I did something new!

Painting my own nails



Due to my Cerebral Palsy, my hands are very weak and I don’t have a lot of grip. This makes grasping small objects very difficult and this often affects my independence. I have never been able to write, as pens and pencils just slip out of my hands, I can’t hold earrings, I can’t squeeze toothpaste out of the tube, zip my own zip ( the list is endless ) . 

I always like to try things at least once before asking for help, even if I know I can’t usually do them because I believe  if I try enough times, I may eventually be able to do it one day. I’ve been like that since I was just 9 years old. And I have found it work sometimes.

So today my Mum asked if I wanted my nails painting. I said yes, but I wanted to have a try doing them myself first. The first challenge was unscrewing the top, this took a few minutes, but i managed.  Although I found it tiring and slightly painful. 

My Mum did help me cut and file my nails, I did try, but I don’t quite have that strength yet.
Now the real challenge was actually painting my nails. I held the brush with my whole hand because I don’t have a pincer grasp. This caused nail polish to get all over my hands. So I started painting my thumb nail, probably the easiest nail as it’s bigger. 
My hand was shaking slightly. I did it! Although I did get a bit of polish on my fingers , I did it. As expected my thumb was easier to paint and I struggle to get my other fingers out of a fist. Any way I managed to paint all of my nails. The left hand was easier as my right hand works slightly better.

Once all my nails had dried I got some nail polish remover onto some cotton wool ( another challenge in itself) and carefully cleaned up my hands covered in nail polish. This was very tricky as I had to try and not remove it from my nails. Holding cotton wool is difficult and pouring is too. 

When I achieve something new, it makes me realise that hard work does pay off and that doing all my therapies is worth it.

Tomorrow I will do a blog on hand and finger strengthening activities that are fun for children to do, without them realising they are doing therapy.

Although my mobility seems to be forever worsening, my upper body seems to be forever improving.

I’ll be back tomorrow 
Chloe x


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