Has your elderly loved one been having pain in their legs? Maybe they don’t get pain in their legs, but their legs seem swollen or tired all the time. If this is the case, they may not be getting enough circulation in their legs. The good news is there are ways that your elderly loved one can improve circulation in their legs starting today. Be sure to encourage your elderly loved one to start doing these things with the help of elderly care right away.

Getting Hydrated

One of the reasons for reduced circulation in the legs is being dehydrated. If your elderly loved one isn’t drinking 6 to 8 glasses of water every day, they may be dehydrated. When someone is dehydrated, their blood is thicker. This means it can’t flow or circulate as well throughout the body. If your elderly loved one won’t remember to drink 6 to 8 glasses of water every day, you and their elderly care providers may need to remind them.

Exercising

If someone is sitting down most of the day, their blood isn’t going to flow or circulate, as well. The blood will especially not be circulating well in the legs, since the legs are still most of the day. If your elderly loved one needs to improve the circulation in their legs, exercising is a great way for them to do that. They don’t even need exercise equipment for this. In fact, walking is a great way to improve circulation in the legs.

Changing Their Diet

Another way that your elderly loved one can improve the circulation in their legs is by changing their diet. Research shows there are many foods that can improve circulation throughout the body. Some of these foods include mackerel, sardines, salmon, olives, leafy greens, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds. Any foods that have high Vitamin C levels in them are great for improving circulation, as well.

Sitting Better

How does your elderly loved one sit? If their legs are crossed a lot of the time or they slouch, this could be putting excess pressure on their legs – impeding blood flow. This could be reducing circulation in their legs which can cause pain, discomfort, and tiredness in the legs. It is important that you and elderly care providers remind your elderly loved one to sit up straighter throughout the day.

Conclusion

These are some of the ways that your elderly loved one can improve circulation in their legs. Be sure to share these tips with them today.

Sources
https://www.healthline.com/health/how-to-increase-circulation-in-legs

If you or an aging loved one is considering elderly care in Eden Prairie, MN, and the surrounding areas, please contact the friendly staff at CareBuilders at Home Minnesota. Call today 612-260-2273.

Clothing storage is something that your elderly family member might not have thought much about in the past, because the systems that were most commonly used likely worked for her. As she ages and as her needs change, she may also need a new system for dealing with her clothes.

It Might Be Time for a Closet Purge

There might be more clothes lurking in your senior’s closet and dresser drawers that she doesn’t wear than you realize. It could be time to go through and do a bit of a purge. This is especially important if your elderly family member’s health needs have changed how she dresses and the types of clothing that’s easiest for her to wear. Anything that doesn’t fit or that doesn’t meet her needs either needs to be donated or put into deep storage. The most accessible clothing should be the items she wears often.

Reconsider How Things Get Stored

Your senior’s clothing storage might have worked well for her in the past, but does it still? People with cognitive challenges might find that they forget about clothing in a closet, for instance. Or your elderly family member might find it difficult to fold clothing if she has arthritis. Look at her health issues and evaluate whether switching to something like open bin storage might be more helpful.

Make Sure She Can See Her Clothes

The biggest thing to consider is whether your elderly family member can see her clothing well in order to decide what she wants to wear. In some situations that might literally mean is the lighting bright enough for her to see her clothes? In other situations the question might be whether there’s room in whatever storage your senior is using to be able to easily see individual items.

Take the Time to Find the Right System

The key part of all of this is to take some time and find the right system. It doesn’t have to be immediate or the prettiest solution at first, but when you take your time you’re going to be much more likely to land on the answer that your senior needs. Don’t focus on whether it’s “right” other than whether it solves problems for your senior.

Keeping up with laundry and other household tasks may also be making clothing storage difficult for your senior. Elderly care providers can help, with this chore and many others.

If you or an aging loved one is considering elderly care in Eden Prairie, MN, and the surrounding areas, please contact the friendly staff at CareBuilders at Home Minnesota. Call today 612-260-2273.