Life Hacks for Arthritis

Released April 8, 2025 

PODCAST OPEN:      

You’re listening to the Live Yes! With Arthritis podcast, created by the Arthritis Foundation to help people with arthritis — and the people who love them — live their best lives. This podcast and other life-changing resources are made possible by gifts from donors like you. If you’re dealing with chronic pain, this podcast is for you. You may have arthritis, but it doesn’t have you. Here, learn how you can take control of arthritis with tips and ideas from our hosts and guest experts.

 

MUSIC BRIDGE

 

Cristina Schaefer: Hi, welcome to the Live Yes! With Arthritis podcast. I'm Cristina Schaefer, your host for this episode. I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis about 20 years ago and have been living with the ups and downs of this disease ever since. I'm proud to be a long time Arthritis Foundation volunteer, serving on a few national committees, as well as the local leadership board chair here in Houston, Texas.

 

Living with arthritis has many challenges: pain, stiffness, fatigue, medication management and so much more. But what's often overlooked are the little things, the everyday tasks from getting dressed to getting out of the car after a long day at work. At times, these little things can boil over into big obstacles and big frustrations if not addressed. Learning to do things differently, modifying the way we do everyday tasks, can help protect your joints, reduce fatigue and help you complete daily tasks so you can get on with the rest of your life.

 

In this episode, we'll explore some common challenges arthritis poses to daily tasks and the arthritis hacks that can help. Today, I am joined by Cheryl Crow, a licensed occupational therapist, creator of Rheum to THRIVE, a support program for people with rheumatic disease, and an arthritis patient herself. Cheryl, welcome to the podcast.

 

Cheryl Crow: Thanks so much for having me. It's great to be here.

 

Cristina Schaefer: Cheryl, tell us a little bit about yourself and your expertise in occupational therapy.

 

Cheryl Crow: Similar to you, actually, I was diagnosed a little over 20 years ago, in my case, at age 21, and I'm now 43. So, I've lived basically half my life with rheumatoid arthritis and half of it without. I became an occupational therapist because I was really interested in working with children with developmental disabilities. But when I went to occupational therapy school, I learned so, so many tips and tricks for living better with arthritis. So many patients were saying, “Wow, I never knew about these things. I never knew about these life hack gadgets.” That’s when I created my own programs.

 

If you haven't heard of occupational therapy before, because a lot of times people confuse it with physical therapy, just really quick: I like to say an occupational therapist is like, if a physical therapist and a psychologist had a baby, because we work directly with mental health and we work with physical disabilities as well. That's something that kind of differentiates us from physical therapists. But if I could rename our profession, I would rename us life skills specialists. My favorite thing when it comes to life hacks is just learning to become your own life hack detective in your life and finding little ways to make life easier.

 

Cristina Schaefer: Absolutely. Well, thank you. And it sounds like you're the perfect person for this conversation. (laughter) I know it can be different for everyone, but what are those daily tasks that pose the greatest challenges for people with arthritis?

 

Cheryl Crow: It does depend on your pattern of pain and fatigue. For rheumatoid arthritis, I definitely follow the typical pattern where my little joints, the smallest joints, have the most pain for me. So, my fingers, toes, the ball of my foot. It's all the fine motor tasks. So, if you start the day in your life thinking about your morning routine, self-care, when I'm flaring, everything from brushing my hair, washing my hair, putting on makeup.

 

Occupational therapists, we work with every single life skill, every single task in your life. That includes things that people have a little bit of a stigma talking about sometimes, like going to the bathroom, sex and intimacy, stuff like that. The question you asked was: What are the tasks that pose the greatest challenge. For me, for the hand pain perspective, and for people who might have like osteoarthritis in the thumb, it's really the small motor tasks, whether that's self-care in the bathroom or in the kitchen, making food, finagling with the knives. And also the tasks that might be more complex, like taking care of children and pets. Those often require a lot of fine motor, like pinching, putting the dog's harness on and off.

 

The things that are difficult for rheumatoid arthritis, if you have spondyloarthritis or maybe osteoarthritis in the hip or knees, then some of the larger motor tasks are going to be more difficult, or maybe things that require you to sit for long periods of time. For the inflammatory arthritis, types like psoriatic, ankylosing spondylitis and rheumatoid, is that the fatigue is often overlooked because the joint pain is more physically obvious. You can't actually see pain, but you can do X-rays, and you can see maybe joint issues. For me at times, fatigue can be more challenging for my quality of life because you need stamina to perform your tasks. Even if I don't have pain on a given day, if I don't have the stamina to get through the day, then that's going to be difficult as well.

 

And also brain fog or, you know, neuron inflammation. It interferes with your ability to do all those admin tasks, like keeping track of your appointments, tracking your symptoms, calling insurance and remembering and figuring out how to get your medications and stuff like that. I think it's important to broaden it to the other systemic issues that we face as well. Do you have the same things with your RA journey?

 

Cristina Schaefer: Yeah, absolutely. Opening jars and cooking, or, like you mentioned, doing your hair and things like that. They change as the seasons of life change as well. Things that I struggled with 10 years ago, I maybe don't find so difficult. Or I don't really think about them anymore because I've figured out that hack.

 

One thing that comes to mind is… When my daughter, who's going to be 9 years old this year, but she was around 2 at the time… I was trying a new medication. I was asked, "What is a measure of success? What, to you, would make it feel like this medication is working?" And I remember tearing up and telling the nurse at the time, "I would just like to be able to braid her hair without having to stop from the pain." You know? So, even just things like that. And now she won't let me braid her hair because she's, you know, an 8-year-old, and she has her own opinions. (laughs) But now I have a 3-month-old, and so there's different challenges there with bottles and onesies and changing diapers. And so, those different things that you have to find hacks for change as life changes, I think. And asking for help when you do need it.

 

Cheryl Crow: Yeah. Oh my gosh, I'm so glad you mentioned asking for help. Well, first of all, I relate, because I have a 10-year-old. I was really shocked even as an occupational therapist with how difficult it was to care for him in the early days. Just all those tiny, little finicky snaps on the clothing and getting him in and out of the car seat. Taking care of a child is physical labor, you know? (laughs)

 

Asking for help is… that's like an underrated life hack. It's almost like when your ability to do something has been taken away from you, you want to do it yourself more. And it can be frustrating to be like, "No, but I want to do it myself." And you have to get over that mental barrier.

 

My husband knows. We just went to a hockey game this weekend. I couldn't open the bottle of water that we had bought at the game. And I was like, this is going to be easier and protect my joints to have him open it. And so, learning to ask for help, and accept help, is huge.

 

Cristina Schaefer: Yeah, definitely. What are your go-to hacks, tips, products, or even modifications to make some of those challenges a little bit easier?

 

Cheryl Crow:

Yeah, there are so many, and I know it can be overwhelming. So, I like to divide everything into two categories when it comes to life hacks and modifications. You can either change the stuff that you're using, change the items. So, opening a water bottle: I could use a bottle opener or a different item instead of my hand. Or you can change your approach.

 

A simple example that gives a lot of people who are in school a hard time is handwriting. If you're having to do a lot of handwriting, you could change the stuff by using maybe one of the Arthritis Foundation's Ease of Use-approved pens or get a special arthritis-friendly pen, or you can change how you interact with your traditional thin little pen.

 

There's the regular tripod grasp, what most people use when they perform handwriting tasks, and that's what children are taught in school. However, there's another one that I like to call the Taylor Swift grasp that I actually did learn in occupational therapy school. It was not known as the Taylor Swift grasp; it's called the modified tripod or the adaptive tripod. And it's where, instead of stabilizing the pen between your thumb and pointer finger, you stabilize it between your pointer finger and middle finger. This actually takes a lot of the stress off of your MCP joints, which are those… the metacarpal phalangeal, which are also known just as your knuckles.

 

So, that's a small change that you could do with how you interact with the same pen that you always had that results in your life being a lot easier. You don't have to run out to the store and buy a whole bunch of brand-new things. That's kind of the first take-home message, right? But the second thing is: There are situations where you can modify how you interact with the objects and then you still can't open up, like, a pickle jar, right?

 

Something that I use really frequently in my house is an under-cabinet opening aid —it looks like a shape of a V. And so, instead of having to hold a typical jar opener that's kind of like a long U shape, where you have to hold with one hand and push really hard, this under-cabinet one allows you to hold the item with two hands. You're distributing the force across multiple joints, and then you can use your large muscles to perform the opening task. As an occupational therapist, you learn to break down every task into its tiny, little parts, and discover whether there's ways of making it easier.

 

A second thing that I use frequently is a pair of scissors that doesn't require you to squeeze with your thumb, but you can squeeze with your fingers. There's loop scissors and there's also other specific kind of scissor brands out there. I always think to myself, “OK, can I change how I interact with what I already have?” And then, if I can’t, then I think, “OK, is there a gadget out there that can make this easier?” There's so many different items out there that you can see on the Arthritis Foundation's Ease of Use list on the website there. But those are some that I use a lot. What about you?

 

Cristina Schaefer: Yeah, definitely. We have so many jar openers: the rubber grip. I love the rubber grips.

 

Cheryl Crow: Yes.

 

Cristina Schaefer: Because you can use them for really just anything. And I have to say that I tried your Taylor Swift method of holding my pen, and I instantly felt relief in my hand. As you were talking, I kind of grabbed my pen to try it. And so, that was a really good little hack there. (laughs)

 

Cheryl Crow: I think one thing to just remember is that the human hand is extremely complex. We have like 17, I think, joints in the hand. There are something like 15 muscles that originate and end in the hand. And then there are at least 10 others that originate higher up on the forearm, like near your elbow and then extend into your hand. And there are tons of tiny, tiny little ligaments. There's tiny, little tendons. And so, a small modification you make in how you're using your hands in your daily life can really add up over time to a reduction in your pain.

 

We all know that motion is lotion. We have to use them and move them throughout the day, but we don't want to overuse them. You want to find that sweet spot between overuse and underuse. Joint protection principles are where you learn to distribute the force across multiple joints and protect the joints that are the most sore.

 

In this case of the pencil, it's pushing against your knuckle joints in the traditional grasp. And that actually promotes the deformity associated with rheumatoid arthritis called ulnar drift, or pinky drift, where your knuckles tend to push towards the pinky side. And then when it not only feels better to hold it between the pointer and middle finger, it also pushes your pointer finger knuckle into a less ulnar drifty position (laughs), for lack of a better word. So, yeah.

 

Cristina Schaefer: That must have been the relief I felt then.

 

Cheryl Crow: Yeah, yeah. (laughs)

 

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Cristina Schaefer: Well, let's talk about occupational therapy. What role can occupational therapy play in helping ease the burden of daily life?

 

Cheryl Crow: Patients are the experts in their own experience. You probably, just through living with arthritis, have already become a detective in your own life and done some trial and error and discovered things. Like jar openers and modifying maybe how you hold a pencil or how you hold the water bottle. And the occupational therapist can give you that expert, trained eye to be your partner in that detective work. And I think one of the best ways to explain it is that the first question I would ask after I get to know a new client is, "Walk me through a day in your life, every single thing, between when you wake up and including when you go to sleep. What is going well? What can we build off of that you've already figured out? And what is not going well?"

 

We just do things on autopilot sometimes. So, I think the biggest thing that occupational therapists can do with somebody is really help you on that granular level suggest ways to reduce your pain, reduce your fatigue, in daily life. And at the same time, we will ask you, "OK, now this is how you're performing your daily routines. How are you feeling? How are you coping with these ups and downs?" It can be a moving target sometimes. What worked for me 10 years ago doesn't necessarily work today, because my body has changed and the context of my life has changed. I help people develop a pain toolbox, a fatigue toolbox, but also a coping toolbox.

 

Cristina Schaefer: There are subspecialties in occupational therapy, like driving rehabilitation, for example. What are some of those, and how can they help?

 

Cheryl Crow: Yeah, I think the biggest one, when it comes to life hacks, is the certified hand therapists. Now, about 80% of them are occupational therapists, 20% are physical therapists, but they're simply helpful therapists that have had additional training and specialty in the human hand. We all know that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, so why wait until someone's really negatively affected before referring them to hand therapy? So, that's my pitch for hand therapy.

 

The second one is home health. There are some occupational therapists who are experts in like modifying your home environment. So, they would actually physically go into your home instead of maybe asking you in the clinic, “What's your daily routine?” They literally walk you through your daily routine. Things like a grab bar for safety. It's nice to have an expert to really help you think through, “What’s going to work best for me?”

 

Cristina Schaefer: So, when is a good time for a patient to see an occupational therapist? Is it when you're newly diagnosed? Is it when you've been living with a disease for a while or after an injury? Are services like occupational therapy generally covered by insurance?

 

Cheryl Crow: Our entire scope of practice is literally helping people with disabilities or injuries be able to function in their life better. We are trained to help you be able to perform your activities of daily living, which are things like I mentioned before, you know, brushing your hair, being able to make your food. There's another level of tasks called instrumental activities of daily living, which are just more difficult tasks, like care of children, care of pets and health management and maintenance. So, we are very well-trained to help with all these things. Will insurance cover it is another question. The American College of Rheumatology has guidelines for things like nutrition and exercise and mind-body interventions and rehabilitation therapies.

 

I really wish I had been referred when I was first diagnosed because we have all sorts of these little really tiny, little measurement tools. We can measure people's range of motion on each joint, and then you would have a baseline to then be able to compare your progress over time and actually measure. How many visits they will approve, unfortunately, is completely variable depending on the terms that the insurance has negotiated, I guess, with the employer or whoever is sponsoring your plan. The Arthritis Foundation advocates for better access to care for patients to therapies and medication. We also, on the occupational therapy end, advocate in Washington, DC, and at our state government.

 

Cristina Schaefer: I think it's really important that we have episodes like this one today that can make this attainable for everybody and accessible for everybody. Arthritis can force us to make sacrifices at times, like having to give up doing something a certain way. What do you think are some of the unanticipated consequences, negative or positive, of those sacrifices?

 

Cheryl Crow: I love this question. The things that bring us joy, the things that improve our quality of life, whether that's playing a musical instrument, or, in my case, swing dancing, for example. Let's say, for me, on a day where my hands are really hurting, swing dancing as a partner dance, it requires your hands. You're not going to get around that. But I could do what's called solo dancing, like with a partner, but we're not touching hands. But we can kind of play off of each other. And just, in other words, do the same activity in a different way.

 

Let's say you're a soccer player, and now, you know, you are not able to play soccer in the same way. They'll say, “I’d actually rather try a different hobby or a different activity that scratches that same itch,” rather than “It's actually too painful for me to do the old hobby in a modified way.” The unanticipated positive benefit is maybe finding a new activity you love.

 

In my case, I've always thought, OK, if my hands get to the point where I really can't dance or my knees or whatever, I might be interested in becoming a swing dance DJ where I'd be up in the DJ booth, still able to be part of the social experience and musical experience, but not physically dancing. And the unanticipated negative effect could be just the grief. And I think it's important to give ourselves space and permission to grieve losing the ability to do something the way that you used to be able to do it. Does that resonate with you?

 

Cristina Schaefer: Absolutely. And I know this is the Live Yes! With Arthritis podcast, and I do live yes most of the time in my day-to-day life. But I think, one could be seen as a negative, but I think of as it a positive… One thing for me that has changed in these 20 years of living with RA is learning to say no sometimes and learning to put a pause and listen to my body. And I think that's a positive: setting your boundaries. And as somebody who tends to be a bit of a people pleaser, it's good for me to say no sometimes.

 

Cheryl Crow: I resonate so much, and I honestly think that there were two major life events that helped me be able to say no. And one was getting diagnosed with RA, and the second was having a baby. And really the second one was like, OK, now it's not even like a choice.

 

PROMO: If you have arthritis or are taking care of someone who does, we’ve got information you can trust. Get tips on healthy treatments, plus news and inspirational stories. Learn all about arthritis and the resources we offer. Go to arthritis.org.

 

Cristina Schaefer: We mentioned products, and you mentioned the Ease of Use program. For those of you that don't know, the Arthritis Foundation has the Ease of Use program that provides independent, scientific testing to certify products that are proven to make life easier for people with arthritis. Everything from the pens we were mentioning earlier to pill organizers, walk-in bathtubs and medication injection devices, and even packaging for makeup, bed sheets, gardening tools and more. Do you have a favorite product or device that helps you in one of those things or that you've maybe heard to be very helpful for patients?

 

Cheryl Crow: Yeah, I am like a kid in a candy store when it comes to anything to do with these products. My home office is basically like an arthritis store at this point. I am also a volunteer with the Arthritis Foundation with our local Washington State juvenile arthritis camps and stuff like that. So, before I even became involved, I've always loved the IMAK brand compression gloves. I'm wearing one right now. I've worn it so much, things like even driving; holding the steering wheel can be hard when you have pain. But compression gloves: A lot of people ask me how do they work? It's really a comfort. And there's so few things we can do that really can help turn the dial down on the pain, that I really like those.

 

And the second thing is hot off the press: I just tried the new makeup brand, Tilt, which I think is the first Ease of Use certification brand that got this certification that's a makeup brand. And it has an extremely ingenious design that's really easy to open and close the containers because they have a little bit of a magnetic closure. And everything about it has been well-thought-out to… from the actual materials in the lipstick and mascara to the design of the, what would you call it? The makeup holder? It’s shaped really nicely. It has a grip on it, it's easy, makes it so it's harder to drop, which I drop things constantly due to RA.

 

But I'm looking at, just from the ergonomic perspective as an occupational therapist, the different nozzles for gardening, materials like the nozzles for your, you know, hose. I think though that's something that that can really cause people a lot of hand pain.

 

Cristina Schaefer: I actually just tried the Tilt makeup as well. And as somebody who does a lot of stuff on camera for a living, makeup is crucial. (laughs) I'm excited about the makeup brand and the new containers for it. But I guess prior to that, I would use tape or even pencil grips and things like that to hold different things, even makeup brushes, right? Or try and get the thicker makeup brushes.

 

Cheryl Crow: Right.

 

Cristina Schaefer: Also the push-button pill organizers, I think those are great that they have on the Ease of Use site. There's even certain medication brands that are on there that are easy open. But just like you, I love my compression gloves. I sleep with them most nights. I love them. And sometimes they are just absolutely necessary and really help with the pain. So, it's a really great site, and I'm excited that there's so many different categories of products being added to the Ease of Use.

 

So, speaking of those gloves: For a long time, I myself was timid about wearing the gloves in public, especially going to work and wearing my compression gloves. What advice do you have for patients when it comes to maybe some of that shame or fear in using products that can help with our day-to-day in public?

 

Cheryl Crow: I'm so glad you asked this. The analogy that really helped me was: Well, I wear glasses to help me see. Am I ashamed to wear glasses? Or do I see myself as less than because I have to wear glasses? No. If glasses are... There's no social stigma against wearing glasses in our culture, at least that I'm aware of. But, for some reason, when it comes to daily living aids, whether that's compression gloves or a splint or a cane, especially mobility aids, there is a lot of shame people have or fear of what others are going to think about me. Are they going to think I'm weak?

 

At the end of the day, to me it's recognizing that that is actually a form of ableism, which is prejudice against people with disabilities. And we actually, when you grow up in an ableist society, you develop potentially your own internalized ableism, your own thought that, "Oh, I am less than, I'm less worthy because I have this condition." And we really have to work on overcoming our own internalized ableism and saying, "I'm going to choose, it's a choice in how I look at this tool." Whether, let's say a compression glove, I am going to choose to wear this with confidence. I'm going to choose to wear it with pride in saying that this is just what my body needs.

 

My mom told me in middle school, she said, "You wouldn't worry about other people think about you so much if you only knew how seldom they do." Like, everyone's so worried thinking about whether people are thinking about them, that no one's actually caring that much. That's at least my perspective. On social media, I've had comments that say something like, you know, "You must be weak if you need those gloves." There's all sorts of opinions people have. But again, I don't really care about their opinions if they're going to be that judgmental. So, knowing that the people that matter in your life will support you.

 

Cristina Schaefer: So, Cheryl, before each episode, we post a question on social media. For this episode, we asked: “What are your go-to tips, products or hacks for making daily life with arthritis easier?” And we'd love to get your thoughts and/or feedback maybe on a few of these responses.

 

The first one we got was from mrcaren. It said, “compression gloves,” which we were just talking about, “heated mouse pad for work, rubber grips to open jars, heating pads, hot baths with salt soaks, Mad Ritual CBD topical rubs and bath bombs, and occasionally CBD edibles in the evening.” That's one thing we didn't really touch on, the use of CBD or, you know, salt soaks and things like that. What are your thoughts here?

 

Cheryl Crow: I think that the topical creams, whether it's CBD or whether it's like Biofreeze or some kind of arnica cream, it's something that there's usually a trial-and-error process involved. And so, I almost wish we had like a lending library where we could all just, you know, say, "OK, try this.” If it didn't work for me, “but you can keep it if it worked for you." But anyway, side note. I think all of those are great.

 

The hard thing for a lot of people is knowing where to get started, like where you're going to get the biggest bang for your buck. In that list, I do think that the heat is a great, it tends to be universally something that helps people, particularly with morning stiffness, which is common with the inflammatory types of arthritis, like RA, psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis. So, yeah. And I have a couple of creams on my desk as we speak as well, so every little bit counts.

 

Cristina Schaefer: Yeah, they said the hot baths. Donna said, "I've been dealing with RA, lupus and Sjögren's for 47 years. The best advice I can give is to learn to pace yourself and use the largest joint for the job. If it needs your wrist, put your elbow into it, for example. Support your joints with bigger joints."

 

Cheryl Crow: That's a great example of somebody who is already — from their lived experience — an expert in joint-protection principles. If your small joints hurt, you have to use your bigger ones. So, I think that's great. And I also think I cannot overstate the importance of pacing yourself. I'm really glad that Donna mentioned this. It involves a lot of thinking through your routine ahead of time. Knowing, OK, when do I tend to lag in the day?

 

For me, it's the early afternoon. OK, so, can I schedule things that require more energy in the morning, so I give myself a little bit of a rest break in the afternoon? Can I delegate certain tasks? Can I break tasks into smaller parts? If I struggle in the morning with morning stiffness, can I do my meal prep the night before? There's just so many little things you can change to help pace yourself with your energy throughout the day.

 

The second thing is, when it comes to fatigue, in case it's helpful to people, one of the most unintuitive tools in your fatigue toolbox is actually consistent engagement and exercise and movement. Which, if that sounds confusing to you, I get it.

 

Cristina Schaefer: Gail said, "I have to rest a lot due to other conditions, but to keep moving I do stretches and leg lifts while lying on my sofa and watching TV. Even the smallest amount of movement can help. Listen to your body, don't overdo things, rest when needed. I use a tennis ball or hard sponge to build strength in my hands. I use aids to do things I find difficult. My particular favorite is my kettle pourer. I don't have to struggle to do it myself. I usually get my aids from the Complete Care Shop online."

 

Cheryl Crow: Yeah, this is a great example of what I've learned is called habit stacking, where you take a habit that you're already doing, in this case it may be, you know, lying on your sofa watching TV, and then adding an exercise into that or adding whatever lifestyle intervention works for you into that. Like, for example, when I brush my teeth, now you’ve got to be safe when you do this, but I like to do squats when I'm brushing my teeth just to like, you know… I'm already brushing my teeth, so then I'm going to get a little bit of strength training in there as well. Instead of thinking about exercise as this, like, “I have to go to the gym for an hour and tire myself out,” thinking about little things throughout the day is going to be really sustainable and more fun for most people.

 

Cristina Schaefer: And modifying for your level, you know? If you are laying on the couch and you're able to lift your leg, wonderful, do it. But if that's not feasible for you, find something else that would work. We were talking about… You said earlier motion is lotion. James said, "If possible, don't stay sedentary, but rest when you need to, see a rheumatologist and take your arthritis medication as directed. Do not skip taking them or quit taking them."

 

Cheryl Crow: Yeah. I think this is, for most people, really important: to be in touch with your rheumatologist. If you're not happy with your treatment plan, have that what they call shared decision making. Have those honest conversations with your rheumatologist. It's so hard to get moving when you're feeling fatigue. I just really want to empathize with anyone who struggles with this, because whenever I talk about the role of exercise in reducing fatigue, people will comment, because it's confusing. We'll say, "Listen to your body," but your body's telling you to rest, and you actually need to not listen to your body in that case. And how do you know then when to rest if your body's always telling you it's tired?

 

I think it's just extremely complex. Again, all the more reason to get assistance, whether that's from a trained professional, like licensed professional, like a physical therapist or occupational therapist, or a health coach or a personal trainer, someone to help you work through there. I want to empathize that it's difficult, but I'll also say the evidence is just really, really strong that keeping moving is going to be what is going to reduce… It not only reduces pain and fatigue, it improves sleep quality and mental health to have that consistent engagement and exercise.

 

The trained professionals can help you work through and help you track: OK, this is just the right amount for my body, right? Like, I could do, right now, 20 minutes on the exercise bike, 30 minutes of strength training. A year ago, I would have to do only 10 minutes of strength training at a time because that's where my body was at. So… Does that make sense?

 

Cristina Schaefer: Julie said, "I am 47 and have had JRA since I was 6 months old that led to my total blindness in my 30s. I have an adjustable bed, which really helps vary my positions at night. I have a manual wheelchair that I use on those days that it hurts too much to walk, but I still want to be independent and go out. Deep breathing helps me push through the pain at times. I use an electric blanket at night and heating pad for work meetings and conferences. When I want to wear cute shoes that don't have a lot of ankle support, I use compression ankle sleeves so that my ankles won't twist."

 

Cheryl Crow: Yeah, I'm so glad she wrote it, and there's just an amazing amount of collective knowledge in our arthritis community. And, you know, an adjustable bed is incredible for any sort of axial or spinal pain. Let's say you worked night-shift and you slept during the day, you would have that stiffness after sleeping, at like 6 p.m. or whenever you're getting ready to go to your job. So, it's a little bit of a misnomer to call it morning stiffness. It's really stiffness from inactivity. That's why sleeping can be difficult when you have pain. You can have “painsomnia.”

 

Having an adjustable bed can be really helpful. Using a wheelchair. Being able to, you know, take advantage of mobility aids. There's often a big hump mentally of shame or resistance to that. Having tools, mental tools, mindfulness tools are so crucial. I love all her ideas.

 

PROMO: The Arthritis Foundation’s free Arthritis@Work program can help employees challenged by arthritis increase their productivity. Employers, check out our free program. And employees, let your workplace know we’re here to help. Explore arthritis.org/atwork. 

 

Cristina Schaefer: To close each episode, we typically share our top three takeaways from the episode. I know for me that I already use the Ease of Use pen, but changing my pen grip is definitely going to be helpful. Remembering to change, how you said, the stuff or how I interact with the stuff. And also lastly, if I'm having difficulty, to remember to not just accept my limitation as it is but maybe see a professional and ask questions on how I can do things more easily. What are your top three takeaways, Cheryl?

 

Cheryl Crow: Very similar. I think the first is: Think about your life and your daily routines like a detective. Think about all the small little things you might be able to do differently to improve your pain and fatigue or overwhelm. And that can be a really empowering experience. You can even… I actually encourage people to write it down. Write it down if that doesn't hurt your hands. Or use speech to text or however you can, you know; list it, make it concrete.

 

The second is just give yourself permission to give your body what it needs. Understand that you have a choice in whether you see these daily living aids as something depressing or sad. Or you can choose to say, "I'm going to challenge myself. Can I see these, if not in a positive light, can I see these in a neutral light?" And then the last one, exactly what you said, is getting support, asking for help, whether that's from a friend or family member, whether that's from an expert in the area, like an occupational therapist. You don't have to do it all on your own.

 

Cristina Schaefer: Well, Cheryl, thank you so much for your time today. I truly hope this conversation is helpful for all of the listeners of this podcast, no matter what stage they are at with their diagnosis.

 

Cheryl Crow: Yeah, me, too. Thank you so much. And it's totally an honor to be able to share these tips with the audience. And I'm happy to answer any follow-up questions on social media if that works for people.

 

Cristina Schaefer: Well, everyone, remember to stay connected. And of course, for more arthritis resources like the tips or Ease of Use program, please visit arthritis.org.

 

PODCAST CLOSING:

The Live Yes! With Arthritis podcast is independently produced by the Arthritis Foundation. Gifts from people like you make our podcast and other life-changing resources possible. You can donate at arthritis.org/donate. This podcast aims to help people living with arthritis and chronic pain live their best life. For a transcript and show notes, go to arthritis.org/podcast. Subscribe, rate and review us wherever you get your podcasts. If you subscribe through Spotify, leave a comment on their platform, letting us know what you think about this episode. And stay in touch