Living with Charcot Marie Tooth Disease isn’t always the easiest thing to do, but you do want to keep yourself strong and active. These are some tips for things that I have learned over the years that have helped myself and my mother out. Many are very easy and are things that you can do on your own while relaxing or being busy through out your daily life.
Tips For Living With CMT
- Carry a stress ball or therapy putty with you everywhere. Your hands are very important as you do not want to lose strength in them. So, in those moments when you find yourself just sitting and waiting pull these out and work those hands. Keep them strong. This will help you keep some muscle and strengthen your hands.
- Stretch while watching TV. This is a lot easier than you would think. I will write up a post later on specific stretches but you can sit and do many of the stretches that I know you probably dreaded in school for the fitness tests. Stretch out those legs and arms.
- Foot care is important. Trim your toenails diligently. You might not be diabetic but many of the same things apply to people with CMT. If you have less feeling you want to check for sores and wounds on your feet. If your feet are cold like mine make sure you keep them dry. Wet feet grow fungus.
- Get the right shoe for you. If you have arches like me you need to worry about high toe boxes, and shoes that are built taller. Do NOT buy a bigger shoe size instead buy a wider shoe. Even if you wear AFOs and know your foot won’t move in the shoe you do not want a shoe that is too big length wise because it will increase the likelihood of you tripping over your feet.