YOU ARE NOT ALONE - A companion online community discussion board for The Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast with Paul Gilmartin

I asked ChatGPT this question:

I have pain in my right hand, cannot hyper-extend my right hand open, in fact it hurts to go past slightly open. I believe the cause is from genetics-caused arthritis and injury to the tendons I got while playing with my dog. The hand hurts most in the early morning. I got a set of three stress balls, each with a different density. They may be a little small, I may find a set with slightly larger balls. What is a quick exercise I can do with my hand using the balls to warm up my hand and allow more pain-free movement? I am most concerned about not causing greater injury so I don’t want to overdo any exercise. Also, will ask you for recommendations of online videos I can watch hand exercises that would help in a gentle way.

Have these squishy stress/hand-exercise balls I got from Amazon

Set of 3 different levels of squishiness

That is a creative way of using AI, but I would never trust its medical advice. Is seeing a real doctor an option, MM?

I will try to get a referral to a physical therapist from the nurse practitioner who works out of the office of my primary care doctor

For this kind of thing, would only trust a physical therapist, any physician medical intervention would be overkill, I don’t wish to take drugs or surgery or other foolishness. I don’t need more problems from complications. Doctors have no good treatments for this kind of <soft-tissue> thing

Physical therapists see this kind of thing everyday, would have a very good handle on it from the get-go, would know the best things for it

but I would never trust its medical advice.

Nor it's legal advice! Several cases of lazy lawyers getting burned by it..

Mental Fairy had that severe injury to her thumb awhile back that seems to have healed, maybe she has a bit of insight.

First insight…..I would change the names on the balls to….agitated, furious, seeing red.

Hand therapy for me was the soft type of ball first to roll around in the palm of my hand till I learnt to grip it again. Then using a round ended object about the size of a grape to massage the muscles in the hand and wrist. Heat application before the rub down.
Those Chinese medicine balls are great also to get the hand moving.

As I couldn’t feel the objects much I used spiked balls and sometimes ice cubes to remind the hand and brain that there is something there.

The problem could also be further up the arm?