Talk:Stress ball

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Are you kidding. This is a weak article. The picture clearly shows a hacky-sack (footbag), not a stress ball.

I have to agree. The stress ball image should be removed (or better, replaced). We shouldn't rename it since Image:Footbag.jpg already exists. I have rewritten the article from scratch, removed the stub warning, and removed the image. --Mdwyer 17:42, 8 April 2006 (UTC)

Well, in the United Kingdom, we would call it a stress ball and use it that way, to relive stress et cetera. I've never heard of the term "hacky-sac" or "footbag". That's why I uploaded it. --Celestianpower ^háblame 22:54, 8 April 2006 (UTC)

Is a Stress Ball the same in the USA as it is in the UK & Australia? In Australia a hacky-sack with the right logo and "look and feel" would definately be referred to as a stress ball. After all "only uni bums use hacky sacks but everyone likes stress balls" :) Garrie 03:10, 19 April 2006 (UTC)

Ah. This might be the problem. In the USA, a hacky-sack could be used as a stress ball, but I personally consider them distinct. For what it is worth, when I search Amazon.co.uk for a stress ball, I only get a few hits, and only one is close to a hand-exerciser, but nowhere near a hacky sack. The same search at Amazon.com brings up a number of exercise and stress balls. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0006N8TTU is a perfect example of a non-ball-shaped stress ball with a corporate logo (A red foam heart with an Amazon.com logo), while http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002GFAAM does suggest that Americans will stretch the definition (a red and white leather ball). --Mdwyer 04:44, 19 April 2006 (UTC)

Do They Work?

How exactly do they help? 71.96.234.140 00:21, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

Same as any Physical exercise, I imagine. They provide resistance to physical movement, enabling you to strengthen your fingers and possibly getting some sort of endorphin high. On top of that, some stressballs are supposed to be antropomorphised to people or objects you would like to injure. Instead of wringing your boss's neck, you can just squeeze the life out of a foam effigy of your boss. It enables you to release your anger without ending up fired or imprisoned. :) --Mdwyer 23:09, 3 May 2006 (UTC)

Someone somewhere must have done a study on the efficacy of stress balls (i.e. do people actually feel less stressed after use, or better, is there a measure of stress which can be shown to be reduced after use) that can be incorporated. This article somehow manages to use lots of words talking about their manufacture and shape, without actually addressing the first of the two words in the name. iPhil (talk) 00:24, 18 December 2012 (UTC)

Could I get hurt if I do too much of it?

Please explain how (exactly)it works instead of the superficially saying "it release stress!" "dud! it is called a stress ball!" and what muscle does it use? Beside those points, 'wouldn't a stress ball add injures to the hand because it requires using muscles on the hand that are already overused from typing?

Secondary Definition - See Lusine Anyan

my guess is that a stress ball would work on the common flexors of the wrist

Not a scientific opinion, but most office issues are repetitive stress, not necessarily carpel tunnel. Repetitive stress can be relieved by using the muscles in any different manner than what's causing the stress, or by strengthening the muscles involved. Since freeweights are inadvisable for an office setting, a stressball (or, those old springy hand workout things, although stressballs are much more gentle) makes an excellent hand workout. Someone with severe medical issues- such as carpel tunnel- needs to consult their doctor about ANY activities they plan on engaging in, and this is no exception.

Short version: If your "injury" is merely overuse and stress of the typing hands, a stressball is a wonderful relief tool. If your injury is a real medical problem, you should be as careful using a stressball as you would be lifting objects or using tools and so on. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.83.118.230 (talk) 19:18, 16 September 2009 (UTC)

Disambiguation page?

There seems to be a band by the name Stressball. Should a disambiguation page be created? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Omnifarious (talk • contribs) 23:21, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

sometimes the make mustles

Sometimes They make mustles —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.180.187.200 (talk) 05:08, 12 January 2010 (UTC)

Other types of stressballs

What about the TheraBand^(R) type of stress ball? They are composed of a gell-like solid-ish plastic-ish stuff and come in I think five different hardnesses designated by different colors from yellow to grey. They're advertised as "hand strenghtheners" though but are a lot similar to stress balls and actually are commonly used as them (at least my family does). I have a green one but it dissapeared, but my sister has a blue one. I could take a picture of it and that would also solve the image problem. UNIT A4B1 (talk) 03:33, 4 March 2010 (UTC)

   TheraBand are a physiotherapy tool, used to strengthen muscles or tendons by resistance exercise either to aid recovery from injury or to provide support for other muscles/tendons that are too weak to fully operate.  As a medical device, they're not really in the same category as stress toys. 116.113.0.232 (talk) 12:28, 3 January 2018 (UTC)

Wikipedia ≠ Blue Peter

The sentence about filling a balloon with baking soda sounds far too much like a guide than encyclopaedic content. I'm sure that it would be unacceptable to have a section on using pans and plastic tubs instead of drums on an article about drum kits. This is much the same thing. 86.158.123.224 (talk) 00:20, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Uncited claim re: inventor of stress ball

I removed the sentence "Patrick Hummel is widely understood to have created the stress ball in central Indiana in the mid-1980s" from the article introduction, as I can't find any other website mentioning him in connection with stress balls that isn't an excerpt from this article. 69.127.73.225 (talk) 04:09, 15 July 2023 (UTC)