Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Group

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, inflammatory, multisystem, autoimmune disorder. It is a disabling and painful condition which can lead to substantial loss of mobility due to pain and joint destruction. The disease is also systemic in that it often also affects many extra-articular tissues throughout the body including the skin, blood vessels, heart, lungs, and...

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fingernails

katie
katie

I recognize that promoting a particular product is probably against forum rules, so you might not be able to answer this specifically.  How do you cut your fingernails / toenails?  I still have good hand strength and fairly good flexibility.  But I'm finding that some small motor tasks are becoming a little more difficult, and I'm trying to make small helpful changes - ergonomically designed, thicker pens are easier to write with, for instance.  The tiny manicure scissors I've used to trim my nail for decades are no longer, excuse me, cutting it.  I bought some larger clippers but they leaves raggedy edges, either due to the clipper design or my own hands, not sure which.  Have you found a solution?

MarleneJ
MarleneJ
My feet are almost impossible for me. I use toe clippers, but my feet are so twisted I can barely reach the toes. People keep telling me "mani-pedi" but, I don't want anyone to touch my deformed toes and feet.

I do hope someone will post. Following!
katie
katie
Marlene.......I've never worn rings other than a wedding ring until my diagnosis, when my hands started morphing. And now I do. I've chosen to wear rings now, to honor my hands. It's a way of saying hey, you've done some great things, we've had a great run, things are no longer perfect, but you still can do things, I've found some spiral designs, some c-rings that are adjustable on a daily basis, nothing expensive..........but that ritual of putting them on has become important to me. If I had the money for routine mani-pedis, I'd do that too. (the one time I had a manicure, just before my son's wedding, the cosmetologist also had RA, for worse than mine, and oh, Marlene, she was so gentle and kind, and treated my hands as if they were sacred. And.....they are. They still are.) It takes a conscious effort to celebrate imperfection but once you do so, it's incredibly strengthening.
Kimhurts
Kimhurts
*SOME* insurance companies allow you to go to a podiatrist every so often and have your toenails cut professionally. This is because they don't want you to ever get a mani/pedi because of the immunosuppressive meds. The risk of cutting toenails incorrectly and getting an infection is real for us. Also, many of us have Reynaud's so healing wounds is more difficult.

Not all insurance allows for this, but it might be worth a call. If that fails, call a podiatrist and ask what they suggest as a tool since you may not be covered for their services. Maybe they can at least point you in the right direction.

I haven't had a mani/pedi in 20 years. Those were so nice. (Sigh)...
MarleneJ
MarleneJ
Maybe I should get something bigger to cut my toe nails! Interesting pics, linzsey.
MarleneJ
MarleneJ
I cannot file my finger or toe nails. I did for years and years, since I was a young teen. Then, one day, I noticed that every time I filed my finger nails, they would split and break where I had been working. I asked the rheumatoid nurses and they said I had psoriatic nails, as also witnessed by the striated nails, and the purple underneath.

They said only 5% of people with psoriatic nails don't have psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis. Now, if this was a lottery, I would be happy. Instead, I have one more auto-immune condition I don't want, which is SO annoying!
katie
katie
Linzsey, thanks for sharing the research. I'm still managing nail care, but it's getting more awkward, so I'm looking forward and trying to see if there's a tool that will allow me to do so longer. Ironically, the impetus for this was purchasing a clipper that allowed me to take care of my large dog's nails, and realizing how well it was designed, and how easy it was to use. If I had round claws instead of flat fingernails, it would be just the ticket! It may be that the nail clippers I have are just crappy. I believe my insurance allows me a limited number of visits to an occupational therapist at some point, so I figure I'll start a list of questions like this to ask there, and maybe do that over the winter, although right now it feels like I don't have enough issues to warrant it.