Osteoarthritis is common in older adults. It affects around 32.5 million people, and 43% of them are 65 or older. Your mom is one of them. In her case, her hands are arthritic and it’s making it hard for her to keep up with daily chores. What hobbies will help her exercise the joints in her fingers?
Bread Making
Baking bread is one of the best hobbies for strengthening the fingers and wrists. It also gives the shoulders a work out. Start by making a sourdough starter using filtered, boiled water, flour, and a little yeast. Many recipes are available online.
As your mom masters bread making, she’ll have loaves of bread for herself. If there are extras, she can donate them to friends, family, and food shelves. She can also freeze bread for future meals.
Computer Games
For all the concerns you may have about your mom playing video games, remember that she may have grown up with some of the original video games like Pong. Video games are great for exercising her hands and fingers as she uses the buttons and joysticks. As an added benefit, many games also require logic and critical thinking skills.
With games like Tetris, your mom has to think about where the pieces fit before they drop down. Professor Layton games all have puzzles and logic problems to solve.
Gardening
Gardens provide food your mom can eat, but it’s also a great workout for the handles. Digging in and mixing the soil to aerate it takes strength. Then, you have to plant the seeds or seedlings, loosen and pull out weeds, and prune plants that are getting too large or leafy.
As crops grow, your mom has to pick them and bring them inside. She’ll be doing other tasks that require fine motor skills, including securing plants to stakes or poles and keeping everything watered.
Knitting
Knitting is another good hobby for exercising the fingers. The needles have to be held tightly while manipulating the yarn around each hook. Fingers also help move the yarn loops around.
Your mom can start small making scarves and work her way to socks, sweaters, hats, and mittens. She can donate them to homeless shelters, hospitals, and organizations that help provide warm clothing to soldiers deployed in cold regions.
Painting
Holding a paintbrush and moving it in the proper motions helps strengthen the fingers and wrists. If your mom is a beginner, she could watch videos and follow along. Joining a paint and sip class also helps her get used to the techniques and blending of paints.
Make Sure Your Mom Has Caregivers for Support
Your mom lives alone and struggles with daily activities and chores due to the pain she experiences. Have you looked into the benefits of senior home care?
Senior home care providers can help your mom with her housekeeping, laundry, and errands. If there are tasks she has a hard time completing due to limited movements in her fingers and wrist, her caregiver can help her.
If you or an aging loved-one is considering Senior Home Care in Lake Oswego, OR please contact the caring staff at Home Matters Caregiving today. 503-352-5634
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