Arthritis Aids for the Living Room and Stairs

As a lot of people who have arthritis spend a good part of their day in the living room, usually seated, it goes without saying that they should try to make it as comfortable as possible. Most folk tend to favour a straight-back chair, which gives decent back support, and also a fairly high seat that’s easy to reach and get out of. Those chairs with arms can certainly be an extra boon to the arthritis sufferer as well. If you find that it doesn’t give the needed support to your lower back, or if it feels too hard on your hips, you can always pad those areas, say, with cushions. You can also make use of cushions on chairs to give that bit of extra height. Chairs, of course, can be raised by standing them on a platform or wood blocks of the desired thickness, or in some cases by replacing the existing legs with longer ones. You can also obtain “chair raisers” that can be attached to legs in order to raise them from two to five inches higher.

Nowadays there are various types of specialised chairs for the sufferer of arthritis pain. I certainly wouldn’t recommend going out and buying one if you’re already getting adequate pain relief with your present setup, but I’ll mention a few of them. There are recliners or lounge chairs with footstools, which means reduced pressure on hips and knees whilst sitting. Rocking chairs might have served as a nice pastime in our youth, but now quite a few use them as a means to alleviate their pain. I suppose the ultimate ones are those that come with heating pads and/or vibrator units to help ease back pain.

I heard a man recently saying something to the effect that a seat that doesn’t fit properly results in a lot of pain to someone with arthritis. I wholly agree with him, and would urge you to try a few alternatives, until you find something that you feel REALLY comfortable with.

Stairs are a major difficulty for most arthritis sufferers, including me. Six years ago, my knees sort of buckled at the top of the stairs at home, and the upper half of my body preceded them unceremoniously down to the bottom. The dislocated shoulder that I sustained then has resulted in arthritis in that area as well now. At the time, I was lucky that I had a downstairs bedroom into which to move, but unfortunately, some people do not have that option, and have to move house.

There are stairlifts made by many manufacturers that can carry a person up or down the stairs, but as can be expected, they are rather expensive. If you’re one of those who can just about manage the stairs, then make sure that the handrail is a sturdy one. This is essential as well at the steps leading up to your outside doors, even if it’s only two or three. I’ve had them installed on both sides of my steps, and even the boost to my self-confidence was probably worth the expense. If you happen to have quite a few steps in an outdoor stairway, it might be worthwhile having it rebuilt, so that the risers wouldn’t be so high, thus making it easier to negotiate.