Oh the toothpaste challenge…I remember It well. I lost track of how much toothpaste I squirted all over the place when I had my stroke. The joy I felt when I finally achieved getting it on the toothbrush was great.
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@SimonInEdinburgh I found this to be great tool for my hand strength and it comes in various strengths.
“Flexbar” therapy bar amazon has dozens.
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They’re amazing. My mother started with the green one and then graduated to the red one. She did the red one like nothing after a month or two. This brought my mother’s hand back 80% over a few months. It was fantastic. Worth every penny.
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Hope it might help Simon as well.
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Good suggestion, Yes, I’ve had it for months, Derek,
The green one takes quite a bit of strength to bend, so I think those who can bend it into a U-shape are doing very well You can bend them into a horseshoe shape, pointing up at the ceiling or down to the ground. Twisting is also great. The colours are non-standard, in my set (called PhysioRoom Twist Bar) they were, from soft to hard : yellow, red, green, blue.
ciao, Roland
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Thanks for the info on these, I’m going to explore them as they look like something that can be done when I have a few spare minutes. They remind me of those big spring bars that I had as a teenager (but would never try now for fear or taking my teeth out when it slips out of my hand 
).
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Yes, Mark, a spare minute here, there, then lifting a pole (broom handle) straightening both arms , some dumbbell weights, some rubber rings to squeeze (to target forearms) and the arm strengthens slowly but surely. Enjoy
ciao, Roland
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Yes, I had it backwards, Roland: the green one is the much harder to bend than the red one. My mother could easily bend the green one to adjoin both ends of the bar.
We never went to the blue one, because it’s not really for rehab, as much as strength-training. Besides, she couldn’t have bent that one anyways. I don’t think many older would be able to.
Being able to bend the green flexbar well – that’s a real feat for a stroke patient. Even older people without strokes find that one difficult difficult to bend.
Take care! Haola!.
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