Oklahoma AgrAbility Project • Newsletter • May/June 2003

Oklahoma AgrAbility Newsletter

May/June 2003 • Volume 2 • Issue 3

May flowers and summer fun

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NOTE: Mention or display of a trademark, proprietary product or firm in text or figures does not constitute an endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Oklahoma State University, Langston University or the National AgrAbility Project and does not imply approval to the exclusion of other suitable products or firms.

In This Issue

May flowers and summer fun

Are You Living With Arthritis?

Warning Signs of Arthritis

Gardening Hints for People with Arthritis

Treatments for Arthritis

Other Helpful Ideas

Homemade Seed Tape

For More Information

May flowers and summer fun

May is Arthritis Month! We want to heighten your awareness, offer suggestions for living with arthritis by simplifying and adapting daily activities, and provide resources for more information. The AgrAbility project wants to work with you to help find some devices that will help make your life easier.

This newsletter focuses on arthritis and gardening. These two things can go hand in hand for those suffering from arthritis. It is important to have a hobby, a garden is a great way to relax and enjoy the summer sun. Don’t forget to wear sunscreen and protective clothing!

Enjoy the season,

Rachael Kircher, AgrAbility Project Coordinator

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Are You Living With Arthritis?

What is arthritis?

Arthritis is a general term to describe over 100 different joint and soft tissue disorders. Some common forms of arthritis and related conditions are osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalagia, and scleroderma.

Who is affected?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has estimated that 1 in 3 adults in the United States suffers from the disabling disease. That means that almost 1 million Oklahomans have symptoms of pain, aching, stiffness, or swelling in and around their joints.

Dealing with arthritis

People with arthritis may experience stress, depression, anger, and anxiety which can intensify their pain. The (joint) pain cycle can cause you to become less physically active, placing you at a higher risk of becoming overweight and acquiring heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and other chronic conditions.

Walking, gardening, swimming, or any activity is important to condition our bodies. Physical activity will help to reduce pain, promote joint health, reduce weight and improve overall function and quality of life. Never forget that being physically active can be fun, as well as healthy for your entire being.

Risk Factors for Arthritis

Sex: Women experience arthritis more frequently making up 60% of arthritis cases.

Age: Risk increases with age. Half of the elderly population has some form of arthritis.

Genetic Predisposition: Certain genes are known to be associated with a higher risk of some types of arthritis.

Weight: Being overweight increases the stress on joints. Obesity is associated with gout in men. In women, osteoarthritis of the knee, hip, and hand are common.

Sports injuries: Younger people who have been injured in high-intensity sports can begin experiencing symptoms in their late 30s and early 40s.

Occupation: Farming, heavy industry, and occupations with repetitive motion are associated with increased risk for arthritis.

Nutrition: There are some scientific reasons to think that the foods you eat could affect certain kinds of arthritis. Evidence shows that excessive weight and the type of diet you follow may influence symptoms of certain types of arthritis and related conditions.

Source: Minnesota Department of Health, Oklahoma State Department of Health, The Arthritis Foundation

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Warning Signs of Arthritis

Consult a doctor if any of these symptoms in or around a joint lasts for more than two weeks.

Swelling in one or more joints.
Stiffness around a joint that lasts for at least 1 hour in the early morning.
Constant or reoccurring pain or tenderness in a joint.
Difficulty using or moving a joint normally.
Warmth and redness in a joint.

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Gardening Hints for People with Arthritis

Gardening can be an excellent form of physical activity to help in the treatment of arthritis. Through gardening, people can maintain better flexibility in their joints, a larger range of motion and enjoy better quality of life than what they did before taking up this calming hobby. As with any activity, there are a few basic tips and techniques that can allow you to better enjoy your time spent gardening:

Warm up your joints before beginning to garden. Do some light stretching to reduce soreness later on.

Pace yourself. Work in the garden when you feel the strongest, and keep tools and watering sources near your garden to cut down on extra steps and conserve your energy.

Use a stool or knee pad when working on or near the ground to protect your knees. Make sure the seat is low enough that you can bend over easily to do your gardening.

Change positions frequently to avoid becoming stiff.

Use the largest muscle group possible to complete a task. For example, when carrying a bag of tools, place the bag on your forearm and let the large muscles of your arm do the work instead of carrying it with your hand. Use a hand truck or dolly to move heavy bags of soil, mulch, or fertilizer, so that you can transport heavy items without having to lift them onto a cart or wagon. Use your child’s old wagon to carry gardening tools, bulbs or plants around while you work. If you don’t have one in the attic, these wagons can be purchased at toy and hardware stores.

Employ the use of raised beds or container gardens. Try planting flowers in window-box containers or clay pots that sit on tables outside your house, and you may also consider building a greenhouse with raised shelves and tables to hold pots of flowers and plants.

If you find it difficult to push an electric mower, consider using a riding model. If you do use a riding mower, choose one with an adjustable seat with full back support.

To move around the yard while weeding or raking, use a wheeled chair or “scoot seat” designed for garden use. Use these chairs for washing and waxing the car or painting low window trim, too.

Use proper tools and keep them in good condition. Buy gardening tools with adaptive handles that are easy to grasp, or build up handles you already own by wrapping them with electrical tape, bubble wrap or foam padding.

Wear gloves to protect your hands. Don’t try to rip open the plastic bags with your fingers, but rather, cut open bags of soil or fertilizer with large-hand led utility scissors.

Source: Missouri AgrAbility Project, The Arthritis Foundation, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

For more information on accessible gardening call: 1-888-885-5588

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Treatments for Arthritis

Medicines (prescriptions or over the counter) can help reduce pain and swelling.

Exercise lessens pain, increases movement, reduces fatigue and helps you look and feel better. Rest/relaxation saves your energy by switching periods of activity with periods of rest.

Use of heat or cold over joints or muscles may give you short-term relief from pain and stiffness and help prepare you for exercise.

Self-help aids have special features that help make everyday tasks easier.

Joint protection makes it easier to do daily tasks by avoiding extra stress on your joints.

Surgery can help in some cases when other treatments have failed, but most people with arthritis will never need it.

Self-help skills help you learn how to manage your arthritis symptoms and how they affect your daily life.

Source: Oklahoma State Department of Health, The Arthritis Foundation

This information is provided for educational purposes only. You should consult a qualified health care provider if you have a question about your particular medical condition.

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Other Helpful Ideas

Low Maintenance Plants

Choose young plants so you can avoid dealing with tiny seeds.
Plant shrubs or perennials that bloom every year so you don’t have to replant each time.
Ask about plants that require little care, such as ones that don’t need regular pruning.

Easy Ways to Water

Use sprinklers instead of large watering cans.
Consider purchasing a hose caddy to store your garden hose. You can wheel the caddy to your work area and unroll the hose as you need it.

Source: Adapted from the Arthritis Foundation brochure Gardening and Arthritis, The Arthritis Foundation®,http://www.arthritis.org/resources/home_life/gardening.asp

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Homemade Seed Tape

Directions:

Cut newspaper strips about 1” wide. (If you cut strips off the edge of a newspaper page, you can make sure the strips are straight.)
Mix a sticky paste of flour and water - the consistency of thick gravy or soft pudding seems to work well.
Using a Q-tip or small artist’s paintbrush as an applicator, dab paste on the newspaper strip, spacing the dabs the right distance apart for the type of seed you’re planting.
Place a seed on each dab and set the strip aside to dry. Both large and small seeds lend themselves to this method, but you may find that tweezers are helpful in handling smaller seeds.
Plant the seed tapes in a furrow, seed side up, and cover as you normally would.
Keep seeds and seedlings well watered.

From “Easy Things to Make … To Make Things Easy” by Doreen Greenstein, published by Brookline Books, P.O. Box 1047, Cambridge, MA 02238, 1-800-666-BOOK

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