Do you know what is one of the most influential yet paradoxical universal concepts in the world? I can see a lot of answers forming, but the one I am talking about is Shopping. It is global, a necessity and doubles as a luxury, it is called therapeutic and addiction. Come to think of it, economies thrive on it. On a personal level, it is the root cause for so many of our efforts and can lead to our downfall as well. However, today’s focus is ‘Shopping with Purpose’.
We all know that arthritis is a medical condition that inflames the joints, causing stiffness and pain. As one age, it worsens. Another fact about it is that it is incurable, hence improving life quality takes precedence, which brings us to our shopping items that will make life easier for arthritic people. We are categorizing them based on what they help you achieve:
Pain: this accounts for a major chunk of the problem here. This makes day to day activities like moving around, performing basic things harder. Of course, there are medications for it, but these few mentioned below items can aid the medicinal effect:
1) Arthritic Gloves: provide support to your hands and wrists by applying compression. They reduce swelling and pain from the joints. Some of them come with heat therapy that further relaxes the muscles.
2) Knee support Brace: as the name suggests, they provide support to knees. Also based on compression technique, they relax the muscles, straighten the leg, releases pressure from joint and reduces swelling, distribute weight and hence dim the pain.
Lifestyles: the other side-effect of this is, it interferes massively with how a person might want to lead the life. A common complaint, especially among older arthritic patients, is the loosening of grip and balance. Things, like signing the check, or even eating on your own, become challenging. Here’s what can help:
- Pen-grip holders: you can find a whole array of them, but the idea is the sleek designs of pen/pencils makes it tougher for arthritic fingers to get a grip on and accomplish the task. These holders are designed in a manner to provide extra support for grabbing and writing. So, autograph away your checks or memoirs or whatever you would like. No one will take away your signatures
- Utensils: eating is such an important part of our lives, but with the achy joints and loosened grip, self-feeding becomes a messy affair. The Velcro grip for spoon and fork ensures they stay right in your hand, exactly how you want them, paired with the Food plate bumper, which has raised sides making your food stay in the plate. These will ensure you still owe the right to self-feed.
- Walkers: ease the pain while walking, ensuring you reach your destination
- Anti-Slip mats: in bathrooms along with handlebars will postpone the need for assistance in the bathrooms safeguarding your dignity.
- Bottle and jar openers come handy
- Zipper pulls, and buttoning aids may interest you as well
For now, it’s a good list to start but remember, you are shopping with a purpose, and these are only aids. Medications and exercising are the foremost tasks to undertake when dealing with arthritis. Take care and let the shopping begin.