For most people, weekly trips to the grocery store are just another a chore. But if you have arthritis, shopping can be a pain – literally. To make it a little easier, try the following grocery shopping tips:
Get comfortable. A shopping tip that will help from the ground up: Be sure to wear cushioned, slip-proof shoes.
Bring your gloves. For people with Raynaud's syndrome or hands that don't do well in the cold, slip on a pair of gloves when in the freezer and refrigerated sections.
Ask for help. See if a family member, friend or neighbor might go shopping with you to retrieve those hard-to-reach items. A shopping tip If you have to go alone: Don’t be shy about asking clerks – or even preschoolers shopping with their moms – for help. (But first, ask Mom, of course). Kids love to get on their hands and knees and to feel helpful, and you’re spared having to squat for a can of soup.
Extend your reach. A reacher purchased from a medical supply store can help you get those up-high items when human help is not close by. When you get home, use it to place items on higher shelves. (But when possible, store frequently used items close to waist level.)
Stick with a list. If possible, shop in a familiar store and visualize the store’s layout when preparing your grocery list. List items in order beginning where you will begin your shopping. That way, you’ll waste less energy retracing steps while shopping.
Accept support. Use the grocery cart to steady yourself as you walk or use a motorized shopping cart if you need to. Most stores have them available for customers, but call first to make sure. Choose paper. Although plastic bags seem like a great idea, they can be hard on arthritic hands. Holding a larger paper bag close to your body may actually be easier.
Let someone else do it. For a small fee, many local grocers and some larger chains provide grocery deliver service with same-day or next-day delivery – you provide the list. Of if a neighbor or friend is going to the store, ask if they wouldn’t mind picking up a few items for you.
Take breaks. Once you are back at home, put perishables away first and then rest before you tackle the remaining items.
Text Size
|
|
Pain-Free Grocery Shopping
By Rosanna Scott
Regarding Nancy's comment: All reachers aren't the same. I would suggest looking for one that can be used with all fingers. The one's Walmart sells require you to pull the lever with just your index finger or possibly the index and middle finger, which is likely too difficult for people with reduced hand strength. Another helpful feature with some reachers is whether you can pivot the grasping component. If you can't you may have to twist your arm to grab an item that is standing like a bottle or knock the item over first...
You mentioned getting a "Reacher" at a medical supply store to help a peerson reach items at a grocery and at home. No need to pay the inflated price for a reacher at a medical supply store. Wal-Mart has "Grabbers" for $9.95. Sometimes Home Depot also sells them.
Buy some good environmental grocery bags, ones with good strapping for handles and solid plastic sides that don't flop down or are too soft, to carry your bags from the car to the house. (Don't use them in the store or they won't give you plastic bags!) The A&P and Metro ones are the best (in Canada). I also use these to store and carry stuff around in my house. I keep dog food, cat food, large cereal boxes in them,as well as clothes, bedding, and just about anything that needs a good carrying handle and permanent storage. I also use these to put large plastic containers in (as well as paper bags with handles) on shelves.
Buy a full height front-door frost-free freezer. You can do all your heavy shopping in the fall, stock your freezer for the winter, and don't have to go shopping as much in the winter when it is hard to walk on ice and snow.
It's also a good idea to stock up on stuff in the fall so that you aren't freezing your hands and thickening your blood loading and unloading the car in the winter. People with RA have blood that solidies at higher temperatures than others because the blood is thicker and not as viscous, which is why people with RA get tired and seize up when they are cold.
This way, your winter grocery shopping end up limited to fresh foods only.
Also, buy from small stores, like butchers, bakers, and specialty frozen stores like M&M, so you don't have to walk so far. Go to big stores like Costco a few times a year and simply stock up so you don't have to go back.
A lot of grocery stores now sell salads, fruit, and foods cut up and prepared which you can buy and they will last one person a week and which is more energy conserving and less expensive than throwing stuff out because you ended up too tired to make the salad from scratch because of the shopping and other things that exhausted you.
Also buy something already made for dinner for when you get home from shopping so you don't end up not eating because you were too tired to cook after grocery shopping.
Make sure to ask the teller to give you more bags if you have to pack yourself, and make each lighter. If they pack them, ask them to spread the groceries out over more plastic bags. It's also the time to ask them to open any large bottles you won't be able to open yourself.
Make sure you ask them for bags even if you have to pay extra, if they have them. The handles on the grocery bags make them easier to reuse as garbage bags later so you don't have to grip the bag to carry them to the garbage, especially if this involves stairs where you need to focus on hanging on to the rail instead of the bag.
If you are interested in more tips, feel free to look at my Facebook group Aids for Daily Living.
Leave a Comment