Arthritis-friendly pen?

[Judybug]

I have some arthritis problems in my wrists and thumb joints. It comes and goes, but some days a long writing session gets to be painful. The fattest pen I own is Waterman Phileas and it is the most comfortable for writing at a long stretch.

 

Am I right in assuming that fat pens are best for arthritic hands? If so, maybe something even fatter than Phileas would be even better. Any suggestions? [Try to keep suggestions under $100 - well, maybe $150.]

 

Judybug

[Rob R]

I too have arthritis in my fingers.

 

I find that these work for me.

 

Parker 51

Parker 45

 

I have a waterman charleston that is good when posted.

 

I tried the $27 danitrio that Kevin had. Too heavy in the long run. It is a fatter pen.

 

I have a parker vector (old version) that posted is long and thin. It works good for me.

 

It maybe trial and error and arthritis medicine. I also find that fountain pens are much better than ballpoint pens.

 

Good luck.

[daveg]

If fat is the goal, some of Kevin's raw Danitrios seem like a likely choice. The prices are close to your budget or maybe a few tens of dollars above. Because they're ebonite and don't have a bunch of metal parts or trim, they're quite light for their size which probably helps too.

Edited August 7, 2006 by daveg

[RLTodd]

I would think large diameter and light. Possibly a Wality 69L as sold by isellpens.com and others.

[Judybug]

When pen sellers give the pen diameter dimension, is this the dimension of the grip, where you hold the pen - or is this the diameter dimension at the pen's widest point - which is usually on the barrel above the grip?

 

Judybug

[Dr.Grace]

I second the idea of the Dani Trio raw ebonite. The Hanryo is about the same size as the $27 pen but much lighter.

 

If you don't mind going vintage, another possibility is an oversize Sheaffer Balance. These pens are very light and comfortable to hold, and if the nib is tuned, write very reliably.

 

Don

[BillTheEditor]

Another arthritis sufferer here. The pens that work best for me for long stretches of writing are:

 

Danitrio Densho Raw Ebonite

Danitrio $27 pen (for some reason the weight doesn't bother me that much)

Rotring Core

Parker Sonnet

Parker 75 (the later version with the "fat section")

 

I am able to use other pens, including smaller diameters, just not for hours on end.

[Mary P]

I have arthritis in my hands. My right thumb never comes close to straightening out anymore. The joints in all my fingers are swollen and misshapen.

 

I do not use really fat pens. Neither do I opt for really slim pens. The most uncomfortable pen I have ever tried to use was a "Dr. Grip". The pens I can use the longest without pain include: standard size vintage Sheaffer Balance, Pelikan 400-sized pens, Estie SJs, etc.,. The old adage "in all things moderation" really applies to me when it comes to pen size.

 

I started using vintage pens on a regular basis because I found that many modern pens were too heavy for me to use comfortably for any length of time. I went through treatment for carpal tunnel nearly 10 years ago. My PT is the one who suggested that I move away from the so-called "adaptive use" thick pens. He asked me what sized pen stenographers chose years ago. Then he pulled an old Craig Gregg fountain pen from his pocket. He said "Repetitive stress injuries were unheard of when countless clerks wrote rapidly all day long with pens like this."

 

Things other than size impact comfort of use. If a pen is back-weighted such that it tends to pull itself back from the writing surface, that pen will become uncomfortable for me to use quite quickly. (This is one of the reasons I almost never post.) If it is neutral or weighted more toward the nib, it takes less effort to write and puts less stress on the writer.

 

Because of my thumb I use a much flatter hold than many. That is the primary reason I really can't write with a ballpoint. The vertical hold is beyond my capability. My hold isn't really a problem with most vintage pens. The sweet spot on those nibs was place with a hold not too dissimilar to mine in mind. However, many contemporary pens are designed for an almost vertical hold because that is the way people accustomed to ballpoints tend to hold fountain pens, too. I often need to have a nibmeister adjust the nib of my contemporary pens to move the sweet spot more inline with my writing position.

 

Posture is a big factor in writing comfort. So is relaxation. If you hold your pen with a death grip you will experience pain far sooner than if you adopt a looser hold.

 

If you are interested in other coping strategies and recommendations, contact me back-channel.

[meanwhile]

If you can stretch to it, the Danitrio Densho Raw might be just what you want. It's a wonderful fat, grippable cigar, and weighs almost nothing. Its eyedropper fill, but with a huge ink tank that lasts forever.

 

Lower in price - have you thought of looking for a used Sheaffer Legacy? The pre-Bic pens are said to be excellent writers and they have PFM style dimensions. I've seen them go for $40 for user grade pens. Or there were some PFMs being sold on the Marketplace - I think one would just scrape inside your price.

[KCat]

I have a lot of hand pain - "lupus arthritis" which is non-deforming and tends to come and go. My personal feeling is that it is something you have to experiment with unfortunately. I bought a couple of fat pens thinking that it would give me more writing time. Ultimately I come back to my 200s which are neither fat nor slim from what I've seen of the market. Obviously too slim for some, but not Parker Vector slim. Sometimes the 600 size is just as comfortable but anything larger is always a strain. Anything too slim is painful as well. I am really stuck in a very narrow (NPI) range of pen sizes because of this.

 

As hubby often says - I'm picky. So, I think the only way to know for certain is to experiment. You might want to go low-end fat (Wality for example) and use it for a couple of weeks. If it works for you, then you can go for something a little more expensive if you like.

 

And if someone else has already said this - my apologies for being redundant. I have a killer headache and don't feel i can read all the posts at the moment.

 

I look forward to hearing what you try and what works for you.

 

Best,

KCat

[sonia_simone]

Great post, Mary, very informative.

 

Judybug, if you post your list of pens to try here and I have one, I'll gladly lend to you for a "test drive." Of those already mentioned, I have a Dani $27, a Legacy (a quite heavy pen, FWIW) and an Estie.

[aircraft_electrician]

While I don't have arthritis, I do suffer from almost constant hand pain as a result of too many years spent turning wrenches for a living.

 

Anyway, I find that merely switching pens often helps more than using any one slim, fat, light or heavy pen. For me, holding my fingers in one position for a long time causes much more pain than changing the grip by changing pens. I often switch from a slim pen to a thicker pen and back again when I write for long periods of time.

 

I hope you find something that works for you.

 

Tom

[Scorpio]

Judybug,

 

I have a couple of Esties J's and LJ's you can "test drive" if you like. I have severe Chronic RA that is under control with medication(ENBREL) yet I still try to keep my pens light and somewhat in the middle of the road as far as thickness is concern. For me too fat is very uncomfortable but Sheaffer's Balances seem to be quite right for me which is probably why I have ten of them. Esties are also light and not too thick which is the reason I like them, I have seven of them. Notice a trend.

By all means find the pens that feel comfortable and easy on your hands. I too hate pain. Let me know if I can help.

 

Rafael

Edited August 8, 2006 by Scorpio

[Dr.Grace]

I have a Balance (not oversized) that you could try out if you want. It writes fairly well. But because of some brassing to the trim, it's not terribly valuable, certainly not worth as much as the finest examples of this species, so I wouldn't mind loaning it out to you. You could get an idea of how a Balance might feel in your hand after you write with it for a while.

 

Don

[Michael Wright]

A lot of good advice. I'd like to highlight, from my experience:

 

1. Light and balanced and especially not top-heavy;

 

2. Not very thin: I first noticed my problem when I was using a Cross Century -- an excellent pen, but the slimness made for an over-tense hold;

 

3. Changing pens may well be the best of all.

 

A fat pen is better than a thin pen, but for me, the most usable single pen is a Pelikan 200/400, or one of the classic old practical pens, like a Vacumatic, "51," or Sheaffer Balance.

 

Sellers normally quote diameter at the thickest point of the barrel. There is, as it happens, surprisingly little difference between a pen that feels slim (say, Snorkel at about 10.7 mm, IIRC), and a pen that feels fairly fat (PFM at 12.4 mm). You might try changing your grip on the pen, as well as changing the pen -- moving your hold away from the nib, if you hold right near the point.

 

A pen that might be very good is the Parker Junior Duofold, but button-fillers can be painful to fill on a bad thumb day.

 

Good luck

 

Michael

 

plain old osteo-arthritis in the thumb joints

[pvdiamon]

I would really think you should check out the Sensa Meridian. It is fat, and it has that great Sensa "piece" that molds to your fingers. It's a great pen, I think very under-rated. My problem was that it is a little heavy for a shirt pocket, and I don't like the way the cap posts (a little loose). But for arthritis, I would think it would feel great.

[tzmcneill]

Judybug:

 

I like the idea of examining what stenographers used, good idea, good idea. I use a Dani raw ebonite Mikado, I can write with it for ever and it doesn't bother my hands, I damaged them boxing so holding small thin pens is very painful. I'd also recommend a pen that has a bit of a soft texture, I've found that pens that are too slick cause me to grip to hard which leads to sore hands, if not the Dani, then try something made of ebonite or celluloid, they have a nice "softer" feel in the hands as opposed to metal or resin, caesine might also work as well.

[Judybug]

I really appreciate all the comments and suggestions about pens as related to arthritis problems. You've all made me think a little differently.

 

After losing a cap or two years ago because I didn't post, I became an "always post" person. Since reading all your comments, I've been doing some experimenting and have found that my Monteverde Invincia is much more comfortable if I do NOT post. I've had that pen for several years and had never once tried using it without posting! It's easy to get in a rut.

 

Some of you said that you think it's important to write with pens of different sizes. Now that you mention it, that makes sense. I've learned since developing osteo-arthritis that - for the sake of all my joints - I have to do different activities - can't stay in the same position too long. The pens I have now are all in the average to slim category. The Monteverde Invinia is a mix. The barrel is fairly large in diameter, but the grip is narrow. Anyway, I think I'd like my next pen to be a nice fat pen just to add to the variety of my collection.

 

I'm sure - as one of you mentioned - that finding the perfect pen for long writing sessions is going to be a trial and error process. THANKS for all your comments.

 

Judybug

[Margana]

This is a subject I've wondered about for ages. The "51" works well as does the Parker Vac for me. In fact many of my vintage celluloids are perfectly fine. There are days though when none of them are what I would call comfortable for more than a few paragraphs. The Sensa fountain pen might be worth a try but I wonder about the nibs. Anyone have experience with one? If so, how does it write?

[Johnny Appleseed]

Then he pulled an old Craig Gregg fountain pen from his pocket.

 

Wow - that is one cool PT to have a Craig. They were made in the teens and I don't think a whole lot after that - maybe the 20s. How cool!

 

I like the idea of examining what stenographers used, good idea, good idea.

 

Stenographers pens are one place to look; however, stenographers had other concerns than just hand comfort. Since it is very awkward to interrupt a trial or meeting to refill your pen, some of the pens designed for stenographers had massive ink capacity - some of them 6-7" long, which might be too back-weighted for this purpose. A lot of "Gregg" pens (named for a shorthand style popular back in the day) were ordinary models with a Gregg nib - which I think is basicly a firm, fine.

 

Still, I think you will find that most vintage pens are much lighter than many of the brass-heavy modern pens. Even when metal was used in vintage pens, such as the Wahl or DeWitt-LeFrance all-metal pens, it tended to be a lot thinner and lighter than the modern laquered-brass trend.

 

John