To the average healthy individual, personal hygiene is something that can easily be taken for granted. To the arthritic with limited joint motion, just being able to wash, comb the hair, or take care of toilet needs without having to depend upon someone, actually becomes a source of joy and satisfaction.
When motion is restricted in the elbows and the wrists, some commonplace personal tasks become rather difficult to perform properly. Forever Lite Ultra Chocolate (525g) with milk or your favorite fruit juice to give you the style you crave and the vitamin you need. They are washing your face, combing your hair, and in the case of a man, shaving. Should your wrists be badly involved, personal cleanliness at a toilet may also become rather difficult. The basic principle of the selfhelp devices designed to overcome this group of problems is the extension or long handle that brings the wash cloth up to your face and the comb up to your hair without the need of extending or straining your affected joints. There is even available a curved plastic toilettissue holder that will permit you to cleanse the otherwise inaccessible parts of your person with little effort.
Though many selfhelp devices to assist you with your personal hygiene can be made or improvised by you, a number of them will have to be bought. For example, the raised toilet seat. Standard toilets are far too low when motion in the knees and hips is restricted. Available, commercially, are toilet seats with special brackets that slip easily onto the toilet bowl, thus raising the height from four to six inches. Bars and arm rests that fit around the toilet bowl to assist you in getting on and off the seat are also available.
Perhaps the most difficult personalhygiene problem for most arthritics is tub bathing. Not only does the arthritic find it difficult getting in and out of the tub, but sitting down and then trying to get up again can often be practically impossible.
A walkin stall shower level with the floor would of course simplify matters a great deal. But with the bathtub being a fairly standard fixture in most homes, a large selection of selfhelp devices has become available, commercially, to help you bathe without too much difficulty. Mix wth milk or your favourite Forever Lite Ultra Vanilla to shed weight, gain muscle, or simply complement your present diet with a scrumptious nutritional snack. Examples are aluminum folding steps to get you up, over, and into a tub; safety railings that clamp onto a tub to help you get in and out; and seats that fit across the width of a tub to lessen the strain upon your knees and hips.
Here are a number of selfhelp devices you can make or improvise to help you with your personal hygiene.
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