New gloves seem to be helping with my hands :)

arty

My RA affects my hands to the extent of drifting and deformaties. I am 44 and use my hands allot because of my work [glass artist]

So as you can see my hands are important, as they are to us all! My splints help support my wrists but found my fingers a bit left out and they hurt really bad some days so ive been looking around and trying different things.

Ok, I will get to the punch line

I have found that if I ice them before I go to bed as well as in the morning this helps a great deal BUT, I found some gloves called IMAK..no they don't have an MP3 lol.....they are like fingerless gloves, lycra style that are a tight fit at first but they support my fingers unlike my splints [ I wear both some days] They are not cheap at £22 or so [cheapest on Amazon]

I got the medium, tight at first but after a day or so they are just right as they give a little.

Just thought I would let you all know as I think they have made a difference and the swelling in my hands has gone down somewhat according to hubby.

Hope today is a good day for everyone, cant see any sun and apparently we have it in Cheshire today! hmmmm not this bit lol

Take care

tjt6768

Hi Arty, I have been considering a pair of them myself, not sure though as I never have any swelling in the hands just lot of pain in them and the wrists, I wear the wrist supports with the metal bar on the inside whenever I have to do anything and wondered if they would give the same kind of support but not be as cumbersome, let me know how you go on with them??

Cheers

Be well

skezier

Hi Arty,

thanks for posting that i have wondered about those and good to hear they can help.

Couldn't do the ice thing though not way! :shock: Will stick to warmth i think. Hope your doing ok and nice to see you again. Cris x

madwestie

Arty, i ahev some compression gloves from the hospital but your ones look a lot nicer. I do find the glove help with the pain and swelling.

Tracey

Poppyg1rl

Hi Arty,
I was very interested re your gloves, I too suffer with very sore swollen crooked fingers and 1 thumb joint, I have resting splints for my fingers and thumb (through physio) which are very good and some promedics supports which allowed me to work (Reg Childminder) had physio today at hand clinic and used the lovely wax bath, brilliant for stiff sore fingers, I can thoroughly recommend it, if you can why not see if you can try one? I'm for anything that helps with the pain and discomfort! I do find that it helps keep my fingers supple and am thinking of buying one, think I'll be trying out your gloves too! All the best Poppy X

tillytop

Hello Arty

Like the others, I was interested to read about your gloves and I am glad they are helping. It must be really hard to do your glass work when your hands are sore and swollen.

Tilly xxx

arty

Dear All,

Not tried the wax bath, def going to look into that thank you for mentioning, anything is worth a go hey?
The gloves and ice treatment is def working, im sure of that, as well as my own thoughts family and friends have noticed my knuckles are not as swollen. Fingers feel more supported in the gloves but I do need the splints to support my wrists when I am in the studio allot.

They are not cheap so I am making sure I dont loose one lol, so I wash them through every couple of days in luke warm water and leave them to dry before going in their special place [biscuit tin in studio hehe]..

I don't have dainty lady hands as such and because they are swollen I chose the medium, they fit perfectly, guys I would say to buy the large. You can measure across your hand to get the right size. I lil snug on day 1 but after that they are fine, any bigger I dont think they would work.

Hope everyone has the sun the same as here, Im off to walk the my diamond dogs now

Take care

dreamdaisy

Quality costs. Usually the more expensive versions of an item are the better designed, better buiilt, made of better materials (the exceptions are things like shoes and handbags where the 'name' is the thing). Take care of your gloves - it's nice to hear that they help, let's hope that continues to be the case. Many people have mentioned the benefits of hot wax - I think you can buy a set to use at home. I wish you well. DD

Rashine

I know they won't give anything like the support of teh splints but do you think they would give a bit of relief in the wrist department too?

I find my splints uncomfortable if I am using a mouse (they don't allow my arm to rest properly) and wondered if I could use these instead as I had been thinking about gloves for hands anyway.

need me bed

I got some gloves from an online chemist, they're Thremoskin, and i love them so much that i had to buy 2 pairs when the old ones fell apart. I have the small size coz i have tiny wee hands (shame can't be said of some other parts) they're of the fingerless type but did cover most of my finger, just with an open top. made of 'breatheable' neoprene so they're comfy enuff to wear all day. I work in a call centre and spend at least 7 hours typing, ( I cut the fingers down on the pair at work to make typing easier) I have RA in my hands and wrists, they swell quite often, and they get awful stiff. Gp is also thinking i may have Carpal Tunnel as well (I'm sooo lucky! :roll: ) finding these gloves was great as i'm needing them more and more regularly. The on a night time i wear a splint, the type with the metal strip down them.

I can certainly recommend the parafin wax treatments. I went to my local Sally hair and beauty supplier (some will sell to the public or try online?) If you do the DIY all you need to do is paint several thick layers of the wax on to your hand (foot or whatever) wrap in foil, then a towel to keep the heat in for about 15mins (or longer if you just want to enjoy the warmth) and ta-da you have salon treatment at more reasonable and available prices/time. i do my feet with them too, for those of you with OH's have a turn each it's great fun.

I'll stop waffling now.....

arty

dreamdaisy wrote:

Quality costs. Usually the more expensive versions of an item are the better designed, better buiilt, made of better materials (the exceptions are things like shoes and handbags where the 'name' is the thing). Take care of your gloves - it's nice to hear that they help, let's hope that continues to be the case. Many people have mentioned the benefits of hot wax - I think you can buy a set to use at home. I wish you well. DD

Hi DD

How are you? I do hope today is bringing you some relief. You know where I am now if you wanna chat or moan, or larf even.

Yeah, pricey but worth a try....I left them off for 3 days to see what happens.....they swell again, so I def know they help.

Hot wax im looking into - promise!

x

arty

Rashine wrote:

I know they won't give anything like the support of teh splints but do you think they would give a bit of relief in the wrist department too?

I find my splints uncomfortable if I am using a mouse (they don't allow my arm to rest properly) and wondered if I could use these instead as I had been thinking about gloves for hands anyway.

They do give some wrist support but not as much as the splints, sorry. Saying that, I wear them when I am on my pc, found the splints too restrictive.

Wrists....I use cow bandage...dont laugh! lol....also known as horse bandage and human etc, we use it on our cows thats all. You can buy it in boots, its in different colours and its kind off soft elastic that sticks to itself. Thats good for your wrists, I use it when im in my studio to support my wrists - looks like I have sweatbands on lol.
Maybe try that?

arty

need me bed wrote:

I got some gloves from an online chemist, they're Thremoskin, and i love them so much that i had to buy 2 pairs when the old ones fell apart. I have the small size coz i have tiny wee hands (shame can't be said of some other parts) they're of the fingerless type but did cover most of my finger, just with an open top. made of 'breatheable' neoprene so they're comfy enuff to wear all day. I work in a call centre and spend at least 7 hours typing, ( I cut the fingers down on the pair at work to make typing easier) I have RA in my hands and wrists, they swell quite often, and they get awful stiff. Gp is also thinking i may have Carpal Tunnel as well (I'm sooo lucky! :roll: ) finding these gloves was great as i'm needing them more and more regularly. The on a night time i wear a splint, the type with the metal strip down them.

I can certainly recommend the parafin wax treatments. I went to my local Sally hair and beauty supplier (some will sell to the public or try online?) If you do the DIY all you need to do is paint several thick layers of the wax on to your hand (foot or whatever) wrap in foil, then a towel to keep the heat in for about 15mins (or longer if you just want to enjoy the warmth) and ta-da you have salon treatment at more reasonable and available prices/time. i do my feet with them too, for those of you with OH's have a turn each it's great fun.

I'll stop waffling now.....

Thanks for your 'waffle' lol.....Much appreciated and not waffle at all. I had some neoprene ones off the net but they were to stiff and material was think too. Maybe yours are different? but they sound good.

The ice pack isn't nice but do try it as it works. 5-10 mins in the morning and same at night. It does take the swelling down. Peas or bags of sweetcorn is best. My OT told me this method.

* used the peas once so hubby gave me a bag of mixed veg! I like fresh produce but have frozen veg in if my hands are bad, it kills me to use it but..........

Take care and keep trying different things to help you ok x

dreamdaisy

Hey arty, glad to hear from you. It all goes to show, doesn't it, that sometimes we unexpectedly find something that helps - at least people know what they can buy you for a present now! I have seen many posts on here about the benefits of a wax treatment, I reckon you would find it good by the sounds of things so give it a whirl. I am lucky in that my hands don't hurt very often, mainly only when I flare. I like the sound of the cow bandage! DD

arty

dreamdaisy wrote:

Hey arty, glad to hear from you. It all goes to show, doesn't it, that sometimes we unexpectedly find something that helps - at least people know what they can buy you for a present now! I have seen many posts on here about the benefits of a wax treatment, I reckon you would find it good by the sounds of things so give it a whirl. I am lucky in that my hands don't hurt very often, mainly only when I flare. I like the sound of the cow bandage! DD

Yes, im hoping they start to make the gloves in diff colours/designs or I feel I will have to do some make overs on them lol....I could have diamond knuckles and zebra stripes...Hmm maybe not hey

Nice to see you around DD

Cow bandage....running joke in our house as it gets used for everything.

Im honest with myself with what works and what doesn't, its easy to pretend something is working so I would only support something that works. Tried olive oil rubs...no change just soft skin and conditioned nails lol