Making Household Chores Easier With Arthritis

Make Household Chores Easier With Arthritis

If you struggle with the pain and stiffness of arthritis, you know how challenging even simple tasks around the home can be. Follow these tips to make projects easier and less painful, and you’ll have your house in top shape for the upcoming holiday season!

Keep Things Close

Try to avoid reaching overhead or bending low, to help you maintain your balance and make jobs and daily tasks easier. Keep frequently-used items within easy reach. Store clothes, food and toiletries between your waist and should level. Keep a sturdy stool on hand for times when you have to reach for things overhead.

Save Steps

If you live in a two-story home, trudging up and down the stairs can be difficult. Try to keep items that you use frequently on the level where you spend most of your time.

Embrace Today’s Devices

A raised toilet seat can reduce the pain and discomfort of sitting on a too-low toilet. Pincer-grasp reachers are available in a variety of price points, and they are invaluable for picking items up from the floor. Tap turners can help you get a better grip on faucets, and tools with ergonomically designed handles will ease the pain of doing home projects.

Get Into Position

It’s easier and less stressful to push your vacuum cleaner, rather than to pull it. Focus on using good posture: keep you head aligned with your spine and try not to bend your wrists when holding handles.

Invest in a Foldable Dolly

Make light work of heavy loads. Use a wheeled cart to move boxes, bags of groceries or other heavy objects.

Clean Smarter

Switch up how you move. Do some back and forth motions, then change to circular motions, to avoid repetitive injuries. Give cleaning products time to work before you start scrubbing. Once they’ve had a chance to break down the grime, it’s easier to wipe it away.

Add Some Softness to Your Life

Wrap foam or tape around the handles of knives, pans and other objects, to make them easier to grip. The extra padding may help to ease pressure on your hands.

If you or someone you know is dealing with pain, stiffness, tingling, numbness or swelling in the hands, wrist, arms or shoulders, contact Dr. Rehman today. She is a specially trained orthopedic doctor who specializes in injuries and diseases of the upper extremities. She will conduct a complete evaluation to determine the exact cause of the problem, and then design an individualized, comprehensive program utilizing the least-invasive approaches to help you return to full use of the affected area.

Macomb County Arthritis Doctor: 586-532-0803