Products That Make Life Easier with Psoriatic Arthritis, Plantar Fasciitis, and Enthesitis

Use this product after your hair is wet, but before shampooing. If you have scalp psoriasis, meet your new best friend! If you’ve ever used apricot scrub on your face, this is a much gentler version (minus the apricot seeds) which loosens any loose scalp or plaque scales. You can rub it in with your hands, and you can also use it with the scalp brush/stimulator pictured next. It easily rinses, and now you are ready for your shampoo.

If you have scalp psoriasis, peeling scalp, or just a lot of gunky buildup on your scalp, this scalp brush is fabulous. It is not short, but it is not hard either. I have a very tender scalp, and I have no issue using this. You can use this with your shampoo, and your scalp will feel so clean and tingly.

I have scalp psoriasis (and I’ve had it since I was 8 years old. Tea Tree Oil shampoo is the best thing I’ve found for scalp psoriasis. Your hair will also smell marvelous when you finish.

These little soft face scrubbers are wonderful to keep your face shiny clean. I also use one in the shower with a tiny bit of shampoo to clean behind my ears and right into the scalp line. They are soft, gentle, easy to clean after using, and dry on their own. They are perfect for any place on your body that has a build up of dead skin cells in the form of dry, flaky skin.

This is a bath or shower scrubby. The bristles are soft and feel lovely on your skin. Because it is silicon you don’t have the worries that you have with loofah, scrunchies, or natural bristle brushes. Just rinse it when you are done, and shake out the excess water. Next time you use it, it will be squeaky clean.

What is bizarre looking contraption? It is a spinning caddy. It can hold the items you need daily in your bathroom. I don’t know about you, but many houses today have bathroom cabinets with no drawers or drawer space. If you are stiff and creaky from having PsA, this caddy is perfect on your bathroom vanity. No more bending down to a low shelve in your cabinet to get toothpaste, makeup, creams, razor, etc. One note: To finish putting this together, you have to use these tiny little clear rubber bands. I managed to do it, but if you have severe arthritis in your hands, you may need to get a friend or family member to put it together. I’ve had mine for 3 years now, and it still looks new and works like a charm.

I use this for my cluster box mailbox key. The mailbox keys are so tiny, and the locks are often stiff to turn. This device makes opening my mailbox so easy. Please note: The picture is deceiving. You cannot fit 3 keys on it as shown. Even if you use two keys, they will fit tightly together and be difficult to separate to just use one. This key turner is ideal for one key. I have one for my mailbox key, and one for a paddle lock key I use. Without this device, I can’t use either of those keys successfully.

These two jar openers are real lifesavers. The small one is perfect for opening soups or other canned items that have a pull tab. The larger, crab shaped one is great for opening water bottles, sodas, juices — anything with a cap. Without this device, I would never be able to open my bottled water because I just don’t have the dexterity to do.

My enthesitis often makes using a regular pen impossible. These large pens made for people with arthritis are easy to hold and easy to write with. They have a lanyard on each so you can wear it around your neck if you wish, it is a click pen, so you can click it “off” so you can carry it in your purse or bag without ink getting all over, and it comes with ink replacements! You can get this in blue ink or black ink. These have been wonderful for me.

When I go out to eat, I often can’t hold the silverware they provide, because it is often lightweight and well-worn, and easily slips out of my hand, always landing on the floor. The thick rubber handles make it comfortable and easy to grip. This set of silverware is fabulous. It comes with a canvas carry case, so you can just slip it in your purse or bag if you are going to someone else’s house to ear, or to a restaurant. Once you get home, you can handwash them, or they are top rack dishwasher safe.

This hand putty set contains 4 different strengths of hand putty. (You start with the yellow, which is the softest.) I used these for OT, and I find using putty daily reduces the pain in my hands and fingers, and actually strengthens my fingers. I don’t like to use the putty the OT brings, because other people have been handing it. So I always have this at home, and I am the only one who uses it.

The rings and the finger webs are great for increasing strength and flexibility in your fingers and hands. There are 3 different colors which are different strengths. With PsA you always want to use the softest one, especially at first.

Growing plants and shrubs is my hobby, but my arthritic hands aren’t up to use heavy, stiff pruners. This hand pruner is specifically designed for people with arthritis or hand weakness, and it has a ratchet that makes it cut with very little grip on your part. I can’t recommend them enough. With these, I can garden again!

Biofreeze in a roll-on bottle is great for when your calves are stiff, when you get Charlie horses, or when you wake up with restless legs. You simply roll it on your skin, and it helps your joints and muscles relax and feel better.

If you struggle with Planter Fasciitis, these cooper compression foot sleeves are beyond helpful. They help you prevent getting it, and ifyou already have it, they give you great support and comfort to make walking easier.

Here’s a link to my first book, Embracing Life’s Limitations: Letting Go of Who You Were Supposed to Be. It is a story of growing up with bilateral hip dysplasia, living with psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis, and talks about my cancer journey, months in hospice, and the incredible doctor who tried a very risky surgery that ultimately saved my life. It’s about learning to adapt to, and even embrace, our many limitations. My book is also available as a paperback and a hardcover through this link.

Dry itchy or callused feet? Use this tea tree foot soak either in a foot soaker, or just use an basin or dishpan. This tea tree oil foot soak is incredibly and just what you need for softer more comfortable feet.

These low-cut socks have a special planter fasciitis support built right into their design. I like them in white, but they are also available in black and gray. These are basically the only socks I wear anymore. They are just so comfortable.

If you have enthesitis in your wrists, or sore stiff fingers, make the switch from a computer mouse to this trackerball. It takes a couple of uses to get used to the way a trackerball works, but you move your fingers and wrists so much less with this. This tracker is available in both wired and wireless, and it comes with a padded wrist support (not pictured but included) that will hold your wrist steady while you use it. Without this trackerball, there were months I wouldn’t have been able to use my computer when my enthesitis was especially bad.

This is an automatic toothpaste dispenser. It only takes up a small space on the wall, and you can remove it from the wall easily for cleaning when needed. It doesn’t use batteries, just good old fashion gravity. It works with any basic style toothpaste. You just stick your brush into the opening and push back on a lever, and your toothbrush comes out with toothpaste on it. No more struggling to get the last of the toothpaste out of the tube.

PsA can cause it to be difficult to brush our teeth or floss them because it is too hard to grip the floss or the toothpaste tube. Our teeth can become very sensitive, and our gums can also become puffed-up and painful. Sensodyne fresh mint is my go-to toothpaste now. It also works great in the automatic toothpaste dispenser shown above.

Don’t store your body wash, conditioner and other shower items on the floor, or your shower chair, because that makes it difficult to access them. I have never seen a shelf product like this that actually sticks to the tile walls and stays there! I have been using mine for over two years now, and it is never lost grip. I will add that I don’t use the attachable hooks because they fall out, but the caddy itself is so helpful to put your shower items directly where you can get to them without bending. I also use the item that is shown as a bar soap dish, but I use this to store my silicone body scrubber that is listed early on this page. (PS If you move and have to remove it, you can buy new adhesive tabs for it on Amazon as well.

Why am I showing you suction cups with little hooks on them? Because these stick like magic on my glass shower door and allow me to hang up things like my long-handled back scrubber in my shower. The top 4 of these hooks work spectacularly. The bottom 2 of them, that have plastic hooks instead of metal tend to pop off tile or glass, so I just don’t use those two. The top 4 suction cups with hooks are worth the price!

This small device with a great grip helps you button buttons and zip zips. I lost my ability to pull zippers up and to button tiny buttons years ago. Basically, I just buy clothes that don’t have zippers or buttons, but sometimes there is something you want to wear that has them. When that happens, this button hook/zipper puller is incredibly helpful. Full disclosure here: I have found this device does not work well with the large metal buttons on jeans. So, I just buy pull on jeans, or jeans that I can button and zip, and just pull on. You may have more success with it for jeans, but I just don’t have the finger strength or flexibility to do it. It works fine on regular buttons.

I know this device looks bizarre, but it is something I use in my kitchen daily. It is an egg cracker. Because of the severity of my PsA and enthesitis in my wrists and fingers, when I try to crack an egg, one of two things happens — either I drop the egg and it breaks and makes a mess, or I slam it down on the side of the bowl with such force the entire shell crumbles and I end up with lots of eggshell in my eggs. (And who wants egg shells in their scrambled eggs?) This device, I just put an egg in it, squeeze the metal tabs, which puncture the egg, and open it up and let the inside of the egg come out, while the shell stays in the device. It is incredible! One tip — if your eggs are overly cold (mine are sometimes overly cold from the fridge) it makes it easier if you let the eggs sit on the counter for a few minutes. (If not, you just have to push harder on the metal part.)

If you like fresh citrus fruit, one of these three types of peelers will be just what you need to peel an orange, lemon, lime, or grapefruit. It makes peeling oranges easy.

These foam tubes can be slipped on utensils, toothbrushes, a lady’s razor, or anything that you have trouble holding on to. The tubes are long, but are easily cut to size. If you put them on fork, knives, or spoons, these foam tubes are top rack dishwasher safe. There are so many uses for these foam tubes. They really help you grip and keep a hold of so many items.

This finger putty is the best thing out there. How is it better than other OT finger putties? You can warm this one up in the microwave, and then when you use it the warm loosens and soothes your finger while you pinch, squeeze and roll this product to improve your finger strength and dexterity. My occupational therapist told me about this, so I did a web search for it, and sure enough, I found it on Amazon! The orange color is soft, and the blue is a bit harder. You can order it by the ounce. I personally order it in the 4 oz. size. Best thing I’ve found to keep my fingers moving when they stiffen up or are painful.

Many people with PsA wear compression gloves to bed at night. But if your hands still need compression during the day, typical compression gloves are too thick, making it impossible to type, push buttons on your phone, or even sign your name. These copper compression gloves are thin but provide more compression comfort than the thick traditional gloves. I like this pair because they go up just over my elbows, and I have enthesitis in both my wrists and my elbows. (You can roll them down if you don’t need them to cover your elbows.) These are the best compression gloves I have ever found, and when my hands, wrists, forearms and elbows are painful, I can just put these on and feel the relief.