Arthritis

Not everyone with arthritis has problems getting dressed, regardless of how severe your arthritis is, you may need to make some changes in the way you dress, so here are a few tips to follow that can make those changes smooth and easy.

First, try to analyse which of your joints give you the most difficulty when dressing, especially in the morning, remember that the stiffness from arthritis may take more than an hour to pass when you wake in the morning and you don't want to wait that long to get dressed in the morning.

Changing the way you get dressed to work around those particular joints will make sure you won't get thrown off schedule, if your knees and hips are stiff in the morning, try sitting on the bed to put on your socks and shoes.

A further problem (for women) is that your shoulders may be too stiff for you to reach around behind your back and hook your bra, if so, simply place your bra behind your back, hook it in front, then slide it around to the front and place your arms through the straps.

These are just a couple of examples of simple adaptations you can do at home with the clothing you have.

If in the morning your stiffness is a little more severe, you may have to purchase different types of clothing, if lifting your arms causes problems then think about buying front closing shirts or blouses.

Avoid clothing with small buttons or hooks if your fingers give you trouble in the mornings, if you have a hard time bending, wear slip on shoes with Velcro closures and avoid heels.

Adaptive devices can also make dressing easier without having to buy special clothing. These have been around for many years, it used to be that this type of equipment could only be bought with the assistance of an occupational therapist who had access to a medical supplier.

Now, purchasing this type of equipment can be done directly by anyone, dozens of devices are easily available that can help just about any problem, an excellent source for these adaptive devices and clothing for arthritis is able2wear.co.uk

Clothing for the Disabled

Another morning spent online, searching for a bit of insight and help.

Having been diagnosed with scoliosis at the age of two. I have a severe curvature of the spine and kyphosis.

My attitude has always been very positive. I have not let the disability keep me from living life to its full potential.

One of the biggest issues I faced growing up, believe it or not was clothing. Being a typical girly girl, I wanted to wear all the garments my friends were wearing.

Instead of the dresses and fitted tops I would wear baggy jumpers twice my size.

My attitude when I was young was to hide my disability behind clothes.

I am not going to say that I have suddenly developed a more confident attitude as an adult, that would be lying.

What I have come to realise is that, attempting to hide a disability through baggy clothes, actually makes it stand out.

When I was getting married for the second time, I came to realise so much about my body, this is when things changed for me.

My goal was to wear a dress for the wedding. To be a pretty bride instead of someone who hid behind baggy shirts.

My dress fitters were amazing, they taught me about my figure and how the baggy clothes were hanging off me and drawing attention to the bits of my body I hated.

I got to wear my wedding dress and my mother cried (not seen very often).

Since my wedding I shop differently. I buy clothes that fit my body rather than clothes that hide it.

I have been thinking lots about adaptive clothing for disabled people. I am in search of information and guidance.

I will try and keep this blog updated as often as possible. Hopefully I will be able to pass on any information to anybody that is looking for help.

Hopefully I will soon be able to provide useful information. I will look at all types of disabilities and products that are suitable.

Life can be very hard at times, we could all do with some little changes that make life much easier.

In my next post I will look at types of disabled clothing available online.