Now, I know, snapping your fingers isn't a life-changing accomplishment. But it does get your attention after not being able to for the past 15 years.
Anyone who has had arthritis creep into your hands knows that an increase in mobility without an increase in pain -- without surgery -- gets your attention. It got mine.
We don't make medical claims about Tai Chi. There are literally hundreds of studies and some good books that do that for us. But what I can tell you is Tai Chi helped increase mobility and strength in my hands and reduce the daily pain. I know it because while I do a lot of things to fight back against my arthritis, when I miss my daily Tai Chi morning practice my hands start to stiffen and ache by mid afternoon. When I get my morning Tai Chi practice in, they don't.
This is after doing Tai Chi for three years more or less every day. I mention it because you don't have to practice Tai Chi for three years to realize the benefits, but you do need to do it regularly. Once a week in class isn't enough.
My arthritis has been a slow, almost imperceptible deterioration of strength with an equally slow increase in achiness that turns into pain. If you have arthritis, you know, and excuse me, but does anyone over sixty NOT have achy joints?!
Opening jars was hard. Opening those stupid water bottles was almost impossible. And I couldn't snap my fingers. When I tried it was awkward, there was no sound, it hurt like hell, and it reminded me of an old person.
So probably two years after I should have talked to my doctor I talked to my doctor.
When I mentioned the weakness and pain she gave my joints a good once-over, told me it was arthritis, welcomed me to old age, talked about ibuprofen for the pain, and gave me a list of things to do and avoid to reduce inflammation. I take glucosamine chondroitin and I try to avoid 'night shade' vegetables and alcohol (the word arthritis basically means joint inflammation). I also stretch every morning.
I do what she suggested to fight my arthritis. Mostly. I do Tai Chi every day because I enjoy it. It makes me feel good. My body feels loose and my mind feels clear, calm, and ready to go. It's a wonderful 30-40 minutes I give myself. It's just a great way to start a day. And I found out I can snap my fingers again, it actually makes a sound, and it doesn't hurt.
It's a marker of sorts that reminds me I'm doing good things for myself and things are getting better. To me, that's kind of miraculous.
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