Tips and Tricks for Making Life a Little Easier with MS: How to Dress for Success when you Have MS

Now what about some tips for dressing?

You simply can't do any research about the topic of dressing when you have MS without running across the name of Shelley Schwarz.  She has written a book entitled, "Multiple Sclerosis:  300 Tips for Making Life Easier" in which a whole section is devoted to the topic of dressing.  She is also the prominent contributor of a website called Meeting Life's Challenges. 

Here are just a few tips I have gleaned from reading Shelley Schwarz's book of tips:

•  Select and lay out your clothing for the next day. 
•  Attach a small pendant, locket, chain object, or notebook ring to the zipper-pull on a jacket or sweater to make it easier to grasp. 
  
• Get dressed while sitting in a chair that has arm rests. This will help you keep your balance. 
•  Wear clothes that are loose-fitting and have elastic waistbands.

And now for my personal tips:

*  Wear loose fitting breathable clothing.   I am finding that some of the newer styles of clothes are so tight and close to the skin that they make me heat up too quickly.  I have had MS symptoms as a result from clingy fabrics or too many layers worn for the winter months. 

*  Velcro is your friend!  You can buy tennis shoes which use velcro instead of shoelaces.  Another trick I do is to have my tennis shoes with shoelaces tied more loosely so I can just slip the shoe on and off without untieing and tieing again. 

*  Buy clothing with big buttons so you can handle them better.

*  If you have shirts or clothing with buttons only unbutton as much as you need to and slide the garment on over your head.

And what about dressing aids and devices?

There are actually a lot of devices you can find which are quite inexpensive to help with your dressing needs including:

        * button hooks for helping to fasten buttons.

        *  reachers for picking up clothes

        *  dressing sticks for pulling up pants and underwear

        *  special shoe horns for putting on shoes

        *  choices of special shoe fasteners and elastic shoelaces.

Where can you find such devices?  I found one company on-line who specializes in such dressing aids and is called Life Solutions Plus. 

What do other MS Community Members have to say about this topic?

Plenty!  I am grateful to Momdukes, Nadja, Denise Coleman, and Vicki Bridges for their suggestions, advice, and contribution to this article. 

*  Nadja has an MS blog called Living with MS     and shares this tip for dressing.