Some Thoughts on Pruning Shears for Arthritis
Arthritis is an affliction that can affect anyone at anytime and can be particularly debilitating, even when treated.
Joints that get (over) worked regularly may be at particular risk.
So as a gardener who has been pruning for a long time, the onset of arthritis in your hands or knees or back can be double whammy.
Firstly, it obviously makes pruning less enjoyable. Secondly, its likely to get worse as you get older.
Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid arthritis are the most common forms of arthritis .
Neither are pleasant to have to deal with.
The main aim of treating arthritis (of any kind), is to reduce the severity of the symptoms and improve quality of life.
So how can we apply that to pruning shears?
The obvious kicker here is that ideally, you should stop pruning to lessen the stress on the joints. But is that improving the quality of your life?
It could be argued that if you are an avid gardener or farmer and love being outside in your garden or orchard tending to your plants and trees, then stopping that activity definitely does not improve your quality of life.
In fact, quite the opposite. Your world becomes smaller and less interesting.
What About Electric Pruning Shears?
Electric Pruning Shears may offer a viable and long lasting solution to continue pruning even when you suffer from arthritis.
This is particularly true if the arthritis is in your hands. These electric shears will dramatically reduce the stress placed on your hands during pruning.
However, they could be a winner even if your arthritis affects your back or knees.
How so?
By reducing the time you spend pruning! These electric pruning shears not only require less physical effort to cut through each branch or stem you want to prune, but they do it faster as well.
So time spent on the job is reduced and your physical effort is reduced. At the same time however you accomplish the desired outcome!
The only potential downside is that you spend less time doing what you love.
But hey, life is rarely perfect and you can always find some shade, sit down and admire your handiwork! And without stressing your arthritic joints any further.
That would be a win – win in most people’s books!
A Manual Alternative
But what happens if your trigger and middle fingers are so badly affected by arthritis that even operating electric pruning shears is painful, or even impossible?
A lot will depend on how the rest of your hand and wrists are affected.
However, if you can bear some pressure on the palms of your hands, then a set of long handled pruning shears may be the answer.
Using your palms, the long handles will allow you to exert the necessary force on the cutting surface to prune the branch or stem.
Admittedly you will need some finger action to keep hold of the handles, but you wont need to curl the fingers as much and you certainly wont have to do that repetitively with every cutting motion.
Its not ideal, but then neither is arthritis. But where there’s a will, there’s a way and this is one option that is worth pursuing.
To Conclude
While arthritis of any kind and in any form is a health set back for anyone, it needn’t necessarily signal the end of your pruning efforts.
With a bit of insight and investigation, you may well be able to come up with a viable solution that will see you in your garden or orchard, doing what you enjoy, for years to come.
Forza!
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