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For those who have chronic pain, just fixing a meal can be a daunting task. Here are some tips for making life in the kitchen a little less painful…
The layout If you have the luxury of designing your own kitchen or are looking into buying a new house, then there are a few things you might want to keep in mind. Kitchens always come in standard heights. Unless you bump your head on the doorpost on the way out, it would not occur to most people to have kitchen that is slightly raised. A higher kitchen worktop is handy for those that have back problems or problems in working with their hands. If you can work in a normal position and don't have to mind your posture, that saves you half the energy (and pain)! If you can't afford a radical change, perhaps raising part of the worktop will do the trick. Alternatively you could buy an extension that is the right height for you, so that you can use that when you need to accomplish tasks that will take a while. It's also a good thing to keep a barstool in the kitchen so if there is anything on the stove that requires long term stirring (or just an eye kept on it), you can have a rest while minding the food. The layout of the cabinets is definitely also something worth thinking about. Be sure to give everything its own place so you don't end up looking for the salt or pepper every day. Of course there is always something you can't reach and for this it is handy to keep a little plastic step in the kitchen. This makes it easier to reach into the high cupboards and doubles as a handy seat for when you are rummaging in the low cupboards! Not many people are in the position to design their own kitchen, but if you are one of the lucky ones, it pays off to choose a surface that is really easy to keep clean (also something worth considering when picking the cupboards) and if you can, splash out on that dishwasher ! It's a life saver. There are many good cookers, but the easiest gas cooker to clean is one that uses hardened glass with robust fire distributors which come off easily and can be cleaned in the dishwasher. All it takes is window cleaner and it's as good as new. If you are making some renovations to your kitchen or having a brand new one, think about having a boiling water reservoir installed. The reservoir keeps a certain amount of water at boiling point, so all you need to do is fill your tea pot and put a bag in it. The reservoir fills itself up after use. Some come with extendable handles so you can squish the water right in the pan already set on the cooker. Get a grip Wrapping wide rubber bands around objects means that less effort is required to grip them. Go wild with a multi-pack of elastic bands! Wrap them around anything you need to grip. Door handles, cutlery, the phone, your hairbrush… the list is endless! Most supermarkets nowadays sell small thin pieces of rubber grip, which you can use to make opening jars and turning taps easier. If you are getting a new kitchen you can of course bear your limitations in mind and order certain things to suit your limitations, such as taps that you can easily push on and off with your elbow or whatever part of your body doesn’t hurt! You can now buy can openers and bottle openers that are specially designed for people with hand pain or weakness. Don’t keep struggling with that ancient bottle opener that has special meaning because it was a gift. Put it in a box somewhere and treat yourself to one that won’t cause you pain! You can even buy devices that make ring-pull cans easier to open. Most large supermarkets stock these nowadays. Alternatively, you could use some leverage to reduce the effort required, by sliding a spoon under the ring-pull to push the ring-pull up, then putting the handle of the spoon through the hole of the ring-pull and easing the lid off. Food Shopping The list... not one but two. One in the kitchen and one next to the sofa. You usually see what is finished while you are in the kitchen, but the brighter ideas usually come when you are relaxing. Some people will have forgotten the thought again by the time they make it to the list in the kitchen, so why not keep two lists? Remembering to bring them is another thing of course! Ask your butcher or poultry shop to pre-cut the meat you are using for cooking, when you know you will require it to be cut into small pieces for rice dishes or a stew. It's usually not much hassle for them, as they have the proper knives for the job. Keeping their customer satisfied is more important to them, so they usually do not charge you for the extra work. Most supermarkets will have pre-cut meat and chicken already packaged, but the chances are it's probably a bit more expensive. Chopped vegetables are also available. Also at a price, but some days it is just so worth it. If you have a good day, a friend to help or a good kitchen machine, consider chopping up all of your vegetables in one go and freezing them before use. If you do this, you cannot refreeze the dish after it is cooked with the vegetables in it that were previously frozen. It's possible to pre-chop and freeze peppers, broccoli, carrots, etc. Most people will go out by car, but if you are on foot, do consider taking a roller cart with you. They also make these the size you can attach to your bicycle these days. No big strong man around when unloading? A handy trolly can do the hard work and you can ride the groceries right into the kitchen. Shopping takes a lot out of you, especially if you have the weekly load to houl in. Spoil yourself by bringing something easy to cook and eat that day. You can start on the rest of the food the next day. Cooking When you do feel up to cooking, consider making extra so that you can freeze half of the food for another night when you are in too much pain to cook. It might be worth doing a little more chopping tonight so that you can just heat up your food tomorrow. Food will stay good in a freezer for up to two weeks, so you could cook for 3 or 4 days..... An electric steamer is a helpful tool for cooking. The base can be filled up with cups of cold water, so you don’t need to lift the kettle and you can use them to cook all sorts of things, such as chicken, fish, potatoes, rice… they aren’t just for vegetables! Store your heavy pots and pans on shelves at waist level close to where you use them and be sure to pick them up with both hands if your pain is evenly distributed. This limits the strain on your hands, wrists, elbows and shoulder blades. Instead of carrying a heavy pot from one side of the kitchen to the other, put the pot on a table mat and slide the table mat across your kitchen surfaces. Sliding a heavy object uses far less energy than lifting it! If you find lifting saucepans difficult, you could try using a chip pan basket in the saucepan so that you can just lift the basket out. If you find that lifting a kettle hurts your hands or arms, consider buying a travel kettle. Travel kettles are usually plastic, which makes them lighter than their metal counterparts. They are smaller, which of course makes them lighter too and has the added benefit of preventing you from filling the kettle more than you really need. Extra water just adds weight and causes more pain! Make sure your knives are as sharp as possible, so that less pressure is needed to cut food. Bigger knives also require less force than smaller knives. Many people find it easier to use a knife that has a right-angled handle. This reduces the amount of pressure required to cut food and makes carving far less painful. Knives with right-angled handles can be purchased from most disability shops and you can get them for different purposes, such as for cutting bread or for cutting vegetables. Another popular trick is to store only light items, such as boxes of cereal in the high up cupboards and use a pair of long-handled tongs to reach them. Be sure to only do this with light items in case you drop them! Enjoying your culinary delights If your hands are always in agony by the end of a meal, try plastic cutlery, plates and cups. You may be surprised at how much less you tense your hand up to grip a plastic item, because they are so much lighter. Plastic cutlery is usually bigger than metal cutlery, which makes it easier to grip as well. Using a straw can also benefit people with hand and neck pain because you don’t need to lift the glass or tilt your head backwards to drink from the glass if you are using a straw. If grinding salt and pepper hurts your wrists, seek out battery operated salt and pepper grinders. Yes they do exist! Then all you’ll need to do is press a button, rather than grip and twist. If you have a wheelchair, you may have discovered that it is difficult to transport a cup of coffee from one room to another if you don't want to sit and drink it next to the kettle. A way of getting around this problem is to use a travel mug and put it between your legs while you move. A travel mug will be well insulated so it shouldn't feel hot against your legs and you can put the lid on so that the coffee does not splash out and burn you. Do you have more coping tips to add to this list? Please let me know via the "Contact Us" option at the top of this page, so that I can add your suggestion! Best wishes, Prickles! & a little Carla :) |
