Auto-Start NSD Spinner Gyro Ball – Up to 15,000 RPM Premium hand strengthener and wrist exerciser for grip strength training, forearm workout, and pain relief; durable and portable

I have been dealing with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome for many years. I am primarily bothered at night, being awakened by pain and numbness. Wearing a brace to bed addresses the problem but is just trading one discomfort for another. I have been using this gizmo for a few weeks now and have noticed that I am not being awakened as often at night. It took some practice to get the hang of it and I still have trouble getting it started reliably with my non-dominant hand, but, once mastered is easy to use.Update: I have now been using this spinner twice a day for over a year. Although I still occasionally notice a bit of numbness in my hands when I get up in the morning, the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome improvement has been remarkable. I no longer need to ever wear braces to bed and am seldom awakened by pain and numbness. I can now "start" the ball reliably every single time with each of my hands. I don't have any numbers to prove that my grip strength has improved since using this spinner, but, I seem to be dropping things less often.Update 2: It has been almost exactly three years since I began using this spinner twice a day. Although I still have some Carpal Tunnel Syndrome issues, they continue to be trivial. Alas, this spinner appears to have lived its life. The rubber ring around the spinner that makes it easy to grip was beginning to stretch and slide about. I was also having trouble starting the spinner. Eventually I heard something crack when trying to wind the spinner up. After that, the thing was very much broken. After three years of daily use, it was time for a new spinner. My new spinner is just as awesome as my original. One improvement that has been made is that the arrows indicating which direction to rotate the ball in order to wind the spinner up are MUCH easier to see on the new spinner. A great product made even better with just one tiny change.

For all the reviews that state something along the line of "quickly spins down" or similar, you simply need to get the motion of your wrist correct. As stated in the instructions (and various videos), once the spinner is moving you need to use a steady "stirring" motion with your hand/wrist to get the gyro to keep spinning. It only took me a couple of tries to get this working - but others may need a bit of practice. Note that the starter is just that. It will get the spinner moving fast enough to start, but nowhere near fast enough to offer much resistance. Once you get the RPMs up, the resistance you feel increases quickly.I got the auto-start model and wind it with my thumbs. For those that don't have the hand strength to do so you may find that pulling the wheel across a countertop is an easier way to wind it.Because the torque push back you feel in your hand is directly related to the speed the spinner is moving, you are in complete control of how hard of workout your hands / wrists / forearms get. If you keep the speed fairly slow, it will be a very easy exercise. If you make the spinner go very quickly, you will be giving your hand a very firm workout.I purchased this to help rehabilitate my hand after breaking it. I'd lost nearly all my grip strength after having a cast on for about 7 weeks. This has helped a great deal and I find it much more fun to use than some of the other tools I've also been using like rehab putty and grip springs.

Using this devices takes some practice. I had to watch a youtube video to get the hang of it. But once I did get the hang of it, I really enjoyed using this device both for exercise and play.This ball is essentially a weighted gyroscope. By circulating the wrists and arms, you can either spin the gyroscope faster or slow it down. It is that spinning motion that exercises your wrists and forearms. It is actually really fun and you can do it for hours by switching arms if you have the stamina and strength.I especially recommend this device to Aikido practitioners. Not only it strengthens the forearms, which is quite important for real world application of AKD, but it also embodies the concepts of circular motion and becoming harmonious with the laws of the universe. For example, this device takes far less energy to spin faster when spinning near the navel than spinning while the arms are extended.Pros:1)Enjoyable exercise tool. Fun to play with.2)Really strengthens the wrists and forearms (some shoulders too).3)Highly recommended for any activities which uses that arms such as tennis, golf, Hapkido, Judo, and Aikido.Cons:1)It takes a little practice to master this device.2)Instructions provided are very insufficient.

Originally purchased for my teenaged baseball player for grip strengthening (batting).Pros: Reasonably pricedCons: Broke in under a month under normal useBottom line: Junk and possibly harmful for elbows of teenaged pitchers.The manufacturer pitches this product as great for conditioning the forearm for tennis, batting, golf - any sport that involves gripping a shaft. I purchased this product with that in mind without first doing some research and obtaining expert opinions from sports medicine. I know better and did not do this. In talking with several orthopedic surgeons and a physical therapist, they cautioned use for developing teenaged elbows, especially those who pitch baseball. There is virtually no scientific literature on the pediatric effects of this device. Its breaking was actually a good thing! I elected to be conservative and not replace the device. Instead, my son uses the FlexBar manufactured by TheraBand to strength the forearm and stabilizes the elbow.