Ask a person with arthritis what he or she might like under the tree this year, and you may hear a wish for a day without pain. That’s because the many forms of arthritis typically cause stiff, aching joints that make even simple tasks painful and difficult. Constant discomfort has a big impact on quality of life. “Being unable to button shirts, get dressed, open jars — it all leads to a sense of lost dignity and independence. Sometimes it’s bad enough that patients just don’t like going out at all. It can be isolating,” says Dr. Karmela Kim Chan, a rheumatologist with the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.
While you can’t change someone’s arthritis, you can grant holiday wishes that help ease pain and may even restore a little quality of life.
Arthritis and Its Symptoms
Before buying a gift, it helps to understand the challenges of arthritis.
The most common forms of the disease are osteoarthritis (a wearing away of the cartilage or cushions in the joints) and rheumatoid arthritis (an immune system attack on the lining of the joints). Symptoms for both conditions include stiff, swollen joints, constant aches and shooting pains. All joints in the body are potential problem areas, especially the neck, back, shoulders, elbows, thumbs, fingers, hips, knees and toes.
Think about these physical challenges as you consider gift options. You’ll want to stay away from presents that require agility and dexterity. Instead aim for items that provide pain relief or make tasks more doable.
[Read: Can Exercise or Physical Therapy Help Combat Rheumatoid Arthritis?]
Relief Wrapped in a Bow
Gifts that provide soothing relief are often heat-related, such as electric heating pads, throws or blankets. Applying heat stimulates blood vessels to dilate, which increases blood flow. “It’s very comforting and allows for a little more flexibility,” Chan says. Moist heating pads may be even better at pain relief because research suggests that moist heat helps penetrate deeper into the tissue than dry heat.
Chan recommends home paraffin wax baths for arthritic hands and feet. Small machines that heat the wax are available at many drugstores or big-box stores. Chan points out that the machines must have a timer to keep them from getting too hot.
For a gift that reduces inflammation, go for cold therapy items, such as flexible gel packs that can be placed in the freezer and then wrapped around a joint. Applying cold to swollen joints causes blood vessels to constrict, which slows blood flow and helps reduce inflammation.
Compression therapy also reduces inflammation and promotes better circulation. A pair of compression gloves could be a good choice for someone with arthritis in the fingers and thumbs. These are found online or in medical supply stores.
[Read: How to Prevent the Onset of Rheumatoid Arthritis.]
Gifts That Make Tasks Easier
Giving someone an adaptive tool is like giving the gift of independence. These devices are easy to grip with stiffened hands and can help people with arthritis accomplish household tasks such as dressing or cooking. “The goal of using an adaptive device is to protect joints and minimize pain,” says Meg Kral, clinical supervisor for outpatient occupational therapy at Rush Medical Center in Chicago.
There are dozens of types of adaptive tools, and these are also available on the internet or in medical supply stores. Not sure where to start? Think in terms of the household activity.
When cooking or eating, for example, tools that can help include:
— Jar openers. “Thumb arthritis and swollen fingers make opening jars difficult,” Chan says.
— A one-handed cutting board called a paring board. It allows you to place vegetables on spikes that stick up from the board, so you can chop with one hand.
— A rocker knife. It looks like the silhouette of an opened umbrella: a flattened half-moon blade with a handle in the center. You hold the handle vertically, like a joystick, and rock the knife back and forth.
— Wide-grip eating utensils.
There are also adaptive tools for dressing:
— A button hook that enables you to fasten or unfasten buttons.
— A long-handled rod with pinchers at the end called a reacher. It allows you to pull up socks or pants. “The standard length is 26 inches,” Kral says.
— A long-handled shoehorn to help get your feet into your shoes.
— Elastic shoelaces that end the need to bend down and tie shoes.
— Zipper pulls, which may be long loops that you attach to zippers or hook tools that you use to pull up zippers. “Often a button hook will have a zipper pull at the other end,” Kral points out.
In the grooming category, you’ll find wide-grip or ergonomically designed toothbrushes, hairbrushes and combs.
And there are many other adaptive tools such scissors and key turners that eliminate the need to make a pinching motion with the fingers. “Pinching hurts and puts pressure on the thumb joint,” Kral explains.
Wide-grip pens, pencils and styluses are also easier to grasp than regular skinny tools. “It relieves pressure when you’re holding wider items,” Kral says.
[See: 7 Non-Offensive Gift Ideas to Nudge Someone Toward Healthy Behaviors.]
Other Ideas
If your gift recipient already has plenty of adaptive tools, you may want to give something a little more unusual. Ideas include:
— A gift certificate for a therapeutic (deep tissue) massage, good for muscles that are working overtime to stabilize weakened joints. “Releasing the tension can be very soothing,” Chan says, “But for some people, deep massage can be painful.” In other words, it’s a great gift only if you’re sure someone would enjoy it. Consider asking the person in advance or getting a gift certificate that can be used for numerous spa services.
— An ergonomic vertical computer mouse with a tall shape that allows you to grab the device like a cup.
— Yoga classes. “One of the most important things you can do if you have low back arthritis is to strengthen your core muscles and back muscles, and yoga does that in a gentle way,” Chan says.
— Subscription meal kits, which are already prepackaged, with some contents chopped ahead of time.
— Electronic readers for people who have a hard time holding a book and turning pages.
— Speech recognition software for people who can’t type anymore.
DIY Gifts
Some of these gifts can get pricey. Box food subscriptions can run about $10 or more per meal, for example. A therapeutic massage can easily run $100 per session. And a pair of compression gloves may cost about $50.
A low-cost do-it-yourself gift may be just as helpful and appreciated. That could involve filling a festive new sock with dried beans for a DIY hot or cold pack. Or you might consider making coupons to do jobs that are now difficult for your gift recipient, such as scrubbing and cleaning, sewing or writing.
Anything you do to bring relief to an arthritis patient will go a long way toward making life more comfortable. And that’s a gift that will be appreciated all year long.
More from U.S. News
How to Practice Yoga When You Have Arthritis or Another Chronic Condition
What Are the Complications of Rheumatoid Arthritis?
Holiday Gift Ideas for People With Arthritis originally appeared on usnews.com
