Hi Everyone, my Dad has just been told he has RA. Does anyone know where I can buy tools/utensils that will make things easier for him. He already has trouble gripping things.
Hi Natb,
There are lots of exercises that can help reduce the stiffness, swelling and pain around the joints. If he does them regularly, his hands should become stronger and less stiff. This will definately help in the long run.
Michelle
Hi Natb,
I found a site a while ago with all kinds of helpful gadgets for RA. I know from experience how helpful every little thing is. You can find them here: http://www.aidsforarthritis.com/
I hope this helps some. :-)
In regard to gripping things…not knowing exactly what your father needs to grip…here are some suggestions.
Car keys…my mother had my father attach her car key to a piece of wood, sized so as not to interfere with inserting the key, but big enough she could grip the wood to turn the key in the ignition. Much easier on her hands.
Door handles in the house…change all the round door knobs to levers. Much easier for arthritic hands to operate. But that also allows my cat to open any door he pleases. Deadbolt locking mechanisims gave me fits…but my husband used a piece of 2" X 2" wood, and cut a slot into the end of it that would fit over the locking part of the deadbolt. Then he put a hook in the wall beside the door so I could hang the thing right there where it would be handy.
Faucet handles…same thing…levers are easier to work.
I draw, paint, carve clay, crochet and embroider. I look for ball point pens that are fat … skinny little Bic’s cramp my hands. My favorite pen at the moment is a Dr. Grip. But writing with markers, or dipping an old fashioned pen in a bottle of ink, is easier still…takes no pressure to write. And you can wrap the shank of the pen with masking tape to make it fat enough to grip without cramping.
I’ve wrapped my drawing pencils in masking tape. and my paint brushes …so the tape wrapping gets splotched, so what? I can always cut the tape off and replace it. My clay carving tools are wrapped the same way.
I can’t knit anymore, since I can’t make knitting needles fat, but my crochet hooks are all wrapped with tape…you just have to be sure to write the size of the hook on the wrapping.
Then there is the question of preparing food. I was having trouble chopping veggies, until my Fred made me a chopper like the Inuit use. Like a half- circle…or the letter D with a thick handle on the straight part…keeps the pressure off my finger joints. ( o-D ) Looks sorta like that… Things I used to lift with one hand, I now use two hands…saves stress on the joints, and I’m less likely to drop something.
I flatly refused to fix breakfast after I dropped two eggs in a row on the floor. The dog appreciated the treat, but I didn’t appreciate cleaning up the mess. My hands are clumsy in the morning…
Clothing…I wear caftans now, all the time. I don’t have to meet a dress code and can wear whatever is easiest to put on…perhaps a man wouldn’t want to wear such a thing…but if no dress code is involved, he could switch over to pants with elastic at the waist, instead of trying to find that confounded little pull tab on a zipper. Or carry a zipper hook in his pocket at all times!
Pull over shirts…no buttons to fumble with. My mother had a shirt that looked buttoned, but the secret was the velcro strips hidden inside the button placket. I prefer shirts without collars as I can’t reach the thing to straighten it, and I always get it disarranged when I try to put it on, and there’s usually no one here to straighten it for me.
Slide on shoes like loafers if you prefer leather shoes, or moccasins for casual wear. I have a pair of tennis shoes…but I knotted the laces and wear them like slip on shoes…
I hope some of this helps someone…
Ardy