Stamp Collecting With Physical Limitations

I have double vision and hand tremors. Both have gotten worse with age (I'm 60) so anything that requires close examination is frustrating for me. I hope to still enjoy my stamps for many more years so I keep looking for tools and ideas that can help me do it.

I was thinking that I'm probably not the only one facing various physical limitations so maybe there are more tips we could share that could help each other adapt to things such as arthritis, decreased vision, back problems, and whatever else might interfere with enjoying your stamps.

Doctors help to some degree but not enough. I also got some medication to help with but don't eliminate the tremors. The double vision I have had my whole life so I probably don't even know how bad it is. The doctor said that when my cataracts are bad enough for surgery he can try to repair the double vision too.

Some things I've done are obvious: got better lighting, use higher magnification, do intense work when I'm well rested, take breaks during intense work to give my eyes a rest. I hope I can afford a good digital microscope someday.

The tongs I used for the past 20 years were not as friendly as they once were. My fingers couldn't hold them closed consistently so I kept dropping stamps. I was so frustrated I thought I was going to have to give up on stamps. But then I lost those tongs and had to get new ones. I went on a quest to find The Perfect Tongs. I found that needing to grip hard or delicately made my hand shake more so stiff or loose tongs were no good for me. Medium springiness (Mama Bear tongs)seems to work just right for me. Sometimes I still have to remind myself to relax my hand. This is what worked for me but something else may work for others... the point is don't give up, keep trying until you find what works for you.

The main coping mechanism I have is attitude. This is all for fun after all! Why should I torture myself with flyspecking and minor differences when there are so many other fascinating aspects of stamp collecting that are more amenable to my limitations. (Thank you to all of you for introducing me to so many way of collecting that I hadn't thought of.) The most fun lately has come from covers. I can hold them easily and see well enough to enjoy what they have to offer. It's surprising how much postal history can be gleaned from an ordinary-looking envelope!

I hope some of these ideas have been helpful and I would love to hear how others have adjusted to their situations.