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Living with arthritis: How do you stay active?

Bones, Joints & Muscles | Last Active: Mar 5 11:07am | Replies (94)

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@fourof5zs

@hopeful33250

It is grip strength. .. and painful to hold a pen or pencil for long. We made cloth mask and my husband did all the cutting. He had trouble understanding how I needed everything placed together. That was a bit painful lining the fronts, backs and interfacing together. The pinching motion the worst. The sewing itself with the machine was only difficult in turning the hand wheel to get started.

I am back to doing most of my chores. We hand wash dishes.. no place for a a dishwasher without losing much needed cabinet space... and I can wash them when there is nothing heavy. The turning of the dishes to wash and rinse makes my hand achy.. but the warm water feels good to my hand. My husband isn't good about checking pockets before placing clothes in the hamper. I find it a bit hard searching the pockets.. my hand either has to do the searching or the holding. It is getting easier, but as always healing is too slow for me. I get too impatient.

I think the Tai Chi exercises will help me keep my balance. I work a little on balance with various little exercises (some which are in the video.. didn't know I knew how to do any Tai Chi 😁) when I take the dog out.. but know I need to work more on it. My neighbors probably think I look quite silly doing those exercises.. and I don't care. The dog used to give me “what are you doing looks”. Now he thinks his sister is just crazy. He is my mom's dog. She is 92 and in a nursing home.. Ziggy (mini poodle) will be 10 in September. They miss each other. The phone just isn't the same as visits. I love my little furry brother.

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Replies to "@hopeful33250 It is grip strength. .. and painful to hold a pen or pencil for long...."

@fourof5zs ZeeGee - It took close to 2 years for full strength to return to my right hand after CMC surgery, especially the pinching/pulling needed for sewing, etc. I kept up the exercises from therapy for a full nine months at home. This spring I still needed a break every hour of sewing when I was in mask production. Pretty sure knitting and crocheting are in my past as I have had a carpectomy (wrist surgery) as well, which limits range of motion.

I have been washing some dishes one-handed with a brush/wand. Last night I managed to cook most of dinner. As for emptying pockets, I lay the pants on top of the machine & reach into each pocket with my "good" hand. Figured out how to hang clothes on the drying rack, fold most things, etc, but still can't carry the baskets upstairs. The last few days I have managed about 1/2 hour of one-handed weeding each day. Baby steps.
Sue

Our little furry friends are just like family, @fourof5zs!