Do Stress Balls Work For Reducing Stress? Yes, Indeed!

Stress is like a pesky poltergeist who sneaks into our lives when we least expect it and who never intends to leave. It's that unwelcomed guest who overstays their welcome, leaving us frazzled and bewildered.

Stress tinkers with our concentration. It is one of the biggest roadblocks to productivity in the workplace. It reduces motivation, focus, and willpower to do more in an office. Stress is the oddball character who loves to show up at work and cause chaos with its strange activities, from missed deadlines to mind-numbing meetings.

What's worse is that it is bound to happen in every workspace. It's just the nature of work in the current day and age.

Today, offices use many devices or methods to fight workplace stress. The most common is the budget-friendly stress balls. Despite its popularity, do stress balls work to fight office tension?

By definition, stress balls are squishy toys of malleable gel, usually 7 cm in diameter. The shape of this ball can take different forms with the gentle force of our hand. The common conception is this eases the muscle tension in our hands and fights stress.

Do stress balls work as stress relievers? The answer is yes, and here's why.

Benefits of Stress Balls for Workplace Stress

Stress balls are small, handheld objects that fit into your palms, and you can squeeze them with your fingers. They come in different textures, sizes, and shapes and are designed to be squeezed and released repeatedly.

This repetitive action engages the muscles in the hands and fingers, promoting relaxation and reducing muscle tension. The physical act of squeezing a stress ball can also help redirect our focus and provide a sensory distraction from the stressors at work.

In addition, stress balls can be utilized to treat wrist and hand pain as physical therapy. Regular use of stress balls can help improve grip strength, increase agility, and alleviate symptoms of conditions such as carpal tunnel syndrome. This makes stress balls useful for those who spend long hours at a desk constantly working on their keyboards or mice.

Listed below are some benefits of Stress Balls:

1. Anger Management

While facing a lot of stress, one may get quickly irritated by specific outcomes. It raises blood pressure, which results in angry outbursts. Here, anger's most probable and ugly outcome is only an awful release on something or someone.

Stress balls help manage the employees' anger by giving them a medium to release their frustration by squeezing the ball. The workers can release the tension in their muscles by releasing the force onto the stress balls. This muscle relaxation can calm one's anger down and restore normalcy.

2. Distraction Device

When one faces tension at work due to some work, it is always best to take time out from that project. The idea here is to distract the mind from an activity that is causing it trouble in the first place. This gives a chance to enter, refresh and start anew.

As a distraction device, stress balls are a great option in the workplace. Continuously squeezing a stress ball can help one relax, detox, and refresh at the same time. Here, a few breaks in between work will work wonders as well.

Related Article: 8 Awesome Ideas For Brain Breaks For Adults

3 Aids in the Nervous System

Proper functioning of the nervous system also plays a significant part in reducing workplace stress. The nervous system helps curb down on the essential hormones which can control stress levels. In maintaining a proper nervous system, stress balls are also a great help in this regard.

A ton of nerves around our wrists run straight to our brains. Exercising these nerves with pressure helps them get stronger. Here, pressure exercise with a stress ball is an excellent workout for the nerves that helps the nervous system.

4. Workout

Office exercises are always a great way to break sweat and stress. They release the accumulated tension in the muscles and help the body relax. In this regard, stress balls are quite handy as well.

Stress balls exercise the wrists, arms, and whole body in the way of speaking. It is because exercising with stress balls develops a workout for the nerves around one's hand. Now, since all the nerves in a body are interconnected, you engage in a full-body activity.

Here, it is important to always exercise rhythmically with a stress ball. The sequence can be breathing in, squeezing the ball, and holding, breathing out, release the pressure.

5. Emotional and Mental Health

Stress balls have many advantages not only for our physical health but also for our mental and emotional health. Squeezing a stress ball can help release tension and frustration, providing an outlet for emotional stress.

The repetitive motion of squeezing and releasing the stress ball can be calming and meditative, promoting relaxation and reducing anxiety.

6. Other health advantages of stress balls

Amidst all these positives, stress balls are helpful for other employee health problems. Using stress balls increases blood circulation in the hands, helps recover from an injury, acts as a measure for carpal tunnel syndrome prevention, etc.

So, to answer the question of do stress balls work, yes, indeed! Stress Balls are a great source of stress relief.

Debunking Myths about Stress Balls

There are several misconceptions about stress balls that need to be addressed. Some people believe that stress balls are just a fad or a placebo with no real benefits. However, research and experts suggest otherwise.

According to the Huffington Post, stress balls can effectively manage stress and promote mental health. They are not just a passing trend, but a legitimate method for coping with workplace stress.

Ways to Use Stress Balls

You may tone your muscles by squeezing stress balls regularly. Your hands and wrist muscles will get stronger if you work out regularly. People at work mostly keep these balls in their hands while working.

Whatever your occupation, you may use a stress ball to keep your hands occupied and mind at ease when feeling weary, bored, or frustrated. A few ways to use stress balls are listed below-

1. One of the most popular stress ball methods is to set it on a surface, roll it by curling your fingers towards your palm, hold it briefly, and then release it.

2. Another common technique is maintaining a vertical arm posture while holding a ball between your hands. Next, push for 5 seconds before relaxing.

3. The most preferred technique is full grasp. If you're anxious, grasp and squeeze a ball as tightly as possible for up to five seconds, then release it.

Expert Opinion on Stress Balls

Dr. Bryan Robinson, a renowned author of "Is Work Killing You?" and a doctor specializing in workplace stress, recommends stress balls as a practical solution for managing stress at work.

He emphasizes on how stress balls may be adopted into everyday routine as a cheap yet powerful tool for lowering stress and enhancing our mental health.

Conclusion

In today's fast-paced environment, workplace stress has become a widespread phenomenon affecting millions globally. From deadlines to high expectations, the demands of the modern work environment can take a toll on our mental health. As a result, many people are turning to stress balls as a potential solution for managing workplace stress.

In this blog, we have looked into the effectiveness of stress balls as a prescription for treating workplace stress and the advantages they provide for our mental and emotional health.

To achieve maximum productivity, one must work with a clear and fresh mind without stress. To accomplish this, there are many alternatives other than stress balls. These can be yoga in the workplace, practicing office meditation techniques, exercises, office stretches, etc.

While all of these may work, stress balls are a cheaper alternative to all these methods. So, if it saves money and releases stress, why not use it fully?