The things we don't make

We make exactly one thing, and it solves exactly one problem. This page is about everything else — the difficulties we do not fix, and who genuinely does. None of it is ours and none of it pays us anything.

The one problem we do solve is a soap or lotion pump you cannot press, and even there we are one option of six — the honest comparison is on its own page, including the two cases where somebody else's product is the better buy. If you are not sure yet which difficulty is actually the one to fix, start with what gets harder when your hands hurt.

By problem

Deliberately organised by the difficulty rather than by the product, because the useful question is "what is hard" and not "what is for sale". We have named the kind of thing that helps, and makers or shops where it can be found. We have not published prices for other people's products: they move, and a stale price on somebody else's item is unfair to them and useless to you.

Opening jars

Three levels, and it is worth trying them in order. A rubber grip mat costs a pound or two and solves a surprising share of cases by removing the slip rather than adding force. A manual jar opener — the clamp or cone kind — adds leverage. An electric jar opener sits on the lid and does the whole thing, and is the answer when twisting is not available at all. Stocked by Complete Care Shop, Essential Aids and Ability Superstore, and the mats are in most supermarkets.

Turning taps

Tap turners clip over the taps you already have and give you a long lever, so no plumbing is involved. They come in shapes for cross-head, crystal and knob taps and the shape has to match, which is the usual reason one does not work. If you are replacing taps anyway, a lever mixer removes the problem permanently and can be worked with a forearm. Manage At Home lists a range by tap type.

Lifting a full kettle

A kettle tipper is a cradle the kettle sits in, so pouring is a tilt rather than a lift — the weight never leaves the worktop. A one-cup boiler removes the lift entirely and is often cheaper. Filling from a jug rather than under the tap is free and helps immediately.

Dressing — buttons, zips, socks, shoes

A buttonhook and a zip pull are small, cheap and among the most effective aids there are. A long-handled shoehorn and a sock aid remove the bend as well as the grip. Elastic shoelaces turn lace-ups into slip-ons for a couple of pounds and are the single best value item on this page. All widely stocked by the shops above.

Cutting, chopping and cooking

Angled and thick-handled knives and peelers keep the wrist neutral. Peta (UK) makes the Easi-Grip range — tools and scissors with the handle turned to the angle the hand actually wants — and manufactures in Britain. Etac makes chopping boards with spikes and corner guards that hold food so one hand can do the work of two. OXO Good Grips is not disability equipment and is in every kitchen shop, and its fat, soft handles are frequently what an OT suggests first.

Doors, keys and plugs

Key turners clip onto a key and triple the leverage — a few pounds, and one of the most effective things on this page. Plug pulls give a plug a handle. Lever door handles instead of round knobs can be worked with an elbow, a wrist or a hip.

Carrying, and hands that get cold

A bag handle spreads a carrier bag across the palm instead of cutting into the fingers. For hands that lose function in the cold — common with Raynaud's — heated gloves and hand warmers change what is possible, and warming your hands before a task is free. The NHS page on Raynaud's is a good plain start.

UK makers and shops worth knowing

Named because they exist and are easy to reach from the UK, not because we have any relationship with them. We have not tested their whole ranges and we are not reviewing them.

• Peta (UK) — the Easi-Grip range of angled tools, scissors and garden equipment. British manufacturing.
• Croydex — UK bathroom fittings, including wall-mounted lever soap dispensers of the kind used in clinics.
• Etac — Scandinavian design for daily living; kitchen, dressing and bathing equipment, widely stocked here.
• Essential Aids, Complete Care Shop, Ability Superstore and Manage At Home — UK retailers carrying most of the categories above.

And the one to start at rather than finish at: Living Made Easy, run by the Disabled Living Foundation. It is an impartial database rather than a shop, it lists products from everyone, and it has no reason to sell you anything.

The two free routes almost nobody knows about

A needs assessment from your council

In England you can ask your council's adult social care team for a needs assessment without going through a GP. Equipment recommended after an assessment is frequently provided at no cost, and an occupational therapist looks at your actual home rather than a catalogue. The NHS page on help from social services explains how to ask.

REMAP — when the thing that would help does not exist

REMAP is a UK charity (registered 1137666 in England and Wales, SC050584 in Scotland) whose volunteers — engineers, makers, retired designers — design and build one-off equipment for individual disabled people, free of charge, across around 65 branches.

They are the answer to "nothing on the market does what I need". One of their published cases is an adapter made for a client whose arthritis meant she could not work a pump spray without her partner's help — a sprung plate that let her do it herself. That is the same problem this shop exists for, solved for one person, for nothing, by volunteers. If a product is not right for you, they are worth an email before you spend anything.

How to choose without wasting money

• Name the movement, not the task. "I cannot twist" and "I cannot pinch" and "I cannot lift" lead to completely different aids. A jar opener is useless if the difficulty is actually the weight of the jar.
• Try the free change first. A grip mat, a corner of the worktop, a lighter bottle, warming your hands. A surprising number of problems dissolve without buying anything.
• Buy one thing and live with it for a fortnight before buying the next. Drawers full of unused aids are the normal outcome of buying six at once.
• Ask an occupational therapist before a big purchase. They will often name something cheaper.
• Check it can be returned. Fit is individual, and the thing that works for somebody in a review may not suit your hands.

Where to get proper help, most of it free

Nothing on this website is a substitute for any of the following, and all of it is better than a website.

• A pharmacist. No appointment, no referral, and they will talk to you about hand pain and about what is worth trying. The most under-used free advice in the country.
• Your GP. Particularly if the difficulty is new, getting worse, worse in the morning, or in both hands at once.
• An occupational therapist. This is the profession whose actual job is the problem this page is about — they look at your hands and your kitchen, not at a category page. In England you can ask your council for a needs assessment for equipment and adaptations, and much of what they recommend is provided at no cost. Ask your GP, or your council's adult social care team directly.
• Arthritis UK — the charity that was Versus Arthritis until its 2026 rebrand — and NRAS both run free helplines staffed by people who know this subject properly.
• Living Made Easy, run by the Disabled Living Foundation, is an impartial database of daily-living equipment. It lists products from everyone, including our competitors and including things that would replace PALM entirely. If you want to compare options without being sold to, start there.