Tips for Making Your Daily Life With Parkinson’s Disease Easier

You’ve likely seen numerous tips for making your life more organized and easier to navigate. Well, the following are tips I have found that can make life easier if you live with Parkinson’s disease.

Begin by making your home safer. Pick up anything off the floor that may be a tripping hazard. Find a better place to store it. For example, instead of leaving your shoes on the floor, hang them by their shoelaces over the handle of the coat closet. This little trick also eliminates the need to bend over and pick them up off the floor.

Move your bed so that the side you sleep on is nearest the wall. Install a grab bar onto the wall alongside the bed to make it easier to get up and out.

A tip for those who find it difficult to turn over in bed: Use satin sheets and satin pajamas for sleeping. You may want to start out with either sheets or pajamas first and graduate to both if the satin doesn’t prove too slippery for you.

In the bathroom, I recommend a portable toilet seat that allows you to adjust the height. It will make it easier to get on and off the toilet.

Should you have a power outage, have a couple flashlights readily available in easy-to-access spots. Adhere glow-in-the-dark tape on the handles of your flashlights so that you can easily find them.

A number of tips can help in the hygiene area. When you are showering or bathing, give up your washcloth and try bath mitts instead. Bath mitts are a bit more coarse and leave your skin feeling smooth. To clean, they can easily be thrown in with a load of towels.

When you have Parkinson’s, drying your hair can be a frustrating task. A wall mount may be a game-changer. It holds your hair dryer, freeing your hands to style.

When shopping for clothes, choose shirts with multiple colors and patterns. If you tend to spill while eating, most spills won’t show up. Tie-dyed shirts are great at deceiving the eye!

Wearing tube socks can make getting dressed simpler. They are easier to put on than regular socks, which are shaped like a foot. Also, you can sew loops partway down the inside of each sock and use them to pull on your socks, eliminating some of the frustration.

An age-old piece of wisdom, or the best tip for those with Parkinson’s: When you are frustrated, take a deep breath and count to 10. When dealing with this disease, stress will only make things harder. Instead, I’m all about making life easier. Ax the stress, try one of the recommendations above, and share your favorite tip or trick in the comments below.

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Note: Parkinson’s News Today is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Parkinson’s News Today or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to Parkinson’s disease.