The short answer
The easiest lighter for older people or anyone with arthritis sits in your fist and works with one wide button that you push forward with your index finger. That leaves your thumb free, and the thumb is often the first joint to hurt with osteoarthritis.
Among our candle lighters, that is the PyroPen Turbo, for €9.95. One customer wrote about it himself that it works easily for people with rheumatism or little strength in their hands. If you want something slimmer, the Silver Match Pentorch works the same way.
What stiff hands can still do well
Occupational therapists have a name for it: joint protection. The advice to people with rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis always comes down to the same thing. Avoid pinching between thumb and finger, avoid twisting, and don't hold something in the same position for a long time.
What does work: gripping something with your whole hand, a thick handle, and letting the larger joints do the work. That is also what the joint protection advice from the Dutch hospital Haaglanden MC says.
For many older people the thumb itself is the weak spot. Osteoarthritis at the base of the thumb is common, especially in women over fifty, and pressing with the thumb is then the first thing that hurts. Rheumatoid arthritis can start at any age, but it often affects the thumb too.
Put that next to a lighter and you can see where it goes wrong: the wheel, the lock and the refilling. Not the flame. How refilling works is explained under refilling lighters.
From hard to easy
Turning and squeezing with the thumb at the same time. The hardest.
Holding a small button down while clicking: a pinch grip with two actions at once. Difficult.
Never needs refilling, but switching it on often takes two things at once as well. Difficult.
Pressing the can onto it and holding it for a few seconds. Difficult, but it only happens once every few weeks.
In your fist, and you push the wide button forward with your index finger. The thumb stays free. The easiest.
Which one suits you, or your mum?
Is it mainly your thumb that hurts? Choose the PyroPen Turbo or the Silver Match Pentorch. With both, you push the button forward with your index finger. The Pentorch is slimmer: 17 centimetres and 85 grams, handy in a coat pocket.
Do you light candles in tall glass jars every evening? Then take the PyroPen Turbo; its length keeps your hand above the rim. More models are in our long lighters, and in the best long lighter for candles we compare them side by side.
Is refilling the problem? The PyroPen Turbo has a see-through gas tank. So you can see well in advance that it is nearly empty, and ask someone to refill it before it stops working.
Buying it as a present for your dad or mum? Then the PyroPen Turbo is the safe choice: our bestseller, and the only one a buyer wrote works easily with rheumatism.
The blue flame: takes getting used to, then it makes life easier
Both lighters have a jet flame: a short blue flame that looks different from the little yellow flame you grew up with. It is hotter, around 1300 degrees, and it doesn't blow out. That last part is actually good news for stiff hands: you need fewer attempts, even outdoors or next to an open window.
Because the flame is directed, a few habits help. Point the tip away from you and aim at the wick, not at the glass of the candle jar. In bright light the blue flame is harder to see, so keep an eye on that.
After use the head is warm. The PyroPen Turbo has a fold-out foot, so you can put it down without the warm tip touching the table. Then put the lock back on. You can read more about the difference in jet flame or soft flame.
What buyers say about them
We have not tested these lighters ourselves with people who have rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis. What we do have are reviews from buyers.
About the PyroPen Turbo, one customer wrote: "works easily for people with rheumatism or little strength in their hands. Highly recommended." Other buyers called it "safe and simple to use" and wrote that it sits comfortably in the hand.
What about an electric lighter?
An electric lighter sounds convenient: you charge it and never have to refill gas. But with the electric lighter we sell, switching it on means pressing a small button on the back while moving a slider on the front. That is two actions at once, exactly what stiff hands find hard.
You light something every day, you refill once every few weeks. That is why for this question we recommend the PyroPen Turbo. If you are still curious how a plasma arc works, read the rise of plasma lighters.
Frequently asked questions
A long lighter that you hold in your fist and operate with your index finger, such as the PyroPen Turbo. You push the wide button forward, so your thumb stays free. You open the lock beforehand, so you don't have to do two things at once.
A lighter without a thumb wheel and without a small button you have to press at the same time. Occupational therapists advise avoiding pinching and twisting and using your whole hand. Every hand is different, so we cannot promise that one model works for everyone.
Not if you use it properly. The blue flame is hotter than an ordinary flame, but short and directed, and it doesn't blow out. Point the tip away from you, aim at the wick and stand it on its foot after use until the head has cooled down.
Stand the lighter upside down on a sturdy table and press the can straight onto it with the heel of your hand instead of your fingers. Hold it for a few seconds. The right lighter gas with a matching nozzle makes it easier.
No, and that is not the idea either. The lock keeps children away from the flame. So choose a lighter whose lock suits your hands, such as a slider you move aside once instead of a button you have to keep pressed.
Our pick
For most people with stiff or painful hands, the PyroPen Turbo is the easiest: in your fist, the lock opened beforehand, and the wide button pushed forward with your index finger. If you want something slimmer, go for the Silver Match Pentorch.
Not sure what suits someone's hands? Send us a message through the contact page and we will help you think it through. Or browse all our candle lighters.
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