When it comes to pain, hands and feet trump everything else. You may be focusing on back, hip, or knee pain, but what if a simple task like picking up glass a water or tying your shoes made you cringe?
Believe it or not, when I started looking for studies on the aging hand, I found more information on ways to make hands look younger (topical creams, hormones and injections) than about easing the pain associated with osteoarthritis.
By the time you become a “true senior” you have probably figured out that being able to write, type, or open a jar is more important than whether or not your hands look young.
You are not alone if your hands are painful and stiff; osteoarthritis is universal and one of the many challenges seniors have to face. Do you hear a snap when you bend your thumb? Repetitive stress from a lifetime of activities make the joints at the base of the thumb and finger tips especially vulnerable.
Degenerative joint disease, or osteoarthritis, can affect us all, and it has little to do with whether we have been formally diagnosed with severe arthritis or not.
It is too late to take back the years of repetitive stress, but it is not too late to take care of our hands.
• Movement helps; regular exercise will help maintain range of motion and reduce pain and stiffness.
• Wrap your fingers around a warm cup of coffee or enjoy the luxury of a bath or shower to ease pain and increase flexibility.
• Use assistive devices to ease stress on tender joints. There are many ergonomic tools available today. You will marvel every time you use your ergonomic jar opener, and you will love exploring the world of voice activated computer programs.
• Avoid doing anything that involves resistance (squeezing, grasping, twisting).
Activities that require a lot of gripping run the gambit from using free weights, playing tennis, golfing, knitting and gardening, right down to all-important activities of daily living. If your discomfort goes beyond being a minor inconvenience, see a hand specialist and work with an Occupational Therapist.
Leave a Reply