Well here’s the thing… for ten years I have been buying shoes with bungee laces/zips/straps etc etc because I thought I wouldn’t be able to tie shoelaces with only one hand.
It wasn’t until the recent paralympics that I realised it could be done quite easily. I caught the tail-end of an interview with someone involved in the games, where she was talking about showing someone how to tie the laces on their trainers, that I had the Homer Simpson ‘doh!’ moment. Of course it’s possible! These athletes don’t have a troupe of assistants for shoelace tying duty!
I researched YouTube and there are loads of tutorials. Why did I not know this? Why did no-one ever mention this?
It took a bit of practice, but is quite easy to do. Hooray! Real lace-ups!
I’ve been doing this for a long time. I like it because it gives me more choice of shoes. Is there anything else you struggle with? Ask me, I assume I can do anything one-handed (up to and including putting up shelves) and then work out a way.
I know there is a way of fastening a bra, but I haven’t researched it yet. These are things that I feel should have been mentioned to me years ago, but weren’t. I just went along with what hospital staff told me at the time. I have a go at most things, (some are successful, others not) but a lot of stuff I have stumbled upon purely by chance.
Do the bra up before putting it on, then put it on as you would a T-shirt. It helps if the bra has some stretch. I generally pull the straps off my shoulders while I pull the cups down.
I have to sit down to dress as i can’t lift my foot off the floor so need help with that. But once it’s over my feet & legs I stand up and pull up over my bum…it’s not pretty but it works sort of
I do pull them over my head sometimes, but they tend to be a bit loose. There is a video on YouTube by a girl called Allison Blazo. I’ll try her method. I’m just getting a bit bored with the pull on bras I usually get, and don’t get me started on removable padding!!
I watched her clips this morning and thought they were some handy tips, not that I need them now. The bra one is much how my daughter puts hers on, albeit with the use of 2 hands. It’s a shame Allison didn’t do any more.
When searching for such tips, don’t limit yourself to stroke related only, paraplegics/amputees can certainly teach us a thing or two on how live life to the fullest without an arm or leg
We could do with a permanent post like this for everyone to come to for ideas or add tips of their own
And well done to you on on finding a way to tie shoelaces again
I don’t search for specifically stroke related stuff. I just type in what I’m looking for. The Shoelace Tying video I used, was by a man who’d had an arm amputated.
It would’ve been so nice though, if we’d been given these little nuggets of information by those responsible for our welfare at the start, instead of telling us not to buy lace-ups and buy pull-on bras.
Hi Minnie B - one advantage of being a man is Bras are not a challenge. Shoe laces were a challenge to begin with but as movement in my hand gradually returned this got easier. Buttons on the other hand are still to be mastered. Best wishes Bob D
The bra challenge isn’t one I’ve had either AND the show laces challenge I avoided by using an old pair of elastic twizel ones the kids left behind from teenage years
I now recognise that that just played into neuroplasticity’s ‘evil hands’ - it’s robbed me of a 1,000 opportunities to develop dexterity
There is a Point of philosophy which is the OT/ PT tension. The OT seeks to ‘build-in compensations’ that allows one to make the best of life with the limitations you have. PT seeks to development capability that can be used to improve life.
Well I don’t much care about the toss-up between being able to tie a shoelaces and not needing to I do care about the dexterity needed to write, or use mobile phone or cope with those pesky shirt buttons all of which have been set back from lack of those thousand activities of daily living would have contributed.
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