Kitchen Gadgets and Equipment Which Help People with a Weak Grip

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Kitchen Gadgets and Equipment Which Help People
with a Weak Grip
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• Using specially adapted equipment is an important
  part of keeping ones independence later in
  life.
• The modern market for mobility and disability
  aids is innovative and ever-expanding.
• Inventors across the world are coming up with
  clever practical solutions to the challenges
  that impaired physicality may throw at us.
• As the population of the UK grows older, there is
  more of a drive than ever to produce living aids
  to help with every-day tasks.

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c ustomerservice_at_essentialaids.com Physical
dexterity issues often arise in later life,
leading to difficulty in areas which were
previously routine. In the kitchen, this could
mean challenges like chopping food, or holding
it steadily in place. The problems tend to be
associated with a loss of balance, dexterity,
grip strength or grip precision. Arthritis
impacts over 10 million people in the UK and is
one of the most prevalent conditions in the over
60s. It leads to joint inflammation and pain or
discomfort, especially when a tight grip is
required. In many cases it affects the hands and
fingers, which in turn may make it difficult to
grip or control standard kitchen implements like
knives or forks. It is important to be aware of
the large and ever-growing range of relevant
products available, if you or someone you know is
in this situation. If you have access to an
occupational therapist, they will be able to
advise you on equipment which might work for your
specific needs.
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c ustomerservice_at_essentialaids.com Often, simple
awareness of the products which may help someone,
is the most important part of the process. An
occupational therapist will also be able to help
you on the organisational aspect of the
kitchen. If you have limited strength,
flexibility or dexterity, standing for any
length of time, or reaching to high shelves may
be problematic. If these issues are identified,
practical plans can be put in place to make them
less impactful on a day-to-day basis. Creating
space to move If you live alone and use a
walking frame to move around your kitchen, its
important to make space and to make sure any
potential obstacles are removed. Pathways
without obstruction are crucial if you are to
move safely. If you are unsteady on your feet
and use a walking frame, a kitchen trolley or a
rollator in order to move around, its even more
of an imperative to make sure obstacles do not
get in the way.
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c ustomerservice_at_essentialaids.com In the
kitchen you might create various bases at which
you have particular pieces of equipment, where
everything for a particular task is within easy
reach. Using a kitchen trolley is equipment many
people use to move food and drink around the
kitchen or to and from the dining room. Special
kitchen equipment If you have arthritis or
another condition which weakens the wrists,
hands or arms, you may find it difficult using
standard food preparation tools. Similarly, if
you have a tremor mealtimes may be
challenging. Essential Aids supplies a wide
range of kitchen equipment which helps those in
this situation. Many stroke survivors, for
example, may be left with the use of a single
hand, due to partial paralysis or weakness on one
side of the body. Angled utensils are one such
adaptation which may help. These have handles
which form an L-shape which requires less
strength in the wrist to use effectively.
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c ustomerservice_at_essentialaids.com Products
like the Right Angled Carving Knife
fit into this category, making an everyday task
just that little bit easier. Generally speaking,
handles with a larger diameter are easier to
control if you have a tremor in the
hands. Narrow knives, forks and other eating and
food preparation tools may be too light or
require too much of a squeeze to be
comfortable. Along with some other brands, Good
Grips utensils and cutlery go some way to
solving this problem. This is a range of kitchen
equipment featuring large, comfortable handles.
The grips also have a soft-touch surface, making
them a pleasure to use! Their extra size makes
them more controllable than most of the
alternatives, especially for people with reduced
dexterity. The Good Grips Swivel Peeler, for
example, is a potato peeler with an oversize
handle and a swiveling head. This product
receives excellent customer feedback, as does the
Good Grips Y Peeler.
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c ustomerservice_at_essentialaids.com The Y
shaped version has the wided, splayed
cutting section which some users prefer. The
Good Grips handles work so well that the
manufacturer also uses them for other tasks
requiring precise manual dexterity. There is,
for example, a dressing aid which uses the same
type of oversized grip. Known as a Button Hook
it helps the user fasten buttons without
requiring them to pinch and control the button
with their finger tips. Again, this is an
action which many people with certain conditions
find either painful or difficult. Also within
the Good Grips range are their knives and forks.
As with the peelers mentioned above, these have
the trademark large, built-up handles. Knives,
forks and spoons are available, making these
cutlery sets a good choice for many who find
standard cutlery difficult to use.
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Special jar, bottle and tin openers Opening
stiff lids is a problem for many people, not just
those with reduced grip. For those with
arthritic fingers, it can be a huge practical
problem. Essential Aids supplies a range of
devices to overcome this issue, helping the user
get more purchase on the lid they are trying to
open. Good Grips make a good quality jar opener,
which has an open wedge design along with the
tried and test oversized grip. The jar lid slots
inside the wedge of this kitchen aid, where
small teeth hold it in position. The handle then
provides leverage to turn and twist the lid from
the jar. It is ideal for removing lids with
diameters from 13 to 95mm (½ to 3 ¾
inches). Using increased leverage is a
fundamental part of most openers at Essential
Aids, like the simple and popular Turn Key, for
example.
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c ustomerservice_at_essentialaids.com This is
designed to twist off tops commonly found on
orange juice cartons. Like the Good Grips lid
opener, its jaws clamp on the lid and the long
handle provides leverage to turn it. While the
two gadgets mentioned here serve only one
purpose, several available at Essential Aids are
able to tackle more than one type of lid or
top. The Multi Use Opener for instance, is the
Swiss Army Knife of openers. It has numerous
jaws, angles and clamps which lever, twist and
wedge different kinds of lids open. Opening tins
of food is another challenge with increased
difficulty for those with arthritic
fingers. Conventional tin openers require a
fairly tight grip and power in the fingers in
order to lock the jaws in place and to turn the
handle. This is another device which the Good
Grips team have put their mind to, producing a
tin opener with large-diameter levers and strong
locking jaws.
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The levers do not dig into the hands as standard
tin openers might, and are fair more comfortable
in the hand. While that is great for
conventional tins, many cans are now fitted with
ring pulls more associated with fizzy
drinks. The upside of this is that in theory
they dont require any extra tool to
open. Again though, this is not the case if you
have painful arthritis or weakened fingers. The
Can Key from Essential Aids is a simple gadget
which overcomes this issue. Its special shape
allows the user to effectively jemmy the ring
pull upwards, with its oversize handle providing
leverage to complete the job. While the devices
mentioned so far use leverage, an alternative
are those which help you gain extra purchase on a
lid, in order to twist it off.
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c ustomerservice_at_essentialaids.com The popular
and simple design of the Bottle Opener and
Knob Turner is in this category. Made of a
rubberised plastic, it fits snugly over a
conventional twist-off bottle top and its ribbed
interior grips the plastic, making it easier for
the user to turn. For larger lids like those on
jam jars, the Dycem Jar Opener is a good
option. It has a conical design, the widest
section of which fits over the lid. As with the
bottle top opener, it provides great purchase,
making twisting much easier than with the hand
alone. Spreader boards and food preparation
stations Essential Aids has a whole section
devoted to food preparation aids, among which
are special chopping boards with unique
features. Holding food in place to be sliced,
chopped etc, is a challenge if you have reduced
dexterity, balance or a hand tremor.
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Food preparation boards come with spikes, raised
lips and clamps, all designed to help keep food
under control and prevent it slipping around on
the worktop. The popular Food Workstation for
example, has numerous inventive features,
allowing the user to grate, slice, spread and do
a host of other tasks. It also has an
extra-large clamp, allowing mixing bowls to be
held firmly in place. An innovative kitchen aid
like this provides an excellent example of how
one piece of equipment can make a huge impact
towards keeping independent at home. Blog an
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