Does anyone have any useful ideas for living aids?

[Jo_BLFHelpline]

Hi Everybody

Just reading the post by greyvote about the difficulties putting shoes on, elian has offered a great tip to pull up zips using string and paper clips - katieoxo60 also a great idea for dowling and a curtain hook.

We are all trying to save money and 'living aids' can be expensive - so i wondered if there are any other tips you may have to:

a, make life easier and

b, inexpensive.

So any ideas throw them in!

Cheers

Jo

[libby7827]

What a good idea Jo. Just used one of my tips - I use my downstairs loo but there's no sink in it to wash your hands so have to go into the kitchen. On breathless days I go straight back to my lounge, not touching anything on the way (ok, I'm a bit ocd about germs!) where I have antiseptic wipes AND antiseptic hand gel. I'm very posh you know, having two kinds! I'm sure I'll come up with some more ideas later.

[tanyamarie in reply to libby7827]

why don't you keep your wipes in the loo???? Then it won't matter if you touch anything.

[libby7827 in reply to tanyamarie]

Ha ha! That's far to easy for me! I have to do things the hard way! There isn't anywhere to put them really, no shelf or ledge, but they could just sit on the floor. No wonder my life's hard work, I'm not very bright!

[tanyamarie in reply to libby7827]

lol!

[ageing-lioness in reply to libby7827]

what about a hanging plastic bag for shoes you can hang behind the loo door to keep tissues wipes and bits in?

another tip is to put shampoo/showergel into a old handwash soapcontainer with a pump top, that way you don't have to wrap hands round the shampoo bottle, squeeze and get loads extra everywhere and using just a little saves the pennies!

[Gordon57 in reply to libby7827]

...or have a little shelf in the loo with a tube or dispenser of hand gel ? I have seen packs of small dispenser bottles, 3 for a pound in the pound shop.

[Jo_BLFHelpline British Lung Foundation]

Hi

Of course, antiseptic gel and wipes what a great idea!

Jo

[Puffthemagicdragon]

For anyone who is using a concentrator at home. I use mine upstairs in bed and also sometimes when I'm watching TV on the sofa. I found it tiresome taking the tubing ( 30 feet ) up and dwn stairs so when I took a weeks break to visit relatives I asked the oxygen chap if I could keep the tubing. Now I have one in the living room and one upstairs and downstairs and just swap as and when needed. Plastic tubing is expensive.

[Gordon57 in reply to Puffthemagicdragon]

All you need now is the barrel of beer !

[Puffthemagicdragon in reply to Gordon57]

Hooked up to an IV drip !

[Gordon57]

For the ladies, if you're having bother zipping a dress up. Have an old dry-cleaners wire coat hanger handy, stretch it the long way and bend the hook in a bit. Hook it through the zip - how far can you reach now ? To stop the hook coming out of the zip's hole, use a small elastic band wrapped round the end of the hook a few times.

A cheap shoe-horn can be made out of an old, well washed out, bleach bottle. Cut it out carefully to get the shape out of a side of the bottle and rub round the edges with sandpaper before use.

Remove dead skin from heels using shaving cream and Listerine:

- mix an equal amount of warm water and Listerine, you don't need loads, you're not going to put your feet in it.

- apply shaving cream to the area to be treated, don't go walking about now

- use a flannel and soak up some of the mixture. wrap it around your foot and wait about half an hour

- remove the flannel and use a dry towel to rub your feet, some of the dead skin should come away

*** Warning, don't do this too often as it really does remove a layer of skin.

*** Apply some soothing lotion afterwards

- If you have any reaction to this, don't wait, wash it off !

[Hidden]

Try B___s cracked heel balm...on hard skin especially after a bath.&#

.

[elian]

For items that are just that little bit out of reach at the back of a shelf I use a fairly long handled fish slice to inch them to the front of the shelf where I can reach them more easily

[derrylynne]

I use a shoe horn to put my shoes on. They are quite cheap to buy. Also a grabber is essential. Anything you want from the floor is easily picked up. Mine even has a little magnet on one of them so I can pick up fallen keys or anything metal. Within reason of course. These again are not expensive and pay for themselves as we get so out of breath bending down to retrieve things.

[Hecter]

I .Got other aids from charity shops.Have a special attachment to fasten my grabber to my stickAfter a shower I just sit on the bed in a fluffy dressing gown to dry off.I manage to fasten my bra at the front and then pull it roundI do have a plastic thing and tapes to get socks on but it is no use for tights of fine socks.Hope this helps

[Gucci]

Lidl and Aldi often have good priced Living Aids. A fraction of the price you'd pay in the dedicated shops.