Simple Adjustments to Reduce RA Pain in Vacaville
People who are suffering from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in Vacaville experience hand pain. You should make it a top priority to find relief for your pain because pushing through it will only lead to more problems. To break the cycle of RA and hand pain while still being able to do your regular activities, you need to make some modifications to how you do things.
There are many reasons why hand pain is common among RA patients. It's because the hand is made up of many small joints that contain tissue that is often attacked by RA. When these synovial joints are attacked, it creates swelling that could enlarge the joints and create painful pressure on the surrounding tissues like the skin and ligaments. As this goes on, RA will destroy the smooth cartilage surfaces that keep the joints protected, nourished, and moving smoothly. Eventually, cartilage loss can cause the bones to rub against one another and create pain. Another reason why there is hand pain is because of the large number of nerve endings that are found in the hands.
Your hands are more prone to pain compared to other parts of the body because it doesn't have enough support. The hands have small joints that are being supported by smaller muscles. It's nothing like the elbow or shoulders because those parts are being supported by larger muscles. RA can cause the joints to swell and supportive tissues to become irritated, thus leaving small joints prone to damage.
Despite the pain, people with RA sometimes neglect it and just continue on to function like nothing's wrong and they don't allow their joints to rest for necessary relief. This behavior can lead to even more pain because the delicate tissues have become overused. It is important to get hand pain relief so that long-term damage can be minimized or avoided.
Modifying Daily Activities in Vacaville
If you want to get hand pain relief from RA, you should modify certain activities to make them less painful. Here are the things that you should:
- Create convenient handles on tools and utensils so that you don't have to exert extra effort in holding them while performing tasks. For enlarging handles, use pipe insulation to make it handy.
- When carrying bags, don't use your hands. Instead, place the straps over your forearm or shoulder. If you have rolling bags, then even better because there's no need to lift and carry them.
- If you're having difficulties lifting a gallon of milk with one or both hands, consider buying half gallons. You can also ask someone to pour half of it into a small pitcher.
- When possible, use your palms to hold objects instead of your fingertips. If you have standard doorknobs at home, replace them with door levers.
- Always use both hands when lifting objects and make sure to keep your forearms close to your body.
- Have a rolling cart ready so that you can easily move items around the house.
- Electric appliances are more convenient than doing things manually.
- When opening jars, wear rubber gloves so that you will have a tighter grip.
- Move heavy objects using your entire body instead of just pushing with your hand.
- Buy pots and pans with two handles and slide them over surfaces instead of lifting them. Make sure to use silicone sheets on delicate counter surfaces so that they'll be protected from hot pots.
There's no way that you can completely avoid hand pain. Instead, you can follow the necessary steps to minimize the discomfort while normally using your hands for your everyday living.
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Absolute Integrative Physical Medicine
1490 Alamo Drive Suite B
Vacaville, CA 95687