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Tips and

Tricks

_http://www.fmaware.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle & id=6647 & JServSessionIdr009

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(http://www.fmaware.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle & id=6647 & JServSessionIdr009=qylsdds3n5.app6b)

 

By: Elisabeth Deffner

FMOnline, vol. 7, no. 10

 

Even the simplest tasks can pose a challenge to people

with FM. The good

news is there are countless tools and alternatives that

can make things easier.

Here, therapists who work with people who have FM, and

FM patients

themselves, share their tips.

Support Yourself

Dianne Whiting, who has a Fibromyalgia Management

Program in Casa Colina

Hospital in Pomona, Calif., recommends people with FM

keep their arms supported

as much as possible, to help stave off common neck and

shoulder stress. She

suggests trying ?moshi pillows? (you may find them

marketed under a different

name)?soft cylindrical pillows filled with tiny

polypropylene beads that

make them moldable as well as supportive. You can find

pillows like this at

stores such as Bed Bath and Beyond and Walgreens. ?I

recommend them for the car,?

says Whiting. ?As a passenger, one can ?hug? it and

support the arms; as a

driver you can rest it on top of the right arm rest for

more support.?

Also try placing a pillow between your knees and ankles

when you are

sleeping on your side, to improve your body?s alignment.

You may also want to ?hug?

a pillow in your arms to keep your shoulders aligned and

prevent neck and

shoulder stress. Ginny Wright, who was diagnosed with FM

and rheumatoid

arthritis in 2000, also uses a memory foam mattress

topper that helps her get a

better night?s sleep.

The Basics

Keep a step-stool in the kitchen and anywhere else you

may need to stretch

your arms above your head to reach items (your bedroom

closet, the garage, the

video cabinet, etc.).

Shari Wells uses a long-handed, collapsible pole to reach

up and grab things

she needs?or even to turn on the overhead light in the

kitchen! ?I even use

this to pick up litter from my floor when I cannot bend

down,? she adds. ?It

?s also good for cleaning outside around the house

wherever bits of unwanted

matter accumulate.?

One Australian patient discovered that using a broom to

scrub her bathtub

prevents the pain that can result from bending over.

If you live in a home of more than one story, try

keeping supplies on each

floor. Kelley Monahan of Virginia keeps her medication as

well as certain

other frequently-used products on each floor of her

three-story townhouse. ?I

keep my medications split into four containers, one for

each floor and one for

my purse, so when I need to take them I don't have to go

up and down stairs,?

she says.

?I have two dogs and I keep dog dishes and toys on each

floor so I don't

have to go up and down. I also do this with things like

sweatshirts and slippers

for when I ultimately get too cold or too hot.? She keeps

cleaning products

on each floor, too, so when she is cleaning house she

doesn?t have to add ?

traipsing from floor to floor? to the agenda. ?Since I am

not making as many

trips up and down the stairs, I have a lot less leg

pain,? she explains.

Get a Grip

Whiting recommends covering your car steering wheel with

a cover that has

bumps on it. The bumps help the driver grip the wheel

more easily, and make it

easier to turn.

You may also want to consider the handles and knobs you

use in your house.

When Wright remodeled her house, she switched all the

doorknobs to an ?S?

type, which she finds easier to open; the water taps are

all levers, not knobs

that can be challenging to turn.

Invest in some rubberized ?netting,? the kind of material

that is often

used to create non-slip mats. Cut a couple of squares

about the size of your

hand, and use them to make jar-opening easier. ?This

gives you a non-slip

surface that is easier grip, and it is not bulky to get

your hand around like the

ones you buy in the shops,? says Karen Harvey of Britain.

 

Some Like It Hot

Many people with FM find heating pads very helpful in

easing their pain.

Whiting suggests a particular pad called a

?Thermophore.? Not only is it

oversized, but this pad draws moisture out of the air,

rather than requiring a

dampened sponge or other material be inserted inside of

it. If price is an issue,

you may want to consider a heating pad that you can warm

in the microwave

and then apply where you need it.

Size Matters

If writing is challenging for you because skinny pens

and pencils make your

fingers cramp, try buying larger-sized pencils?or rubber

grips that you can

apply to them, making them fatter and easier to grip.

Rolling Along

Kids today use backpacks with wheels to haul their

homework to school. Why

not try a rolling cart or a wheeled bag to help you

carry things from place to

place with more ease? Wright uses one to transport wet

laundry to the dryer,

so she doesn?t have to carry the heavy wet clothes.

?Once they're dry, I

can use the cart to fold them on,? she says.

Debbie Leslie of Tacoma, Wash., uses a plastic laundry

basket to accomplish

the same end. ?I use it to put everything in that is out

of place, and then

when I go through the room it belongs in, I drop it off.

It is so much better

than walking back and fourth a thousand times,? she says.

?Also, my husband

Rick placed a milk crate by the front door, we all put

our shoes in it and at

the end of each day one of the kids puts shoes away.?

Gloria Norman of Maricopa, Ariz., uses her rolling

computer chair to roll

around the house when she is sweeping or mopping. She

also rests in it when she?

s doing meal prep. ?I'm not as worn out doing it this way

as when I stand

too long while working on chores and wearing myself out,?

she says.

Cyndi Kerrigan uses a kids? wagon to pull groceries from

the car to the

house. Be creative!

Timing is Everything

After a gardening ?escapade? put her in a flare that

lasted for three

weeks, Susan Learned enlisted the help of her sister in

keeping her activities

down to a manageable length of time. ?When I go outside

to garden, I call my

sister and ask her to call me in a specified period of

time?for me, one and a

half hours works fine for the first leg. Then when she

calls me, we chat about

stuff until I get antsy to get back to work. We then

agree on the amount of

time to pass before she calls me again?usually the time

shortens,? says

Learned. ?The other day she even called me to tell me to

stop working for the day!?

 

Do you have a tip you?d like to share?

Email it to _edeffner_

(edeffner) , and

we may

use it in a future tips story.

 

“Fortunately

art is a community effort - a small but select community living in a

spiritualized world endeavoring to interpret the wars and the solitudes of the

flesh.”

-Allen Ginsberg

 

 

Everything Natural

http://health./

Everything Magick

EverythingMagick/

 

The Pagan Housewife

http://paganhousewife.blogspot.com/

Tales of

a DIY Queen

http://talesofadiyqueen.blogspot.com

The Frugal New Yorker

http://thefrugalnewyorker.blogspot.com/

 

 

 

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