Deluxe Gopher II 

Pick Up & Reaching Tool

Okay, so it's been over 10 years since I've dealt with chronic spinal pain.  In fall 2014 I began having severe lumbar spine pain from which I didn't get any relief when standing or lying down. 

Standing and lying usually offer relief, so I knew something had changed with my damage.  (I have herniated discs, degenerative disc disease and severe arthritis in my L-spine.)

I got an updated MRI et voila, the disc between L1 and L2 has degraded so much that per Dr. Schocket, (pain mgmt), "There's no saving it." 

Not what I wanted to hear; but given the severity of it, I wasn't the slightest bit surprised either. 

Due to this severe pain interfering with all of my ADL's, (activities of daily living) I sought a new tool to reduce bending over to pick things up because doing so was excruciating. (Even bending over to rinse my mouth when brushing my teeth was.)

Thus, I went to Walmart and ask if they carried "one of those grabby thingys for people who can't bend over."  I was sent to the canes area near the pharmacy and they had this product. 

It was only $9.98 which surprised me in a good way!  It was lightweight, another necessity for me due to my easily flared neck/shoulder pain.  So I bought it and I LOVE IT! 

It is a REAL pain saver! 

My only suggestion to the makers would be to give it a bit more grip strength because when I grip it firmly to pick up the dog food bowls, it doesn't always stay clutched and they fall.  Even the biggest one doesn't weigh anywhere near the 5lb maximum the back of the package claims that it can lift.  I am guessing it is due to the slight rounding of a dog bowl's design.  I don't believe the rubber suckers make complete contact with the inside of the slightly concave nature of the bowl; hence, it's inability to grasp it well at times. 

Thus, I believe that there is room for improvement here whether it is with the rubber suckers that grab things to be altered to allow for more success when grabbing such items and/or the mechanism that connects to them when you squeeze the handles, I haven't a clue. 

Due to putting water in with their food, I can't use it to place their bowls once full and still have to bend over then; but I at least cut bending over in half, a wonderful reduction in a guaranteed pain generating movement!

EVERY effort matters

when trying to reduce pain!

The only other issue I had is that I noticed on days when my nerve damage pain is severe, I don't always have the strength to squeeze the handles hard enough to grab things.  Thus, if your hands are consistently weak due to nerve damage, I suggest you read my Valerian Root page (under Herbs tab) to see how I manage both my spinal cord damage and overall nerve damage pain (including sciatica) extremely well as the rule, with all natural valerian root!  If you make the progress with that I have, you will find yourself able to squeeze the gopher handles firmly enough as the rule so it is indeed a helpful tool!

If you have spinal pain made worse by bending over, I highly recommend you get one of these!  If you drop your pill bottles, it will easily pick them up for you.  Ditto pens, pencils, TV remotes, etc...

Even if you don't have issues with bending over due to chronic pain, but are going to have any type of surgery procedure done that includes post-op instructions of not bending over, you should buy one. 

For example, I haven't worked in an ophthalmology practice for over 12 years; but last I did, we used to tell cataract surgery post-op patients to not bend over for a few weeks after surgery due to the pressure it puts on the eye; we didn't want their incision to burst. 

Thus, if you have to have even simple out-pt surgery such as this, ask your dr. or staff if bending over will be one of your post-op restrictions and if so, buy a grabby thingy!

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