If your elderly loved one has arthritis, there are some things that you and their elder care providers should know. The first thing to note is that exercising can help people with arthritis. Many elderly adults who have arthritis will sit around a lot, due to the pain they are experiencing. However, the more they sit without moving, the worse their pain is going to get.
Elder Care in Mountainside NJ: Senior Exercise
Stretching
One of the best things for your elderly loved one to do is stretching multiple times a day. Stretching will loosen up their muscles and help to get rid of the tension and pain they are feeling. There are multiple videos, programs, and resources that offer stretching exercises. Find some that help your elderly loved one to loosen up and have them do these exercises at least twice a day.
Range-of-Motion Exercises
If your elderly loved one has arthritis, you should also have them doing a lot of range-of-motion exercises. These are things such as shoulder rolls, leg lifts, ankle rolls, and more. These can truly help your elderly loved one to relieve inflammation in the body and the pain they are having. If you have your elderly loved one do these exercises before bed, they could help them to feel less stiff the following morning. Range-of-motion exercises should generally be done 3 to 5 days a week and 5 to 10 times each of these days.
Lifting Weights
It is also commonly recommended that those with arthritis lift weights. This should be done 2 to 3 times each week for 20 to 30 minutes each of those days. Your elderly loved one shouldn’t start by lifting a lot of weights at once. In fact, even starting with 2 to 5-pound weights can make all the difference.
Low-Impact Exercises
Your elderly loved one can also do low-impact exercises such as walking, biking, or water aerobics. These don’t put as much strain on their joints. These exercises can help to relieve pain and tension in the body, as well. Tai-chi and pilates are great options for elderly adults. It is best to do a minimum of 1 ½ hours of low-impact exercise a week for senior citizens.
These are some of the things that family caregivers should know about exercising and arthritis for elderly adults. If you are caring for your elderly loved one, make sure they are getting enough exercise to loosen their muscles, relieve their pain, and feel better.
If you or an aging loved one are considering hiring Elder Care in Mountainside, NJ, call the caring staff at Helping Hands Home Care today at 908-418-4299.
Providing Home Care Services in all of Northern and Central NJ, including Clark, Westfield, Cranford, Scotch Plains, Rahway, Linden, Summit, Edison, Elizabeth, Mountainside, and the surrounding areas.
Sources
Cdc.gov
Rheumatology.org
After graduating from Seton Hall University with a BS in finance Helping Hands Homecare’s Owner / President, Robert D’Arienzo, went to work on Wall St. for six years. However, after Robert’s grandmother became ill with stomach cancer Robert and his family needed to find assistance in the home for her. After many trials and tribulations Robert could see that there was a great need for quality home care services here in NJ and loved the idea of being able to assist other families who were going through what his family went through with his beloved grandmother.
Thus, Robert had found his passion. After almost a year of preparation Robert opened Helping Hands Homecare in 2003. Robert wanted Helping Hands Homecare to focus on providing the highest quality of caregivers, exceptional customer service, and providing a service that familys could depend on in their time of need. Since then Helping Hands has assisted hundreds of individuals with the simplest of needs to more complex cases while preserving those standards set out many years ago.
Robert is a Google Verified Author
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