If you happen to be one of the unfortunate people living with arthritis then you will already know how it can affect your everyday living and realise how certain items like recliner chairs can help you to cope.
Once you are diagnosed with arthritis it is a matter of trying to control your actions to help yourself through the days, obviously it depends on just how badly you are affected as to how much help and assistance you will need, but it is sensible to think of how you can improve your life by using as many of the various aids on the market that you can.
My arthritis is at this stage of my life confined mainly to my lower limbs, my hips are both troubled and I have already have had one replaced and am awaiting to have the other one replaced sometime this year. My left knee has been renewed twice, unfortunately the first time the replacement knee caused more pain than the original knee joint it replaced but four years later it was exchanged and this time with great success, I still encounter some pain from it but no where near the problems I had before. My ankles are also painful all the time because of arthritis and I have had operations and injections on both but so far to no avail.
For this reason I, like many people, use a riser recliner chair, this apart from being very comfortable assists me in both sitting down and perhaps more importantly in getting up again.
A simple touch of the button controls the chair and it gently and very quietly will take me to a standing position which enables me to get up and walk away without any pressure being put on to any of my painful joints, of course the situation works in reverse when I am ready to sit down again.
There are so many things though that can aid you through the daily troubles of arthritis as well as being sensible yourself and recognising your own limitations, for instance if you have arthritic hands or shoulder problems then make sure that you carry things with two hands if possible to support the load, there are times when even simple things like a cup of tea can be to heavy for just one hand.
Making that cup of tea can be a problem as well because tipping the kettle to pour the hot water into the cup or the pot can be painful and possibly dangerous so it is sensible to see if you can get yourself a kettle stand that helps you tip it without you having to take any of the weight yourself. Kettle tippers are another of the many daily living aids that are available to assist you and make you life with arthritis more acceptable.
Another ‘tool’ that can help are the handy grabbers these come in different styles and lengths but the principle is the same, the handle has a grip that you pull on and it opens the ‘jaws’ of the grabber, a bit like the cranes that you can still see in the funfairs on the piers at various holiday resorts. When you find the object you want you release the handle which then allows the jaws to close and ‘grab’ the item you want. This is so good when you drop something and you cannot get down to it or if you need to reach up for something from a cupboard or from a shelf that is high up.
One of my other problems caused by my arthritis is the ability to get in and out of the bath, at present it is virtually impossible for me to do that, fortunately though I am not dirty we do have a separate walk in shower which I use everyday.
It is not though the same as having a nice hot relaxing bath but whilst I might be able to get in with a great amount of difficulty getting out is virtually impossible and a couple of times I have really felt as though I was stuck in an empty bath and not able to get out! So now I am thinking of getting a bath lift to make life easier and to allow me to enjoy the pleasures of a hot bath but without the stress of trying to get myself in and out!
Arthritis is a problem that affects so may of us and it is sensible to make as many tools as we can available to make it all a little bit easier. I have found some very good information from Arthritis Research UK, they have a series of booklets available that give you information that can be of real benefit. The other thing that can help is to be positive as the song says ‘Always look on the bright side of life’
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