Dressing is a real challenge for arthritic patients who are prone to sore hands, limited range of motion due to stiff joints, and exhausting fatigue. Getting up in the morning and dressing beyond this pain is a challenge that can be overcome, provided those affected by arthritis use tools like the dressing stick. These sticks are designed with wood or plastic generally and integrated with different types of hooks at one end to help with wearing pants, shirts, socks, dress, and almost any kind of clothing.
While the most traditional dressing sticks have a limited grabbing function, there are others that offer a wider variety of uses with their hand-aids. Getting used to sticks are simply easy, and they are available almost everywhere from stores to online platforms. These dressing sticks also vary in size and function from being a single tool for putting on or taking off clothes as well as socks, zippers, etc. When using a dressing stick, it also requires a certain level of wardrobe modification to make the dressing routine easier and hassle-free rather than having complicated clothing that can make you haggle and lose your calm after repeated tries. As an elderly individual, making adaptations such as the following will boost the morale on painful days as well.
- Pick skirts or trousers that have waist-bands for easy wear rather than ones with too many fasteners because that level of intricacy will not be possible with a dressing stick.
- Picking a t-shirt over a regular shirt saves the trouble of buttoning up.
- In case there is a requirement for fasteners, switch to Velcro instead of hooks and loop fastenings for easy manageability. Instead of picking a traditional pant with the zippers at the front, switch to side Velcro fastenings that can simply hold with the running of a hand.
- In case of shirts, stitch up the buttons for a show on the front and fasten the insides with Velcro for easy wearing.
- Cufflinks can be used on shirts by stitching up two buttons with an inside attachment of elastic.