Meglio Therapy Putty

Meglio Therapy Putty is ideal for regaining hand strength, mobility and range of motion after an injury – and a putty programme can also be useful for cyclists who suffer from pins and needles in their palm on long rides.

Why do cyclists need hand putty? If you've been injured following the type of FOOSH (fall onto an outstretched hand) to which cyclists are prone, you may already be familiar with therapy putty as part of a physio programme to improve range of motion, strength and functional mobility. FOOSH injuries include wrist fractures, elbow dislocations or fractures, and the dreaded collarbone fracture, a rite of passage for road pros.

I broke my little finger quite badly in a bike crash in 2003 – I snapped it clean through and had to wear a plaster cast up to my elbow – and it's still weaker and thinner than the other little finger. Probably what I needed was putty rehab, so it's a shame nobody suggested it at the time. Having been squeezing the Meglio putty for a couple of months now, I can now see how it could have helped.

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NHS supplier Meglio says its putty also has wider uses outside of injury rehab, including to increase grip, finger and wrist strength in 'healthy' hands; to increase blood flow and to reduce inflammation in the hands. If you suffer from pins and needles in the palms – sometimes called cyclist's palsy – it could be worth giving a putty-based strengthening programme a go: the pressure on the ulnar nerve, which runs from the forearm down the wrist and into the palm, controlling the hand muscles, can often be relieved by a good bike fit that places your hands more comfortably on the bars, but, if you're prone to ulnar nerve pain anyway, hand-strengthening exercises with putty can help, according to some experts.

And finally, putty as stress relief. This was probably the Meglio putty's most useful function for me, having accepted I'll never win a little-finger-wrestling contest. I found squeezing, squidging and moulding it very calming – in fact I'm doing it in between typing this. You can just knead out your troubles. And it's not just touch – there's a visual element to it too: the detailed lines printed into in it by fingers and palms and any surface you leave it on are oddly compelling... Then, if left on a hard surface, it very slowly, imperceptibly, 'melts' into a smooth, brightly coloured puddle. Rolled into a ball it's bouncy, like silly putty. If you have kids they will love all this. My kids stole my putty to use as killer slime from outer space in their own games.

Talking of leaving it on surfaces, don't put it down on a carpet or any sort of fabric because it will stick to it and leave tiny bits of itself there forever – see the picture of my younger son's bedroom carpet post-alien killer slime game.

Although it sticks to carpet, it doesn't leave any residue on the skin at all, it's completely odourless and it doesn't dry out if you don't put it back in its pot. I've been really impressed and intrigued by how its consistency and resistance has stayed exactly the same – even after peeling it off the carpet.

Therapy Putty comes in four progressive resistances, all colour coded: extra soft (yellow) and soft (red) is required if strength or recovery is needed after an recent surgery; medium resistance (green) targets aches and pains which cause slight discomfort throughout the day, and firm (blue) offers the best resistance for increasing grip strength, says Meglio.

Value and conclusion

Somehow, incredibly, we've never reviewed any other hand putty here at road.cc so we don't have any other house reviews to compare it to, but £4.99 seems reasonable enough and in line with other hand putties. However, I would probably pay £11.99 and get the much bigger 454g pot so that I could squeeze a bigger ball of it. It feels so good that the standard 57g pot just isn't enough...

Verdict

Silly putty that does sensible stuff like strengthening hands and relieving stress