If your elderly family member’s arthritis pain is worse in winter, she might need to look at a few other solutions to help manage the pain. As the weather warms up, she may find her new routine is still helpful.
Talk with Your Senior’s Doctor
The first step to managing arthritis pain in winter is to talk to your senior’s doctor. This is especially crucial if the pain she’s experiencing is new. Her doctor can take a look at what you’re already trying and put you on the right path to trying some other solutions. Some of the things you might try could include medication changes, dietary changes, and a different type of exercise routine.
Try Some Exercise
As long as your senior’s doctor okays her to exercise, it might be time for your elderly family member to give it a try. Always start out slowly and remind her to stretch and to warm up before she gets to the heart of any workout. Even walking for a few minutes a day can help her joints and muscles to become stronger.
Consider Dietary Changes
What your senior eats matters a lot when it comes to her overall health and well-being. If she’s eating a lot of processed foods that are questionable in their nutritional value, it could be that now she needs to make some small changes. Just like with exercise, small changes made gradually can have longer lasting effects than trying to switch to a healthier way of eating overnight.
Alternate Cold and Heat Therapies
Using both heat and cold can help to alleviate the pain and swelling that your senior might experience along with arthritis flare-ups. A heating pad can help, but so can soaking in a warm bath for a little while. Be sure to use both heat and ice for short periods of time to avoid any complications like ice burns from a cold pack.
Don’t Push It
Your senior needs to use her muscles and her joints, but if she’s in a lot of pain, she shouldn’t try to do more than she really needs to do. This is where having help from elderly care providers can be an incredibly useful thing. They can take care of issues like housekeeping tasks that are too painful for your elderly family member to manage on her own.
Managing your senior’s arthritis pain might take a little bit of trial and error at first. Keep working closely with her medical team in order to continue finding the treatments that work best for her. as you find solutions that work, you’ll help your elderly family member to improve her quality of life by leaps and bounds.
If you or a loved one are in need of Elderly Care Services in Nazareth PA or the surrounding areas, contact the caring professionals at Extended Family Care of Allentown. Call today at (610) 200-6097.
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