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Health
and Wellness |
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Volume 1, Issue 2 |
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SAFE
Aging Newsletter |
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July
2004 |
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In This Issue:
- Arthritis: Control the
Symptoms
- Restful Sleep is Essential to
Health
- Ask Dr. Vanessa
- Planning for Emergencies
- Are You Well Balanced?
- Independence: The Ability to Self Rule
1. Arthritis:
Control the Symptoms by
Dr. Vanessa M. Dazio, OTD, OTR/L
Arthritis means joint inflammation and it can affect any joint of
the body. Arthritis is a chronic disease that affects about 50% of
people 65 or older. There are more than 100 types of arthritis. Well
known types are osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and gout.
Common Symptoms
- pain
- swelling
- redness
- loss of motion
Symptoms can seriously affect daily life activities, and can
decrease desire and motivation to stay active. To stay in control of
arthritis, you must control the symptoms!
Often, a combination of actions are necessary. The most important
action is to begin by understanding the problem. Understanding the
problem can make finding solutions easier. The key to treating
arthritis is managing pain, relieving symptoms, and staying as
active as possible.
Pain Relief and Symptom Control
To manage pain and relieve symptoms, exercise can improve mood and
outlook. Exercise helps to keep the joints of the body moving and
can prevent loss of motion. Exercise can increase strength and
increase abilities. There are many terrific forms of exercise.
Swimming is wonderful because muscles and joints can be exercised
while causing the least amount of strain to already sore areas.
Walking is another wonderful exercise if done properly. Even
housecleaning, if done safely, is terrific exercise. The burden of
extra weight can be devastating. Eating well balanced, nutritious
foods and drinking plenty of water is important to maintain weight
and nourish the body.
Simple actions like taking a warm bath or using warm water soaks
are helpful to manage pain and can also be helpful for reducing
stress. Medications are often very effective, but must be taken
according to the doctor’s instructions. Be cautious of
purchasing unproven remedies such as snake venom or copper
bracelets. While there is no known cure for arthritis, you can
still take charge of your health by following some of these
simple suggestions.
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2. Restful Sleep is
Essential for Health
By Dr. Vanessa M. Dazio, OTD, OTR/L
Inadequate sleep is not an inevitable part of aging, nor does
the need for sleep decline with age. Persistent trouble falling
or staying asleep at night or frequent drowsing by day should
not be expected. Sleep deprivation affects abilities, physical
and mental health. If you haven't had a good night sleep, you
are likely to pay for it. The price for poor sleep can be very
high.
Poor sleep can cause reduced energy, greater difficulty
concentrating, and a diminished or irritable mood. Pain may be
intensified by the physical and mental consequences of lack of
sleep. You are at greater risk for accidents, including
fall-asleep automobile crashes. Work performance and
relationships can suffer too.
Tips to Help You Sleep Better
- Try to go to bed and get up at the same
time every day.
- Try not to take naps longer than about
20 minutes.
- Don't have caffeinated drinks after
lunch.
- Don't drink alcohol in the evening. It
might help you fall asleep, but it will probably make you wake
up in the middle of the night.
- Don't lie in bed for a long time trying
to go to sleep. After 30 minutes of trying to sleep, get up
and do something quiet for a while, like reading or listening
to quiet music. Then try again to fall asleep in bed.
- Ask your doctor if any of your
medicines could be keeping you awake at night.
Ask your doctor for help if pain or other health problems keep
you awake.
- Try a little exercise every day.
Exercise helps many older adults sleep better.
If you are having difficulty sleeping,
please make an appointment to talk to your doctor. Regular,
restful sleep is an essential requirement for healthy living,
for people of all ages.
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3. Ask Dr. Vanessa By
Dr. Vanessa Dazio, OTD, OTR/L
Question: I have arthritis in my shoulders and
knees. I am having a really hard time reaching for things in my
home, especially when I am cooking or doing the laundry. Do you
have any ideas?
Answer: Yes. Arthritis in the
shoulders and knees can make reaching and doing other daily life
tasks, such as cooking and laundry, very challenging.
Cooking and doing laundry are activities
that often require lots of bending and reaching, holding and
gripping. The best way to get these jobs done is to make the
jobs as easy as possible. The easiest way to reach for anything,
is to keep the elbow BENT. That's right! As soon as you bend the
elbow, reaching becomes VERY difficult to do!
Holding anything with your arms close to
your body, requires less muscle effort and physical strain. Less
strain can cause less pain. With arthritis, you want to protect
your painful joints, simplify your task, and conserve your
energy.
Keeping the arms tucked in as close to your
body, with your arms bent is the strongest posture. This
position causes the least amount of muscle strain when holding
or picking up objects.
So, take a look at what you are doing when
you reach for anything in your home. Consider making a few
changes (adaptations) so that you can avoid painful reaching
when doing daily activities that have to be done.
TIPS
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Bring yourself closer to the object.
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Bring the object closer to you.
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If you can't do either # 1 or # 2, lighten
the load.
EXAMPLE: You have a filled gallon of
milk on the highest shelf in your refrigerator. You love milk,
reach for it three times a day, and you put it back three times
a day. It hurts each time you get the milk or put it away. It is
heavy and bulky, and you are secretly afraid of dropping it.
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS:
TIP # 1: Stand as close to the milk
as you can get. If you can't reach the milk without moving your
elbow, also use TIP # 2.
TIP # 2: Bring the milk closer to
you. Put the milk on the lowest shelf, so that you can stand
close and upright, and grab the milk without straightening your
elbows. If this is still painful, consider the next adaptation.
TIP # 3: Lighten the load! Consider
buying quarts of milk, rather than gallons, so the milk is not
so heavy or bulky. If cost is a concern, buy the gallon milk,
but then put your milk into smaller plastic bottles, which are
far less weight, and much easier to hold and lift.
Laundry
Laundry is another story! It generally
requires bending, lifting, reaching and holding if you do not
make changes in the task or the environment.
You can easily change features in a house
to make doing activities easier and safer. To reduce your
reaching and bending, consider raising the height of your dryer!
To do this, you may have to adapt the hook
up in the back of the dryer, so getting a helper may be
necessary. Put the dryer on a platform so you can work in
greater comfort. This reduces the need to bend and reach.
Or, if that is an impossibility, get a
cart, put your laundry on top of it so that you can easily
remove dirty laundry from your basket, or fold clean laundry
with minimal bending or reaching. In this case, you brought the
equipment (dryer or the laundry basket) closer to you!
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4. Planning
for Emergencies by Dr. John
Dazio
- Planning ahead can make the difference between life, death
or disability. Be committed to safety at home by planning
ahead.
- Be honest with yourself. Know what you can and cannot do
safely at home.
- If you cannot perform an action safely, figure out why
not.
- Carefully study any near misses actual accidents you might
have had. Think about what you could have done to prevent the
problem, then make the changes!
- Have practice sessions to see how you would react in the
event of an emergency.
- Make sure all of your emergency numbers are updated
regularly.
- Keep an updated LARGE BOLD PRINT list of emergency
numbers close to all of your phones in the house.
- Make sure you have plenty of emergency supplies available
such as food, water, and medicine.
Free downloads!
Emergency Numbers Form:
use this form to write all your important numbers down. Be sure
to make a copy to keep by each phone in your home.
Emergency Kit Checklist: a
list of items and guidelines to help you prepare for an
emergency situation.
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5. Are You Well
Balanced? By Dr. Vanessa Dazio,
OTD, OTR/L
Balance is important in daily life. It is vital for bathing,
dressing and eating. You need reliable balance to safely get up
and down from a chair, transfer to and from a bed, car or
toilet, stand or sit in one place or to move to another. Balance
is needed for reaching, holding, lifting, pushing, pulling and
climbing.
About 9 percent of adults 65 and older have balance problems.
Problems with balance increase the risk of falling. Falls can
threaten safety and independent living, and cause serious
injuries such as hip fractures, head injuries, and even death.
Unstable balance is a sign that preventive medical attention is
necessary.
If balance is a problem, consult a physician. Balance loss
can be caused by a variety of medical conditions such as heart
disease and Parkinson's disease. It can be caused by infections
or medication side effects. Balance problems can be caused by
poor nutrition or a decline in physical strength, or fast
postural changes. Understanding the cause is the first step to
fixing and eliminating a balance problem. Being well balanced
can keep you safe, independent and injury free, making aging in
place a pleasure.
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6. Independence: The
Ability to Self Rule
By Dr. Vanessa M. Dazio, OTD, OTR/L
Independence! What a powerful word. It means self rule. It is
universal and common personal desire felt around the world. Men
and women in countries all around the world have fought and died
to earn or maintain the right to self rule, to be independent
and free from the control of others.
The desire to maintain independence remains a powerful
personal motivator throughout our lives. For many older adults,
living at home (aging in place) means independence: the ability
to self rule.
To be able to self rule and safely age in place, the older
adult must understand normal age related changes, and plan for
them. Why fight aging, if we are lucky enough to live into older
age? Instead, plan for age related changes by making sure the
home remains easy to use, comfortable to live in, and safe.
What you can do at home to make living easier and safer?
Because everyone ages differently, there are no set rules. The
easiest way to begin is to think about what is difficult to do
now. For instance, is it harder now to see things? Does the
kitchen or bathroom seem darker? Is it harder to see newsprint
or chop vegetables or apply makeup? Ask WHY? What is making it
difficult?
Problem Solving Tips
You can start by thinking about the following three things.
- Is it the person?
- Is it the task itself?
- Is it the place the task is being done?
Answering these three questions can
help identify the cause of difficulties at home. Often simple
changes can be made with little or no cost at all. For instance,
vision loss is a normal age related change that occurs to mostly
everyone over time. Just adding brighter lights to a room can
make a big difference in home safety.
Finding safe solutions
to make your life more comfortable and easier is a path to
independence. If you don’t know where to begin or just need an
outside observer to help get you started, consider asking an
occupational therapist to do a home safety assessment in your
home.
An occupational therapist is a skilled and well trained
health care professional who specializes in helping people do
home activities safely and independently. If
you would like more information about occupational therapy,
refer to
www.aota.org.
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SAFE AGING
LEARNING CENTER
This is a reminder to
take a look at the
SAFE AGING LEARNING CENTER. There is something for
everyone in our learning center. There are excellent
resources to learn about safety, health, injury prevention
and other useful resources and information. We add to this
list continually for your
learning pleasure.
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