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in Health · May 9, 2016

8 Ways You Can Help Someone with Arthritis

There is a 100% chance that you know someone with arthritis. 1 in 5 Americans live with some kind of doctor-diagnosed arthritis, which can be any of 100 rheumatic diseases. Living with arthritis is hard – there’s no way around that. Today I want to talk about how you can help the arthritis sufferers in your life and make their life a little bit easier.

8 Ways To Help Arthritis Sufferers

Offer specific help – It’s hard to accept help in general (at least for me), but when someone offers help with a specific task, it is much easier to accept than if they offer help as a general construct. For example, offer to bring food or drive them somewhere.

Listen to them when they need to talk – Sometimes, we just need to talk about how we’re feeling (physically or emotionally). In these cases, there probably isn’t anything you can do. But that’s fine, because we’re not asking you to fix us. We just need to talk about how we feel.

Suggest low-impact activities to do together – They might have limited energy and high pain on any given day, so a cycling class or art walk might not be a good idea. Make it yoga or an art museum where they can have a wheelchair, though, and they might be up for it.

At events, offer chairs to sit in if it’s needed – When I go to events, I almost always need a chair to sit in. This isn’t always available, and if a chair is available, it often means that I have to sit alone at the back of the room. Offering a chair if you’re the host or offering to sit with them can make them feel a lot better.

Don’t be offended if they cancel regularly – Arthritis can take a lot out of us, and it isn’t always predictable. We rarely know how we’re going to feel in the future, and no one wants to plan on being absent from something when it isn’t a given. As a result, we may cancel on a regular basis, but I can guarantee that it isn’t personal. (Unless, you know, you’re an awful person.)

Show your support for the cause – I can’t even begin to explain how much it means to me when people show support for arthritis awareness and raising money for arthritis research. You can do this by sharing statistics about arthritis and the stories of people who live with it, as well as donating to organizations that support and fund arthritis research. You can also do that by donating when someone is raising money via Walk To Cure Arthritis or Racing for a Cure.

Educate yourself – People believing incorrect things is annoying (or sometimes hurtful) enough as it is, but when it comes from someone close – a friend, family member, etc. – it hurts much worse. If you believe that arthritis isn’t a big deal and the person with it is exaggerating, please read this post.

Don’t give unsolicited medical advice – If I had a dollar for every person who had given me medical advice without a) knowing much about my personal health issues and b) being asked for it, I would be very, very rich. Unless you are a rheumatologist who has examined the person with arthritis, don’t give advice unasked for. ESPECIALLY don’t say something like, “My cousin/neighbor/random acquaintance has arthritis, and *insert random treatment here* cured them!” First of all, there’s no cure for arthritis. There is remission, but there’s no cure. Second of all, you have no idea if a) the person you mentioned has the same kind of arthritis/situation as the person you’re talking to b) the treatment works on the type of arthritis that the person you’re talking to has c) if the person you’re talking to has tried the treatment mentioned and it hasn’t worked or d) if the treatment actually works at all. You may think you know all of those things, and you may know one or two of them, but I can guarantee that you don’t know all of them with 100% certainty. If, after all of this, you still feel the need to send unsolicited medical advice, check out this post on four questions to ask yourself before sending unsolicited medical advice online.

Learn more about arthritis with these posts:
To the Loved Ones of People with Arthritis
Is Arthritis a Big Deal?
Arthritis Info: Everything You Absolutely Need To Know
The 8 Things a Millennial with Arthritis Wants You To Know
So Someone You Know What Diagnosed with Arthritis
Not All Disabilities Are Visible
We Need To Talk About Ableism

Kate Mitchell

Kate Mitchell is a blogger, chronic illness patient, and advocate who helps people understand chronic illness and helps chronic illness patients live their best lives.

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  1. Kate the (Almost) Great | Boston Lifestyle Blog - So Someone You Know Was Diagnosed with Inflammatory Arthritis | Kate the (Almost) Great says:
    April 28, 2017 at 7:01 am

    […] DO ask if there’s anything you can do to help. The more specific the better here. For example, offer help carrying things if you know they struggle with that. Or offer to drive them to the grocery store if they need that. Most people do not feel comfortable just calling people out of the blue to ask for a favor – even if that person has offered to help – so by giving them a specific way you can help, you’re more likely to actually be able to help them. Here are 8 ways you can help someone with arthritis. […]

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  2. Arthritis Information You Need To Know | Kate the (Almost) Great says:
    June 24, 2024 at 1:16 pm

    […] 8 Ways You Can Help Someone with Arthritis […]

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  3. Rheumatoid Arthritis Guide A-Z: Part Three says:
    October 1, 2024 at 7:02 am

    […] 8 Ways You Can Help Someone with Arthritis […]

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Having decades-long health problems sometimes mean Having decades-long health problems sometimes means coming across something in your health history that you completely forgot about⁣
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Here are some ways I practice self care, aka talki Here are some ways I practice self care, aka talking care of myself AND who I am as a person separate from illness⁣
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3. Notes on my biggest concerns and questions 
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💃🏼 Week 17 of #2025Weekly 💃🏼⁣
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1️⃣ She’s married!! ⁣
2️⃣ She married the best person in the world for her!!!!!⁣
3️⃣ I got dressed up! ⁣
4️⃣ The reality of doing fun things with chronic illness and pain is that then you have to recover from the fun things. It took … a while. One million percent worth it, but this is why I don’t do big events on a regular basis. ⁣
5️⃣ And then I had to be a person again for an appointment!⁣
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3️⃣ Kate takes a mirror selfie. she's in the same red dress but now also wears a jean jacket and holds a cane and mask.⁣
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On the one hand, you should always believe what pe On the one hand, you should always believe what people tell you about their bodies.⁣
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On the other hand, I’ve had so much ridiculous and unconnected health things happen that I do understand why people might not believe me.⁣
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⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣I’m Kate, a chronic illness patient and advocate. Follow me for more content for chronic illness patients and their loved ones!⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
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Last week, I talked about how it surprised me how Last week, I talked about how it surprised me how systemic autoimmune arthritis can be. But something else that surprised me was how much pain can be caused by small things.⁣
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In this picture, I was getting ready to have an MRI on my knee. It has been bothering me a fair amount the last 6+ months, so I'm trying to do something about that. ⁣
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Unsurprisingly, some of the tissue is damaged, but it's not bad. What's probably causing it to bother me so much is a teeny tiny cyst. ⁣
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Baker's cysts are a type of cyst in the knee that are generally caused by arthritis. But having a cyst in my knee means that it's causing pressure on that damaged tissue. ⁣
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The body is a weird thing, and one of these weird things is developing tiny cysts that cause a lot of pain. ⁣
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I’m Kate, a chronic illness patient and advocate sharing what my life is like with 7+ chronic illnesses. Follow me for more and check out my blog at katethealmostgreat.com⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
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1️⃣ Spring has sprung … ⁣
2️⃣ … Which means I am overheating! ⁣
3️⃣ A quick view of NYC on my travels ⁣
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I’m Kate, a chronic illness patient and advocate sharing what my life is like with 7+ chronic illnesses. Follow me for more and check out my blog at katethealmostgreat.com⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
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If I met my newly diagnosed self for coffee ... ⁣
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I tell her how things would get worse before they got better. ⁣
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I'd tell her to stop eating gluten, dairy, corn, soy, and eggs immediately (although that would have been a lot harder in 2010, more than it even is now). ⁣
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I'd tell her that she still needs to keep advocating for herself. ⁣
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I'd tell her that having a diagnosis unfortunately doesn't mean everything automatically falls into place. ⁣
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I'd tell her that she'll develop many more illnesses but her quality of life will actually get significantly better. ⁣
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I'd tell her that she would eventually have to get her right foot fixed, although she does expect that.⁣
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I'd tell her that using a cane is not a sign of failure, but a tool to make life better.⁣
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(I did a sort of tongue-in-cheek post about this a while ago and thought I'd post a more serious one).⁣
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⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣I’m Kate, a chronic illness patient and advocate. Follow me for more content for chronic illness patients and their loved ones!⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
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The thing that surprised me the most about autoimm The thing that surprised me the most about autoimmune arthritis is how systemic it is. ⁣
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Like with most things, it's one thing to know the fact and it's something else to experience it. ⁣
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Yes, my joints are affected (a lot). ⁣
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But I've had enough serious infections thats I have to see an immunologist because we need to be aware of my antibodies and I sometimes need help recovering from illnesses. ⁣
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And, yes, I see pulmonology because of my asthma, but we also have to keep an eye out on developing rheumatoid nodules in my lungs. (So far so good!)⁣
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Not to mention that, when I developed POTS, the hospital admitted me to run every heart test to make sure that, at 26, I wasn't experiencing heart failure. ⁣
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Plus, when I developed endometriosis, I also went through a number of GI tests because one theory was that I had ulcerative colitis. ⁣
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Anyway, RA is so much more than "just" joints. If it wasn't, I wouldn't have to kill my immune system every 3 months like I am in this picture.⁣
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I’m Kate, a chronic illness patient and advocate sharing what my life is like with 7+ chronic illnesses. Follow me for more and check out my blog at katethealmostgreat.com⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
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