The most common stress balls are the beanbag type that can be picked up at job fairs and industry gatherings. They are very effective, they provide enough resistance to make you feel good and they give off a relieving noise that tells you that something is happening. Sure it is just some sort of filler grating against itself, but darn it, it's something! And when you are stressed, the simple feeling of doing something, anything is its own reward. Plus, you are getting a little bit of a workout for your hands and even this form of exercise can give you some benefits.



However, not all stress balls are the squeezable kind. There are also Chinese stress balls that are made out of very hard materials that are not meant for squeezing. Rather, they come in pairs so that you can roll them around in your hand in order to relieve stress. Also, these stress balls sometimes come with some sort of noisemaker inside that provides a soothing sound other than the noise of the balls banging and rubbing against each other. However, this form of stress ball is usually not very good to use at work, since they do tend to make some noise. But, if you are sitting at home and you want to relieve a little tension, they can be very soothing.

However, you should also be careful with stress balls, as the squeezable kind can break. Yes, it takes a lot of effort, time and strength to break them, but it can be done. Thus, if you notice any leaks in your stress ball, or you notice that weak spots are starting to appear, you should throw it out and get a new one. After all, the stress of cleaning up some sort of fluid or vaccuuming up a large quantity of small, grainy material can stress you out too. Thus, do not squeeze a stress ball over a computer keyboard. If it does break, you will have a lot of problems that you would much rather avoid -- such as the need to run out and buy and new keyboard.