---

•	Cancer Center Home
•	Back to Article

More Features

•	Printer-friendly version

Making everyday tasks easier when you have arthritis

Make sure you can reach everything you need without getting on your tiptoes or bending down low.

• Keep clothes that you wear most often in drawers and on shelves that are between waist and shoulder level.
• Store food in a cupboard and drawers that are between waist and shoulder level.

Find ways to avoid having to search for important items during the day. You can wear a small waist pack to hold your cell phone, wallet, and keys.

Get automatic light switches installed.

If going up and down stairs is difficult:

• Make sure everything you need is on the same floor where you spend most of your day.
• Have a bathroom or a portable commode on the same floor where you spend most of your day.
• Set up your bed on the main floor of your home.

Find someone to help with house cleaning, taking out the garbage, gardening, and other household tasks.

Ask someone to shop for you or have your food delivered.

Check your local pharmacy or medical supply store for different aids that can help you, such as:

• Raised toilet seat
• Shower chair
• Shower sponge with a long handle
• Shoehorn with a long handle
• Sock-aid to help you put on your socks
• Reacher to help you pick up things from the floor

Ask a contractor or handyman about having bars installed on the walls by your toilet, shower or bath, or elsewhere in your home.

Arthritis Foundation website. Adapting your house when you have arthritis. www.arthritis.org/health-wellness/healthy-living/daily-living/life-hacks-tips/adapting-your-house. Accessed July 8, 2023.

England BR, Mikuls TR. Clinical features of rheumatoid arthritis. In: Firestein GS, Budd RC, Gabriel SE, Koretzky GA, McInnes IB, O'Dell JR, eds. Firestein & Kelley's Textbook of Rheumatology. 11th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2021:chap 76.

Nelson AE. Clinical features of osteoarthritis. In: Firestein GS, Budd RC, Gabriel SE, Koretzky GA, McInnes IB, O'Dell JR, eds. Firestein & Kelley's Textbook of Rheumatology. 11th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2021:chap 105.

The information provided herein should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed medical professional should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions. Links to other sites are provided for information only -- they do not constitute endorsements of those other sites. No warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, is made as to the accuracy, reliability, timeliness, or correctness of any translations made by a third-party service of the information provided herein into any other language. © 1997- A.D.A.M., a business unit of Ebix, Inc. Any duplication or distribution of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited.

© 1997- All rights reserved.