Manual Dexterity Changes & How To Cope At Home
As we get older, physical changes are sure to happen and something you may notice is that your manual dexterity begins to decline and we find ourselves less able to make precise and adept movements with our hands, which can have an impact on our daily lives.
There are ways in which you can help mitigate this, however, such as by performing various strengthening exercises each day.
This could include, for example, doing finger lifts where you place your hand palm down on a table and lift one finger off at a time, moving through each of your fingers to improve flexibility.
Alternatively, you could simply make a fist and squeeze it as hard as you can, holding for three to five seconds before slowly releasing. Repeat several times on each hand until you start to feel fatigue.
Other perhaps more entertaining ways of maintaining manual dexterity include playing a musical instrument, practising handwriting (or perhaps acquiring a new skill such as calligraphy at the same time), knitting, sewing and working with clay or putty.
Home adaptations
Even with all the strengthening exercises, it’s likely that you’ll experience some level of degradation when it comes to manual dexterity.
As such, it can be beneficial to make a few changes to your living spaces so you can continue to use all the facilities with ease.
This could include, for example, ergonomic handles on the taps in your sinks and over the bath, as well as making sure that shower handles are easy to grip and turn. Using pull handles on doors rather than door knobs that you have to twist can also prove useful.
Grab rails with good grip could be positioned strategically throughout the house, such as at the front door and in the bathroom and water closets.
Sliding drawers and pull-out shelves that are easy to open and close are also a good idea, as are adaptive utensils that come with modified grips and ergonomic designs.
Little changes such as these can make a significant difference to your quality of life and help you continue to live independently in your own home for longer.