NeuroTalk Support Groups - Low Cost, Home made, Neuropathy Stimulation "Bean Buckets"

Hello PNers,

Another tip in my efforts to "give back" in gratitude for this forum ....

I have found that periodically march stepping with my feet or plunging with my hands in my low cost, home made "bean buckets" helps stimulate my nerves.

For me, this is best used when my feet or hands are buzzing from a lack of activity, such as when I have been sitting at my desk too long or going for long periods without walking.

A small amount of "plunging", feels good, like a massage.

However, an excessive amount (for me that's over 25 times each foot) over stimulates the nerves and causes slight burning later in the day.

For me, a simple little stepping with each foot 5-10 times does the trick.

For some people, "bean buckets" may feel wonderful and for others this might be too painful and not a help at all.

You have to listen to your own body and find what is the right level for you.

To make these bean buckets, simply get two sturdy buckets, and fill them half way with big bags of a mixture of sizes of hard, raw, uncooked beans. I found that hard broad beans, kidney beans and chickpeas were the cheapest and best. I can't remember how many bags of beans I purchased (easy to just eyeball) but the total cost of everything combined was around $50. Best to set your creation on some kind of old sheet since the beans seem to fly out of the buckets a little when you are feeling exhuberant.

I have my bean buckets sitting in some unused corner in my office and go through phases where I use them more or less often depending on the activity of my hands and feet.

I learned about bean buckets from pners but got further tips from body builders who use this technique to improve the small muscle strength in their hands and feet. For their hands, they make huge big barrels full of dried beans that they reach down into.

Happy Plunging. :)