Self help for swelling and stiffness

[10CC]

WebMD (@WebMD) Tweeted:

These at-home remedies may ease the swelling and stiffness caused by RA. t.co/4lSlcdFaWS

Has anyone tried the mineral water and Marigolds?

[springcross]

That's handy 10CC, thanks for sharing. x

[Lolabridge]

No I've not tried the mineral water and Marigolds. I do have a Theramitt which iscan be heated in the microwave that I find very helpful for a stiff and painful/aching hand. My hand therapist recommended it and I bought it from Amazon. I see they are now selling for £16.99

[10CC in reply to Lolabridge]

Have ordered and received this and have used it for the last couple of evenings. It’s provided some comfort and I’m sure the exercises advocated will help longer term. I want another now to do both hands together!

[Gillybob19]

Hands in hot water helps for me, cold compress feels horrendous but we'reall different. Also splints for wrists and thumbs help, they are also good support if you have to do something heavier than you would usually. I find that unaccustomed activity can cause bad flares so if I know I have to move boxes or furniture etc I will wear my splints and it stops them getting so bad. I'm a single parent so I have to do a lot of things myself regardless of the pain it might cause me.

[10CC in reply to Gillybob19]

Thanks for the reply. I was offered a splint by my Rheumy a few weeks ago during a phone consultation, but declined. You make a very good point though, that if you are going to be doing something heavier than usual they will provide support. I’m currently gardening, cleaning and sorting out my elderly Mum’s house, and getting stressed by her frequent falls. Needless to say I’m experiencing a flare. I think I’ll say yes to the splint! Thanks again.

[Boxerlady]

It is useful - thanks. However, I think that it's mineral "oil"...

[10CC in reply to Boxerlady]

Ah yes! Well spotted 😊

[Fruitandnutcase]

Interesting. I’ve tried quite a few of those things - haven’t used marigolds in hot water the way they show but I often do contrast bathing with hot / cold water and I really like using blue surgical gloves when I am gardening although they are thinner than marigolds.

Think it is mineral oil they are using inside the marigolds, wonder how that works? Maybe like a wax bath but without the wax?

I’ve done a lot of the stretching and I’ve got splints at the moment too.

[10CC in reply to Fruitandnutcase]

I’ll give the blue surgical gloves a try as I’m doing quite a lot of gardening at the moment for my Mum. I haven’t tried alternating hot/cold water either so something else that might help. Thank you.

[Fruitandnutcase in reply to 10CC]

You want the hot water to be fairly hot but not so hot that it burns I soak for 2 minutes in hot and then one in the cold. I find once I’ve been in the cold I have to swirl my hand around to feel the heat.

Blue gloves are very good, I like them because they are thin and I can get a decent grip of whatever I want to pull out with my fingers and they are waterproof too - I used to find that once my old gardening gloves got wet I would get stung if I used them to pull out a nettle plant - I’ve discovered nettle sting travels through wet cloth - who’d have thought it! Then they’re easy to whip off if you need to. No use for brambles or anything with thorns though.

[10CC in reply to Fruitandnutcase]

Wet gardening gloves aren’t much use I agree. The extra grip from the blue gloves is what I need.

Thanks for expanding on the hot/cold therapy. I’m going to give it a go this morning as I’ve woken up with hands no better that they were yesterday. Definitely a quiet day today, but back at Mum’s tomorrow for more clearing out etc!

[Pythagorus]

I find that if I use my hands a lot doing gardening or DIY etc that by evening my fingers are swollen and I can’t make a closed fist. They have usually settled by the next day.

I have had RA for 16 years and I am on Methotrexate 25mgs and Benepali 50mgs ( Entenercept) both by injection weekly. I have the occasional flare in my wrists and my ankles are stiff first thing in the mornings which makes coming downstairs a bit painful ! Other than these small problems my RA is well managed and I am very active.

Does anyone else have hand problems like this and any suggestions to alleviate the problem?

[10CC]

Sorry I can’t help you, I’m relatively new to this. I have started to use the Theramitt now (see earlier reply), and it is soothing. Next time I get a flare I’ll try the hot/cold therapy first, as described in earlier reply too. Then sit with the Theramitt!