Last week the papers were full of reports of lettuce rationing and yesterday I wrote about the UK’s very serious social care crisis, but today it’s a different national shortage that I’m worrying about.

Tourettes is an unpredictable condition and tics often change over time and can increase or decrease over the course of someone’s life.

New tics can be particularly challenging and it takes time to work out the best way to adapt, and to manage them.

But in the last few weeks it’s not a new tic that’s been causing me concern. In fact it’s my longest running tic of all, and it’s not ‘biscuit’, ‘hedgehog’, or even ‘cats’: it’s my chest-thumping tic.

I’ve been banging my chest for about eight years. When it first started my chest bruised badly. My doctor prescribed padded dressings to protect the fragile skin, but within months my body adapted, stopped bruising, and formed a smooth lump on my chest instead.

But while my chest toughened up, the same couldn’t be said for my knuckles. The repetitive punching, hundreds of time a day, left my hands cracked and bloody – until I found a very pragmatic solution, padded gloves.

Since 2010, padded gloves have been an essential part of my wardrobe. I tried out lots of different types and my friends and family have even made me bespoke pairs.

The gloves I rely on for day-to-day use are made by Lonsdale. They’re a fingerless, boxing inner glove, lightweight, tough and easy to get on and off. Over the years Lonsdale have occasionally tweaked the colour or the design, but nothing prepared me for the huge change they’d made when my last order arrived.

They’ve radically changed the design. They now have individual finger holes and hand-wrap fabric that makes them much harder for me to use. I was gutted and a bit panicked. I know that Lonsdale have to make the product work for its intended use, but I’m down to my last three threadbare pairs and have no idea what I’m going to do when they finally fall apart.

I’ve been here before: I’m only just getting over the loss of my favourite lidded camping cup which went out of production a few years.

I’ve sent Lonsdale an email explaining the situation and asking if they have any old stock I can buy. I’ve got everything crossed that they can help.

But in case they haven’t I’ll start researching other options. If you have suggestions please get in touch.

My knuckles need you!
UPDATE: Ahhhh! Lonsdale have just emailed to say they have no old stock left, just the new design. If anyone has any leads on where to get the old style Lonsdale inner gloves or suggestions for practical alternatives please do let me know.