Rheumatoid arthritis and everyday tasks

Almost every household job has two costs: how much force it asks of your fingers and wrists, and how much of the day it uses up. A stuck lid is mostly the first kind. Showering, cooking a meal and changing the bed are mostly the second.

This page links to guides for both. Choose a task, then the version that matches what's in your way that day. The weak-grip guides look at levers, wider handles and powered openers that take the squeeze out of a job. The low-energy guides are about sitting down, cutting steps and splitting one big job into a few small ones spread across the day.

It's worth raising particular tasks with an occupational therapist, especially if something you do every morning is spending energy you'd rather keep for later.