists).
I do none of those things.
However, since the stroke in June, my typing ability has been severely reduced and I have noticed that my hands are not as strong as they were. There are two sides to the typing issue, as my brain still struggles to get the order of letters correct, which means it is a little bit like having dyslexic (I imagine) and secondly, I struggle to get enough pressure on the keyboard at times. It is frustrating as you can imagine, as not only do I type a lot for work, but for example, I wrote over 4000 words across two posts for Hive yesterday, which is common. Since I am already not a touch-typist, the additional handicap applied isn't doing me any favors.
I have been largely on my own in regards to rehab since the brain injuring event, as they can't seem to do much for me since I am still performing tasks at an average or above level. Averages are very cruel to apply in these kinds of cases, as they do not seem to take into consideration the starting point.
For example, an "average" person can't do my job, as it requires certain skills, both technical and mental. It is not that it is particularly difficult, but without the right skillset, it isn't really possible - at least to do it well. The physical impairments are easier to deal with, but the mental side of things is a challenge, as there are no set tasks that they can give me that will improve me at a general level. What they mean by this is, while I can do tasks that will show improvement, what really is happening is that I am getting better at that particular task, meaning it is narrow isn't likely to be beneficial or applicable to other tasks.
In many ways, it is kind of like a few years back there was a study saying that people who were able to get up from the floor without using their hands, were likely to have a long lifespan, so people practiced getting getting off the floor. That is not how it works. Practicing a very narrow skill doesn't necessarily provide generalized benefit, making it like an AI that can perform a very precise task, but nothing else.
There is a "general intelligence" concept in AI, but this is applicable to many things in life where we are able to train for a specific job, but it doesn't necessarily improve other aspects of our body. For example, a lot of men at the gym workout their "show muscles" without connecting them up to make their bodies generally useful, so they can end up being strong in certain directions and tasks, but weak or even fragile in others. The body is a complex mesh of connections of many kinds and failing to strengthen the transfer points between parts, will lessen ability. And also, there is a diminishing returns on continually refining the same areas, whilst ignoring others.
I see the brain in much the same way, where if we do not exercise it from multiple perspectives, the communication between important nodes is going to be tenuous and reduce our memory, recall and processing abilities, making what we know, less valuable, as we are less able to use it well. I am no expert on this (and brain damaged), but visualizing systems helps me understand them, as well as build strategies to deal with them. In this case, the system is broken and the breakage causes me an inability to visualize well, making repair more challenging, but this is no excuse to stop trying.
If I want to improve, I have to train, but one of the problems is that there is a significant lack of motivation to actually do, pretty much anything. It is not that I am lazy, but the "procrastination" cycle is definitely in effect, where the tasks that aren't highly motivating are hard to focus on. Of course, everyone probably has this to some degree and I suffered from it a lot in my younger years, but in the last couple months, it has become quite pronounced.
In the past, my approach to overcoming it was to power through until the results were motivating enough to continue, but the incremental improvements are so slight and hard to evaluate, that there are no real "A-ha" moments where I realize things are better. I can look back over longer periods of time and see the progress I have made, but it doesn't bring that sense of satisfaction with it that motivates me to put more effort in now. So, it is just constantly trying to power through, without the sense that there is a "through" - it is more a hope that it will lead to a better outcome, without evidence or milestones along the way.
My typing hasn't improved since I have been using the bands, but my hands do feel stronger and there is less pain in them too, which is something that I have had for decades, probably from cracking my knuckles. They feel more muscular also and, I think they look healthier, since they are a bit fleshier - though that could be because I haven't been going to the gym and eating too much. While it has only been a few weeks, at least there is some visible progress.
My brain however, I feel at times like I am going backwards and, there are no stretchy bands to help. It is disappointing in many ways, as well as stressful to consider that this is the best I might ever get. If that is the case, the rest of my life plans are going to be drastically altered in every conceivable way, since while at this stage it is still possible to have the "recovery" excuse, as time progresses, I am no longer rehab-ing and it will just be the way I am.
We work on incentive and encouragement, yet currently, while I know there is a lot at stake, I m feeling far more discouraged about my future opportunities than I was a few months ago. It is possible that it is a phase that will pass, but it could also just be my new norm. This isn't all doom or gloom of course, because there a other aspects of my life that are important to me, but this is a big slice of my personal identity and lays at the core of who I have been - so letting go is hard.
Perhaps if I had weaker hands.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
