Rheumatoid Arthritis and Your Household Routines

When rheumatoid arthritis or another inflammatory disease flares up, every little move can hurt --  and can even damage your joints. You need to be smart about using your body. Make every motion count and reduce pain by approaching your tasks more efficiently.

Think about minimizing strain on your body.  Every little bit helps, sometimes more than you’d think possible. Here are some tips to aid day-to-day living.

In the Kitchen and Laundry Room

Lighten your daily routine. This is another time to examine what your self-image might be costing you in physical comfort or freedom. Ask yourself if vacuuming every day is really important to your happiness. (If you’re a die-hard housekeeper, now’s the time to splurge and get yourself that new lightweight vacuum you’ve been admiring in the ads.) It really will make a difference pushing this light machine rather than your old clunky one. Likewise, replace your iron with a lighter model, or better yet, put shirts on hangers to dry and give up ironing completely! If you have heavy or earthenware dishes, consider getting a cheerful but lightweight set for everyday use.

Spare your fingers. Tie or loop strips of cloth around drawer handles and the refrigerator door, so you can pull them open with your arm and not your hand. Use your palm to open jars, or invest in a specialized can opener for people with arthritis. Seal plastic containers with your elbow, not your thumb or fingers. (You can order special can openers and other implements from the Arthritis Foundation at 1-800-283-7800.)

Don’t stretch. Before your arthritis hit, you may have routinely strained to get things from a top shelf or reached over the washing machine to the overhead cupboards without a thought about it. You can relearn these habits. Rearrange your cupboards so that the items you need most often are stored within easy reach. When you must get items from high shelves, use a sturdy step stool. For cooking on that back burner, use long-handled utensils to stir instead of reaching over. You can also use long-handled wooden tongs to pick up items you can’t reach easily and to retrieve clothes from the dryer.

Protect your back. When you’re shopping, tote your bags in a small, foldable cart. If you must lift something, bend your knees and not your back. (When your knees are bothering you, it’s best not to lift at all.)

Slide, don’t lift. Whenever possible, slide objects instead of picking them up.

In the Bathroom

Change the handles. The handles on regular water taps can be difficult to turn; have them replaced with lever handles you can easily push on and off.

Tie up your soap. Leaning over to fish your slippery soap off the tub or shower floor is not a good idea. You can mount a dispenser on the wall, filled with liquid soap you dispense with a push, or try soap on a rope, decorative soap with a long cord loop through the center that you can hang over your arm while you bathe or shower.

Try a whirlpool. When it comes time for remodeling, you may want to consider installing a whirlpool bath, which can give lovely relief to aching limbs. Of course, you'll want to include a handrail on the side of the tub.

Walk into your shower. If it’s possible, install a walk-in shower with a seat so you can shower while resting your legs. Or use a sturdy portable bath stool.

Throughout the House

Take a good look at your furniture. If you’re like many of us, your house has practically filled up on its own over the years, without much rhyme or reason. You’ve added pieces of furniture where they fit, maybe squeezing in a couch your neighbor was giving away or stashing a beloved old armchair in the corner of the living room. Or perhaps you’re the opposite: You have a keen sense of decor and your home is lovingly, elegantly furnished. Either way, now it’s time to look at your home with new eyes. Is it difficult to get around because of too much furniture? Take a deep breath, then either call Goodwill or have some items moved to storage. When you get out of bed at night, do you have to circumvent several things on your way to the bathroom?  Clear your path.  If your mattress is ancient and mushy, take yourself to the mattress store: You need a firm mattress, and you may want an egg-crate style foam pad on top for extra comfort. Move chairs with arms into your favorite spots. These are much easier to get into and out of.

Change your doorknobs. This relatively inexpensive change can make day-to-day life much easier. Instead of round doorknobs that can be difficult to grip, choose the lever variety, which need only a light push.

Slip-proof your house. Scatter rugs may be attractive, but they’re easy to slip on and sometimes difficult to vacuum. And, if you’re using a cane or walker, they’re a catastrophe waiting to happen. Box them up or give them away.

Switch on, switch off. Swap your standard wall switches with the small toggle for new ones you can turn on and off by simply pushing or bumping them. Likewise, you may want to replace the lamps you use most often with those that you turn on and off by touching them anywhere on the base.

 Use a prop. In bed, use pillows to support your hips or neck as needed or to hold blankets up off painful feet.

And there’s still more you can do:

Go for automatic. If your car doesn’t have an automatic transmission, now’s the time to make the switch. Likewise, an automatic garage door opener may be a good investment in your home and your joints.

Get a permit. When your arthritis is flaring up, walking from the far end of the mall parking lot is not a good idea. You may not think of yourself as “handicapped” or disabled, and you may be unhappy with these terms, but you’re one of the people for whom designated parking spaces are set aside. Apply at your motor vehicle bureau for a handicapped parking license or sticker. You will probably need a form or note from your doctor stating that you have a disability, so call the bureau first to ask for details.

Relax your standards. So you used to clean the garage every Saturday, mow the lawn as soon as a half-inch of new growth reared its head, and keep your house sparkling (remember that daily vacuuming?). The world won’t end if you let up a bit. Maybe you can only clean part of the house this Saturday and part next Saturday. Maybe you only mow the front half of the yard this Sunday and the back half next weekend. Your neighborhood watch won’t turn you in. Life is short and your choice should be clear: Immaculate house, buzz-cut lawn, and aching joints? Or a less perfect living environment and less pain?

Change your job description. Especially if you’ve been together for a while, you and your mate probably have a clear split of duties. One cooks; one does dishes. One mops; one dusts. One changes the oil; one washes the car. These vary for everyone, but the point is that you may need to change your pattern when one partner has arthritis and the other doesn’t. You may not be fond of changing the status quo--or even admitting that certain tasks pain you--but marriage is a partnership, which means sharing what comes to us in life. Talk to your spouse and explain the problem. You may even find that you both enjoy doing different “jobs” for a change.

Get help around the house. Now may be the time, especially during painful flare-ups. Empty out your spare-change stash and hire a neighborhood teen to mow the lawn. Call a maid service to do your spring cleaning. Take your car to be washed instead of doing it by hand. Spend what you can to spare your joints, and save your energy for activities that are more fun.

Think ahead. Before you do even small tasks, think them through. You want to avoid jarring, bouncing, painful movements and during flare-ups minimize all movement. If you’re cooking, put all the ingredients in one spot (and, of course, you’ve already arranged those cupboards so that items you use often are together in the first place). Ask yourself, “What’s the least stressful way I can do this?”

Change positions often. One of the worst things you can do for yourself is to sit or stand in one position. Keep shifting about so that you don’t stiffen up.

Use the largest body part that will do the job!  Don’t concentrate pressure and weight on delicate joints. If you’re holding a cup of tea, use your palms, not your fingers. If you’re pushing a door open, use your shoulder or buttocks, not your wrist.

Keep warm. Getting chilled seems to make arthritic joints ache, so keep yourself toasty. Dress in layers to keep your joints warm. Have leaky windows sealed up. If your favorite chair is under an air vent, have it moved.

Protect your hands. Wear your purse or tote bag across your shoulder instead of lugging it in your hands. If you must carry heavy objects, hold them with both arms close to your body.

Plan your ascents and descents. If you have one leg that’s stronger or less painful, start up the stairs with that leg, and start down with the same one. Always use a handrail, and be sure you have rails on all the steps in and near your home, including the porches. If you have serious problems with stairs, consider installing stair lifts in your home or moving your bedroom to the first floor. Some people who move from a two- or three-story house to a one-level house find that life gets a lot easier.

Last Updated: 8/26/2002
The Johns Hopkins University 1996-2003.  All rights reserved.  This information is not intended to provide advice on personal medical matters, nor is it intended to be a substitute for consultation.