You may never think of activities such as getting out of bed, getting dressed, or cooking a meal, as a challenge. But if you or anyone close to you suffers from arthritis, these daily activities can be very painful. Holiday time is a time for giving, so why not give your loved ones, or yourself, some tools and items that make life easier, better and more joyful? Here are 18 holiday gift ideas to ease joint pain and bring a smile to a loved one’s face.

1. When typing is painful, try speaking instead. Dragon Naturally Speaking voice recognition software turns your spoken words into text. Once you train your Dragon, it recognizes your voice commands and types whatever you dictate, at a rate of at least 100 words per minute—faster than the speediest transcribers! 2. For anyone working at a computer all day, using a mouse for hours on end can lead to pain and strain, especially if you have [caption id="attachment_494" align="alignright" width="300"] Dragon Naturally Speaking is voice recognition software that turns your spoken words into text.[/caption] arthritis. The 3M Ergonomic Mouse has earned an Ease-of-Use Commendation from the Arthritis Foundation.  It works as a regular optical mouse, but the vertical grip design keeps your hand and wrist in a handshake position, which reduces stress on the wrist muscles. Instead of your middle finger, you use your thumb to do the clicking.

Get a grip!

For anyone challenged with everyday activities, many utensils and tools are easily available to make routine tasks easier, and increase independence. Check out kitchen and hardware stores, specialty stores, and arthritis supply stores. 3. For eating, look for utensils with grip handles that make them easier to hold and use. Knives that work with a rocking motion also reduce stress on the hands and wrist. [caption id="" align="alignright" width="300"] Many specially designed kitchen and garden tools are available to make routine tasks easier, and increase independence.[/caption] 4. For gardening enthusiasts, choose gardening tools with special grips or extra-long handles. 5. Door knob grippers make it easier to turn regular door knobs. Also consider offering to help replace regular door knobs with lever-style door handles, which don’t require gripping. 6. Tools such as grabbers allow people with arthritis to pick up or extend their reach and retrieve items. 7. Writing tools such as special cushions to put on pens and pencils make gripping easier, (and also make great stocking stuffers). 8. Dressing aids: Button hooks, zipper pulls, shoe horns, and Velcro fasteners modify clothing to make getting dressed easier. If you are handy, you can alter some garments yourself, or bring them to a professionally tailor.

Kitchen aids

For foodies with arthritis, it can be painful to chop fruits and vegetables, grip utensils or open jars. Here are a few kitchen aids to help. 9. To peel, cut and chop food safely, look for peelers and knives with nonslip handles. OXO Good Grips are widely available and have a large variety of kitchen items that make food preparation easier. 10. Cutting boards can make cutting, slicing and peeling easier. Look for cutting boards with stainless steel spikes that hold food fruits and vegetables in place. You can find cutting boards with handy corner guards to keep food from sliding off the board. These cutting boards are mounted on suction cups to anchor them to your counter so they don’t slip. [caption id="" align="alignright" width="300"] For foodies with arthritis, look for kitchen tools that are easier to grip.[/caption] 11. Opening cans and jars often requires a firm grip. Specially designed can openers and jar openers help relieve the pressure. 12. Holding a cup or glass seems like such an easy task, but for people with arthritis, it can be extremely difficult. From angled straws to mugs with long handles and spouts, specially designed cups, glasses, mugs and straws make grasping and holding much easier for people with arthritic fingers and hands.

Rejuvenate and pamper

13. A massage can be a wonderful way to ease joint pain and provide deep relaxation that promotes well-being. A gift certificate for a massage with botanical oils can be a lovely gift for someone special on your list. 14. Acupuncture is shown to relieve pain and stiffness in joins. Why not give your loved one (or yourself) a gift of an acupuncture session? Acupuncture also provides stress relief and increases feelings of well-being. 15. The gift of movement: Regular activity is crucial for improving overall physical health. Yoga, Qi Gong, and stretching or Pilates can improve mobility and build muscle. Why not give some exercise videos such as an arthritis workout, or a gift certificate for a local yoga, Qi Gong or Tai Chi class? 16. Gel-lined mitts and booties provide deep soothing relief for hands and feet, along with botanicals that soften your skin. They give you a spa treatment in the comfort of your own home, making them a perfect gift for the people you want to pamper. 17. In the holiday season, why not play cards and have a little fun? For people with arthritic hands, trying to hold multiple playing cards in one hand can be challenging. You can get hands-free inexpensive playing card holders, to put the zest back into card playing. 18. Everyone wants to look their best during the holiday season, and that includes wearing their most dazzling jewelry. But achy, swollen finger joints can make it difficult to fasten a favorite bracelet, necklace or earrings. The innovative Magnetic Jewelry [caption id="attachment_497" align="alignright" width="300"] A magnetic clasp makes it easier to snap on a bracelet.[/caption] Clasp is easy to connect to any necklace, bracelet or chain clasp within minutes. It transforms jewelry from challenging into wearable in a snap