Occupational Therapy

Practical advice on managing Pelvic Girdle Pain

If you are finding it difficult to cope with  day to day activities of daily living it can be extremely helpful to have an assessment by an Occupational Therapist who will assess your home and devise ways in which to make everyday  activities as easy as possible for you.

The advice given will depend on your individual circumstances but the following may be useful:

For Bathing and Toileting

• A shower seat  to avoid having to stand when taking a shower
• A bath board which sits across the top of the bath. You use this to sit on while swinging both legs together when you get into the bath.
• Long handed sponges so you can reach your feet
• A toilet raise to make it easier to get on and off the toilet
• Grab Rails at the side of the toilet, shower or bath
• A commode

Sleeping

• Bed raises to lift the bed to the correct height if you have a low bed and getting in and out of bed is painful
• Monkey Poles to make it easier to move around and turn over in bed

Cooking

• A perching stool can be very useful as you can use this to sit on whilst chopping vegetables or preparing meals. If you are sitting at the kitchen worktop open a cupboard to put your knees in, so you  stay straight.

Dressing

• Sit down to get dressed/undressed to avoid having to stand on one leg while putting on your socks etc
• Long handed dressing aids - Long grabber, shoe horn and sock aid can be very useful as it can be difficult to reach the lower half of your body.

General

• Grabbers or handyreachers - to allow you to pick up things off the floor and to reach high shelves. They are relatively inexpensive and can often be purchased directly from your local chemist or  from an online shop.

Equipment may be loaned from the OT Department, Red Cross or purchased from a specialist retailer or local chemists shop who often have  catalogues of equipment available for purchase.

Unfortunately in many areas there can be a huge demand on the services of an Occupational Therapisy  and consequently long waiting times for treatment. It may be a good idea to ask to speak to someone from the Occupational Therapy department  on the phone as a first step to explain your situation, if you are having difficulties accessing help.