Hoo boy! I have made a bunch of gift guides for chronic illness patients over the years (2019, 2018, 2017, and in 2014), but I think this is the best one I’ve made yet. It definitely has the most gifts I’ve ever included in a chronic illness gift guide! All of this is to say that this post has the best gifts for someone with chronic pain or a chronic illness. I’m serious!
I know this post will help you find the right gift, but you better hurry – Hanukkah is almost over, Christmas Eve is 3 weeks away, and Kwanzaa is 3 weeks and 2 days away. Get shopping!
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All 2021 Gift Guides | All Gift Guides
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This post has a lot of gifts in it. Like, a lot. I want to give you a heads up that we’re starting with the big ticket gifts, then going to useful gifts, and then fun gifts. So don’t be discouraged by more expensive gifts that we’re starting with!
Best Gifts for Someone with Chronic Pain & Illness: Big Ticket Gifts
Deep Tissue Massage Gun – Are you shopping for someone who lives with muscle pain? Someone who might wish they could go get massages regularly? Get them this! This massage gun has 30 multi-speed settings and 6 specialty massage heads. It looks freaking awesome.
Owala 24oz FreeSip Stainless Steel Water Bottle – This water bottle keeps drinks cold for up to 24 hours, and it also has LED smart sensor puck that will glow to remind you to drink, and more.
Fitbit Charge 5 – Fitbit describes this as “most advanced fitness & health tracker with tools like an on-wrist ECG app for heart health, EDA Scan app for stress management and more” (x).
Fitbit Luxe – This is more of a jewelry design (hence the name) and it includes heart rate tracking, stress management, and more.
Fitbit Inspire – This is what I have! I love it and wear it every single day. The most important thing to me is that it tracks your heart rate, which it does beautifully.
Garmin vívosmart® 4 – This is a wearable tracker that has “advanced sleep monitoring with REM sleep and can gauge blood oxygen saturation levels during the night with the wrist-based Pulse Ox² sensor,” as well as “wrist-based heart rate, all-day stress tracking, relaxation breathing timer, VO2 max, Body Battery™ energy monitor and more” (x).
Apple Watch – Be a REAL big deal and get them an Apple Watch! In addition to all the Apple things that it has, it also is “the most advanced Apple Watch health and wellness features yet, including the Blood Oxygen app and the ECG” (x).
Living Life with Chronic Illness: Common Problems & Their Solutions
Best Gifts for Someone with Chronic Pain & Illness: Useful Gifts
This is a collection of somewhat random gifts that are great for people with chronic illness and will be useful gifts.
Olive and June
I personally love having painted nails. They make me feel more put together and kind of like I can take on the world. But I have rheumatoid arthritis in my fingers, which makes painting my nails a bit more difficult. And even before the pandemic, I prefer to paint my nails than pay for someone to paint them. (I never get a professional manicure unless I have an event.)
Olive and June makes painting my own nails and having a salon-level manicure at home so much easier. I got the O&J Mani System for my birthday this past year and I absolutely love it.
But the thing that makes O&J so great for chronic illness patients is their product called the Poppy. This “patented universal polish bottle handle” (x) makes it way easier to paint your nails and have it look nice. And it doesn’t just work for O&J nail polish bottles! It works with most nail polish bottles.
Olive & June has other great systems such as The Press-On System, The Pedi System, The Complete System (which has everything in the Polish Mani System and the Pedi System), The Mani Weekender, and The Mani Jetsetter.
Olive & June is an awesome company that makes a lot of cool things, and they make great gifts for everyone. But if you always feel crappy, having nice nails is a big boost. You’re not just giving someone an at-home manicure set – you’re giving them the power to feel good about themselves.
Hoka One One Sneakers
I have very bad feet. I have rheumatoid arthritis and tarsal coalitions in both feet, and I have had 5 foot/ankle surgeries. I also have extremely flat feet. All of this means that I basically only wear sneakers, and the only sneakers I wear are Hokas.
Hoka One One was suggested to me by my foot surgeon, and I haven’t looked back. I have 2 pairs of sneakers at any given time: 1 for outdoors and 1 for indoors. When the outdoor pair gets worn out, the indoor pair becomes the outdoor pain and I order a new pair for the indoors.
I have probably gone through 7 or 8 pairs of Hokas, no joke. I absolutely love them. Here are some popular women’s sneakers:
Clifton 8 – These sneakers provide a neutral level of stability and have a balanced cushion.
Bondi 8 – These sneakers are “the most cushioned shoe in the HOKA road-shoe lineup”. They provide a neutral level of stability and plush cushion.
Rincon 3 – These sneakers are designed for running! They provide neutral stability and have a balanced cushion.
Zinal – These sneakers were designed for trail running (very different from running on asphalt). They have neutral stability and a responsive cushion.
Gaviota 4 – Finally, these are my favorite sneakers. They have the highest level of stability possible – necessary for my messed up feet – and balanced cushion. They feel great to walk on and I love them so much.
Hoka One One makes incredible sneakers, which are great gifts for all sorts of people in your life, but they also make other awesome gifts. Check them all out here.
Now that I’ve shared some miscellaneous useful gifts, I want to highlight Mighty Well, one of my favorite companies. They are where I got the only masks I wear (that aren’t disposable) as well as my mask holder. They have some incredible products, and the company itself was made by a chronic illness patient.
If you buy anything from Mighty Well, use my code “KATEM10” for 10% off! I love Mighty Well and have bought a bunch of stuff from them, which is why I’m a Mighty Well Ambassador.
Mighty Pack – This is “the perfect versatile solution for patients looking for an IV infusion backpack that can hold everything you need” (x).
Brain Fog Fix Planner – This planner “includes space to track daily symptoms, hydration, thoughts and moments of gratitude amidst the daily challenges” (x).
Mighty MedPlanner – This is a chronic illness patient’s new best friend! It “organizes all your medical supplies in a neat and discreet way” (x).
Cocoon Cardigan – This cozy cardigan is also super functional! It can discreetly hold medical supplies, the style of it enables easy run of IV meds, and has cuffed wide sleeves for easy movement and access to whatever is necessary.
IMMUNO Full Zip – Give this to someone who needs to tell other people to BACK UP!
IMMUNO Compromised Tee – This is a bit more subtle, but still perfect for someone with a suppressed immune system.
Mighty Pack Care Kit – This kit includes the Mighty Pack (linked above), an UNDEFEATED t-shirt, and immunocompromised stickers.
I also want to talk about Vitassium.
Do you know someone who lives with a chronic illness like POTS? You should give them Vitassium products! Vitassium is a great way to get electrolytes, which can help with symptoms like lightheadedness and fatigue. It comes in Electrolyte Capsules, FastChews, and DrinkMix. Give the gift of feeling better this season.
9 Arthritis Products That Help My Rheumatoid Arthritis
Best Gifts for Someone with Chronic Pain & Illness: Fun Gifts
You can probably figure out what’s in this section based on the title, but this is all fun gifts! From stickers to t-shirts, from mugs to keychains, these are all miscellaneous fun things.
Chronic Illness Stickers for Laptop: “My Illness Is Chronic But My Ass Is Iconic”
Chronic Illness Survival Kit Pouch – This pouch says “Chronic Illness Survival Kit” on it; the survival kit is all on the patient. You could give them this pouch as is or you could fill this with fun things like candy, pins, stickers, and more.
Disability and Chronic Illness Vinyl Sticker Pack
Gift Boxes by CandleTherapy – This comes in self-care, chill, meditation, relief, or build your own.
No More Spoons Only Knives Left Shirt
Liquid Spoons Chronic Illness Mug
Chronically Empowered Published Book – This book is about “Over 60 exceptional, worldwide Chronic Illness Warriors describe how they embrace their chronic illnesses while providing educational information about them along the way” (x).
Accessibility Is Not Optional Unisex Sweatshirt
Affirmation Cards For Spoonies
It’s Not Lazy, It’s Chronic T-Shirt
Spoonie Shirt
Disabled NOT Disposable
Invisible Illness Club T-Shirt
Some Days are harder than others… enamel pin
Some Disabilities are Invisible Enamel Keyring
Happy shopping!
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Like this post? Check out:
Living with a Suppressed Immune System in a Pandemic, Chronic Illness and the Holidays: 10 Rules for a Great Season, Chronic Illness Advice: Resources for the Newly-Diagnosed Patient
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.
Great gifts! Thank you for sharing. My husband has chronic pain so this is great
My Mom has arthritis and possibly lupus. Thanks for sharing!!
~Michelle
https://michellescrazybusylife.net