Tips
Every day tips and tricks for living with arthritis!
Pants for pelvic pain, spring 2019
My post on pants for arthritis and bladder pain is still pretty popular, but at this point it’s probably a little outdated. I went shopping for spring clothes recently, so I can share what I found at Kohl’s! Unlike my other post, this post is only about women’s pants. It can be really hard to go shopping and find pants as someone with pelvic pain, whether it’s from arthritis, interstitial cystitis, endometriosis, or something else. Stiff, low waistbands are sure to make my hips ache and send pangs through my bladder. I don’t just want to wear leggings all the time, though! I actually had a bit of a crisis…
Enbrel Mini review: Easy, customizable injections
Pros: Easy to use, adjustable injection speeds, optional sounds, one-handed injectionsCons: It’s still an injection After months of fighting with my insurance company, I finally got my medicine and was able to try Enbrel Mini! It’s a bit like something out of a sci-fi movie—maybe one day all injections will be as easy as this. (The biomedical engineer in me is already thinking about what to design to make that happen. Hmm…) Humira helped me a lot for a while, but last fall I started having a lot more pain and fatigue, and my doctor suggested moving to Enbrel. Even though I’d had a bad experience with the Humira Pen…
Info checklist for flying with Humira or Enbrel
How to fly with Humira and Enbrel is my most popular post, but I know it can be a little long. Here are the most important points, summarized in a list. Packing info Humira, Enbrel, and x-ray scanners Going through security Documentation Safe travels! -Bri I love creating resources like this, but each one takes a lot of time and research. If this post helped you, consider supporting the site with a coffee! Thanks! <3
Is chest binding possible with arthritis?
Costochondritis, a condition where the cartilage of the rib cage gets inflamed, is already discussed as a side effect of wearing a chest binder. But what about when you have pre-existing costochondritis and want to chest bind? I’ve tried and failed to find advice for, or even a single mention of, people with arthritis or other chronic illnesses who want to bind their chests. Maybe I just haven’t found the right Reddit post. I haven’t really found a good solution for myself so far, but I can share the frustrations I’ve been through. Chest binding: A brief introduction Chest binding is the practice of someone making their chest appear flatter.…
A quick guide to medical terminology
All the medical words that I throw around here can get confusing when it’s the first time you’re hearing them, but I find it a lot easier to understand and remember what words mean when I understand where the words come from. If that’s a method that works for you, then this post will be super helpful. Prefixes you might see arthr- : joint bursa : small fluid-filled sacs that cushion joints cyst- : bladder enthes- : enthesis (where tendons and ligaments attach to bone) my- : muscle spondyl- : vertebra, the bones in the spine Suffixes you might see -algia : pain -itis : inflammation -osis : a disease -pathy : a disease Some…
Arthritic gaming
I looked up “video game arthritis” recently (or something similar). I’m not completely sure what I was looking for. Advice for how to keep gaming when it makes it hard to use your hands? Other people going through the same thing, so I don’t feel like the only one? Motivation to work through it? Gaming can be a hobby, a competition, a social space, and even a livelihood. What about when your body makes it hard to keep going? Unfortunately, when you run a search like that, all you get are articles warning that gamers are in for arthritic futures. I don’t care about that. I have arthritis now. If…
What I think about when packing
This is a shorter article, just to jog your memory if you think you might be forgetting to pack something for your upcoming trip. It’s especially for forgetful people, like my partner, who would forget his insulin pump if it weren’t attached to him. Perhaps this is something he can reference in the future… XD I’m including questions I ask myself to make sure I’m not forgetting something important, as well as a sample packing list (just with the things important to medical conditions). This could also even be useful for shorter day trips. (The amount of times I’ve been stuck without a pain reliever when I needed it is…
Kinesiology tape for arthritis
Kinesiology tape (also kinesio tape or KT) was first was first suggested to me a few years ago by a friend who thought it might help my recalcitrant shoulder. The box of KT Tape she handed me claimed it could fix everything. Bad knee? Injured ankle? Sore shoulder? Back? Neck? Hands? Kinesiology tape can help! Of course, the asterisk warns you that only some of these uses have been found effective in studies. Which ones? Who knows. I used it on my shoulder for awhile because I was out of other options. I’d experienced physical therapy, braces, medicines, x-rays, MRIs, ultrasounds – nothing helped and doctors couldn’t tell me why.…
Air travel with diabetes
Flying with any medical condition can be a daunting task, so in addition to sharing my own experience flying with biologics, I’m also going to share my partner’s experience traveling with insulin and an insulin pump. Insulin pumps and TSA screening The biggest question for someone using an insulin pump is how security screening will work. According to the manufacturers of most insulin pumps, insulin pumps are okay to go through the metal detector, but they aren’t approved to go through x-ray or full body scanners. My partner has a Medtronic pump, and this is the guideline we followed. In most cases, this is because the manufacturer hasn’t tested the…
Standing with chronic pain
Standing has been a problem for me for a long time. It’s a lot easier now that my symptoms are under control, but it will still get to me after standing still for more than about an hour. For me, it’s a particular aching pain in my lower back that comes from keeping it in one position for too long, and it can also affect my knees and even my shoulder. This can make doing dishes, going to concerts, waiting in lines, and many other things a challenge, but there are some things that have helped me. Eliminate standing when possible Doing dishes is already a chore most people try…
