Arthritis pain can leave your senior’s joints inflamed and unable to move in the ways that she wants them to move. A simple program of stretching may be able to alleviate a lot of this pain for your elderly family member, especially if she goes about it all the right way.
See What Your Senior’s Doctor Says
As gentle as stretching usually is, it’s still a form of exercise. That’s why it’s really important to talk to your elderly family member’s doctor about whether this is safe for her or not. Her doctor can give you both some guidance about what types of stretching might be best for your senior and whether she should combine stretching with other activities.
Warm-up and Loosen Joints and Muscles
When your senior stretches, that loosens up muscles and warms up tendons and joints. This happens because the stretching motion encourages more blood to flow into the area, bringing oxygen and other nutrients that those areas need in order to operate at the best level they can. Stretching also moves synovial fluid around in the joint, which helps everything to move more smoothly.
Stretching Needs to Be Smooth and Gentle
It’s really important that your senior stretch properly. If she’s moving too quickly into a stretch or using sharp movements, that can damage her muscles and cause pain when she’s trying to avoid that. Moving gently and smoothly through the motions of each stretch helps to protect your senior’s muscles and joints as much as possible while still giving her the benefits she’s seeking.
Consistency Is Key
Stretching every day helps to gradually strengthen muscles, loosen them up even further, and keep your senior’s joints moving. Consistency with any type of exercise is going to reinforce the small benefits that your aging family member gets every time that she moves. Her stretching sessions don’t need to be incredibly long, but stretching at least a little bit every day can help so much.
This Can Be Part of Your Senior’s Plan to Age in Place
When your elderly family member is doing everything that she can to help her joints to feel as good as possible, that helps her to move toward all of her other goals, including aging in place. Being able to move as well as possible is a great way for her to remain as independent as she wants to be. Of course, having help from elder care providers is also important in terms of keeping your senior happy, healthy, and in her home if that’s where she wants to be.
Help your senior to put together a plan that she enjoys and that gives her the biggest benefits from stretching.
If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring Home Care Services in Oregon City, OR, please contact the caring staff at Integrity In-Home Care. Call today (503) 660-3755