Congratulations to Daniel Day Lewis on a historic third
Academy Award for his performance in ‘Lincoln’.
On Sunday night the glamour of Hollywood was there for everyone to see,
as this year’s recipients stepped up to accept their ‘Oscar’ and make their
speeches.
A surprising fact that some of you may not be aware of is
that the ‘Oscar’ statuette actually
weighs 8.5 pounds, that’s almost 4 bags of sugar - no wonder they pick it up
with both hands!
For people with arthritis in the
wrist and hand, picking up an Oscar might
well be physically impossible. Indeed
the everyday tasks that most of us might take for granted, twisting bottle
caps, lifting pots and pans, holding a book open for a sustained time,
continued typing on the computer may often lead to an increase in pain and
inflammation of these joints.
There are a number of arthritis conditions that affect the
wrist. You may be familiar with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) which has the characteristic symptoms of pain, aching
and tingling or numbness in the fingers especially the thumb, index and
middle fingers. These sensations may be so severe as to affect the whole hand
and may even extend to the forearm.
Symptoms may begin in the wrist, which may then progress to a feeling of swollen fingers which may not be physically apparent. Another symptom may be a feeling of weakness in the hand and a tendency to drop objects.
Symptoms may begin in the wrist, which may then progress to a feeling of swollen fingers which may not be physically apparent. Another symptom may be a feeling of weakness in the hand and a tendency to drop objects.
Another
condition is Bursitis
.This is an
inflammation of a bursa. (small fibrous sacs situated between bone and other
moving parts ). The bursae allow easy movement (smooth gliding) between these
structures and can fill with fluid if they are overused, injured or inflamed.
As a result, the affected joint becomes more painful and is difficult to move.
People
with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis may also find that their wrist
joints and hands are affected with painful inflammation and stiffness.
Whilst there isn’t a cure for arthritis, there are a number
of products which are designed to alleviate strain and stress on joints. Whether through ergonomic handles and grips
or aids to make strenuous activity that little bit easier.
Keeping active is an important part of keeping your joints
moving. You can find a number of products in our Garden tools, Home products
and Kitchen Aid section that may be of benefit
to you in everyday activities and help take the pressure from your wrist or
hand joints.
At the
Arthritis Supermarket, we also have many different types of joint support,
including therapeutic supports, that you
may find helpful in relieving pain in your hand or wrist.
They
range from our PerfectFit Wrist support,
designed particularly for women, the Active Wrist support, ideal for use during activity and exercise, to our new Thermedic Wrist support which provides infrared
heat to increase blood flow in the
affected area and thus may help to relieve pain.
If there were an Academy Award for arthritis, we’d like to think that our wrist and hand products would win ‘Best Supporting Role’! (Couldn’t resist the play on words!)
