My mom has suffered from Rheumatoid Arthritis for more than two decades now. Some days are better than others, but some days her hands are curled and painful and almost unusable. Watching her struggle with the joint stiffness and pain that comes with this kind of arthritis has been hard. However it’s also given me a lot of insight into gift ideas to help people with joint mobility deal with the pain, stiffness, and stress of living life with Rheumatoid Arthritis. Today’s post shares some of those gift ideas in case you’re looking for the perfect gift for someone with Rheumatoid Arthritis.
While a cure would be the ultimate gift for someone with RA, unless you are a scientist you’ll have to select something a little more practical. Whether someone’s RA is a nuisance of a complete disability will determine what type of gift to give. Gifts that help soothe the pain felt are almost always welcome and much used and appreciated. Since Rheumatoid Arthritis very often affects the hands, feet and back, many of the gift ideas below focus on these areas. This post contains affiliate links that help support the site so we can create more helpful content to help more people dealing with pain and ergonomic problems.
Books About RA
For those newly diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis, books about the condition can be a great gift. Learning everything you can about RA gives you power and helps people better deal with RA and how to cope with the disease and the side effects it can cause like depression.
One of the best ways to cope with RA is to learn everything you can about it. Knowledge is strength! There are a lot of excellent books about RA: some of them deal with the physiology of the disease—what it is, what it does in the body, what you can do about it. Others touch on ways to deal with the mental health aspects of the disease, such as depression.
A few great books available about Rheumatoid Arthritis:
- Your Life with Rheumatoid Arthritis: Tools for Managing Treatment, Side Effects and Pain by Lene Andersen
- Living with Rheumatoid Arthritis by James McGuire
- The First Year: Rheumatoid Arthritis: An Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed by M.E.A. McNeil and Kenneth Sack
- Conquering Arthritis: What Doctor’s Don’t Tell You Because They Don’t Know Second Edition by Barbara Allan
- A Resilient Life by Kat Elton
Kindle For Easy Reading
For someone very close to you you can also gift something like the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite. This kindle is very light to hold even with a cover and is much easier on the hands than traditional books. The reduced pressure on the joints in the hands is very helpful and the kindle makes it possible to read both books about RA and great fiction books for relaxation.
Hopefully you found this Rheumatoid Arthritis gift guide useful! If you’re a RA patient or caregiver please send me ideas for how to improve and grow the list. I’m always on the lookout for new products and ideas that will help my mom and others that have to deal with RA pain on a daily basis.
Electric Blanket
A plush electric blanket that warms the user is a great gift for someone with RA around the cold Christmas season. The gentle but soothing heat from the blanket helps cold, stiff joints feel less painful which leads to better sleep. This gift is especially nice for women with RA since women in general run cooler and love a little extra warmth during the cold months. If you’re feeling super generous an electric blanket paired with a kindle is a fantastic gift idea!
Jewelry Helpers
For those with rheumatoid arthritis that affects their hands it can be hard to handle little tasks like putting on jewelry. For my mom and friends who love jewelry but struggle with gripping clasps I’ve found that these jewelry helpers can be very useful. There are great bracelet helpers which are wonderful for being able to still wear beloved bracelets. Additionally you can buy magnetic clasps to change the clasps of necklaces and bracelets to make them much easier to take on and off.
Additional ideas include buying jewelry that doesn’t need clasps or extra steps. There are stretchy elastic bracelets and long necklaces with no clasp that still look great but are easier to wear for people with RA.
Electric Can Opener
In our house we have manual can openers, but for someone with arthritis a quality electric can opener that does all the work is essential. An electric can opener with cut a nice smooth edge and open the can with no hand pain.
You can also get an automatic jar opener to help open jars that are hard to twist open when your hands are suffering from rheumatoid arthritis.
Anti Fatigue Mat
We’ve written about anti-fatigue mats a few time on this blog because I firmly believe they are critical for people standing for long periods of time. We use them at work and I use them at home to help protect both my feet and other joints when standing for a long time.
A good anti fatigue mat in the kitchen is a wonderful gift for someone with rheumatoid arthritis. It will offer a cushy surface that helps relieve some of the pain and pressure felt in the feet.
Foot Bath Spa
When painful stiff feet are aching, a relaxing and warm foot bath can be the greatest gift. This home foot spa offers a way for someone with rheumatoid arthritis to enjoy a warm spa experience whenever they need it in the comfort of their own home. You can also consider a paraffin bath that is meant to help with arthritis stiffness.
Put the foot bath together with a soothing peppermint lotion for the feet and some fuzzy warm socks. The whole package will be a delight to whoever receives it.
A Clean House
If you’d like to give a gift that is low on cost but high on sweat equity, consider cleaning the house. The stiffness and pain associated with RA makes it difficult to complete every day tasks like cleaning and keeping the house tidy. You can help relieve some of the pressure by offering a free cleaning and organization. Even better would be to do this for your loved one when they are out enjoying another gift or schedule several sessions throughout the year. If you’re not a cleaner by nature then consider a gift certificate from a professional housecleaning service or an individual on care.com. A clean house does a lot for someone’s mental health and overall sense of well being so this gift can be very helpful in lifting someone’s spirits.
Hopefully these gift ideas for people with rheumatoid arthritis gives you a couple great ideas on what to buy your loved ones!