Bending over, stretching arms, and lifting legs are common activities that may start to be a little more difficult as you approach 55, 65, or 75 years of age. As people age, they start to experience limiting motion and pain when they have to exert themselves beyond casual activity.

According to Katrena Wells, Seniors’ health/medicare writer at Suite101.com, stretching and lifting of the legs are potentially painful daily activities that seniors and their parents perform every day and are simply unaware of basic solutions.

As people age, they often think of the bigger items around the house that can be moved to make their life easier. They lose focus of the smaller daily routines that can easily be made simple and pain free.

Sock aids and shoehorns or other shoe assistants are good examples of simple daily routine that can prevent painful stretching beyond the body’s natural limits. The small and simple ways to make your life easier can add up to have a profound effect on your independence and daily routine; and a great starting point is with the sock and shoe aids.

Katrena Wells created a list of conditions people encounter that may benefit from sock and dressing aids:

• Arthritis or bursitis
• Hip replacement or surgery
• Knee replacement or surgery
• Multiple sclerosis
• Parkinson’s
• Back pain due to degenerative disc disease, herniated disc, spinal stenosis, etc.
• Stroke
• Sciatica
• Amputation
• ALS or Lou Gehrig Disease
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Limited range of motion a wish to minimize dressing times

Wells also describes that price should not be the only thing a person should look at, but also:

• Quality of workmanship
• Directions for use
• Variety of styles, colors, and sizes
• Potential hazards
• Guarantee

How they work…

Sock aids

Sock aids have a solid circular mounting area for the sock to placed around and two straps extend from the mount. The design allows the sock to placed on your lap while sitting down and eliminates the need for the individual to bend over to the floor.

Steps:

1. Wrap the sock around the circular mount so a large opening is created for a foot to easily slide in.
2. Lower the sock and mount to the floor while holding onto the straps.
3. While holding onto the straps, lift the sock and mount up and easily slide the foot through the sock. As you life up, the sock will be pulled up and around the ankle without the need to bed over.
4. Once the sock is securely wrapped around the ankle the sock aid will be released.

Shoe assistance

Shoehorns are helpful devices, but still require the individual to bend over. A simple solution has been a long shoe horn that is often over 24 inches long and allow a shoe to be placed on the foot while sitting down without the need to painfully bend over and possibly loose balance.  A long handle shoehorn holds the back end of the shoe open so the foot has a greater opening to enter through. A good shoehorn will be designed to angle the foot and cause it to easily slide in with limited effort.

Wells also suggests that seniors use lock laces that help keep elastic shoelaces in place, and the lace-amatic that will tighten shoelaces with ease. These two devices are designed for individuals that use shoes with laces and are designed to prevent laces from becoming loose and eliminate the need to bend over when the individual isn’t able to sit down.  Slip-on shoes are an alternative to these devices but often don’t offer the same support or style that most individuals prefer.

Sock and shoes aids are two simple, cheap solutions that prevent unnecessary bending and stretching that can cause pain and injury to many boomers and their parents. Make your life easier and your keep your independence with these suggested items.

Information is from Katrena Wells is from here.