Hi everyone,
I wondered how you find texting or using your phone? With my arthritis I find even sending one or two words by text (using a touchscreen phone) can make my wrist pain flare up for hours and my wrists are then more painful the next morning in particular. Has anyone found a way of helping with this? I know some phones use voice activation but sometimes they can involve just as much work in trying to get them to work!
It is a problem. I'm on my second touchscreen phone because of this problem (my first was quite basic & the screen didn't rotate), the latest does & is somewhat better but still not easy & makes my wrists sore. As it is I've had to buy a rubberised back cover, because my grip is poor I kept dropping it! I've decided I need a mobile the size of my tablet! I find predictive text helps somewhat but I limit words so much so my friends often can't work out what the heck I'm saying & end up ringing me. There is Google Voice is that the one you mean? I'm not sure if that works well, I must look into it. I use voice search on my tablet & if it works similarly it would be helpful for me.
I use my little beanbag (a "tech bed" from Amazon) to hold my i pad and phone steady while I write or text with one finger. It's shaped so that it holds them in place securely. I also use it for my kindle and for (small) books and I can even prop the newspaper up against it.
If I'm talking on my mobile or phone at home I put my feet up on the sofa and wedge the phone between my ear and a fat cushion against the back of the sofa so that I don't have to hold it. Has really helped as a lot of my friends and family are quite scattered and it's good to talk !
My mum has bad RA and uses a stylus to text (the kind of pen thing you get for ipads, etc) . When she just had an ordinary phone, she used the rubber end of a small pencil to hit the buttons. It is worth trying the voice recognition stuff though. Doesn't work for me as I have a fairly weird accent.
I have downloaded a different keyboard onto my tablet from Google which has the keys spread out some distance from one another. It is easier to use than the previous sort which I found almost impossible to use with my clumsy fingers.
Just spotted this post if ur an apple fan you can text using Siri and only need to push the home screen button if you have Touch ID otherwise you might need to put in your password as well. Am constantly amazed that it manages to decipher my Scottish accent
Painful thumbs
ARTHRITIS FLARE UP WINGE
Painful shoulders
One more thing today...
