Seniors Site

Touch therapy for infants is well-promoted by experts worldwide since this therapy proves to sooth and calm your babies while sending them signals of assurance when spoken words bear no meaning yet. It was even said that touch therapy is the most effective alternative therapy for infants because it promotes health and well-being of the child. Furthermore, its health benefits last longer and even way beyond childhood such as stronger bones and good blood circulation. I bet your kids enjoyed this bonding time with you back then too.

The effects of touch therapy to infants are no different when the therapy is applied to senior citizens. Even a stressed out younger adult seeks a good massage every now and then to relieve stress and renew senses when it becomes too heavy for their worn-out bodies. Professional athletes for one, hire sport massage therapists for their therapy needs such as simple after-practice massage to assisting them with their injuries and helping them to recuperate. Medically, massage therapy is referred to as medical therapy. Also, let’s not forget physical and occupational therapy which are actual branches of medical science. From here, we’ll know that indeed massage therapy works wonders for our bodies, no matter what age we are in and if younger bodies do benefit from it then just imagine what it can do for our senior ones.

For seniors, the most beneficial part of getting a massage therapy is its ability to have pain under control especially those brought about by arthritis. Pain management is just one of the many great benefits a massage therapy can give you. Aside from overall improvement in the quality of life you lead, it greatly enhances your health and wellbeing. It is also proven to be very affective in managing the aging process and for whatever negative things it brings to our bodies. It was also found out to be beneficial for patients with Alzheimer’s disease since it can induce relaxation thus improving the ability to communicate and stay focus on their thoughts, although this notion is yet to be proven by experts.

Seniors with arthritis found solace with massage therapy. First and foremost, massage therapy is all natural and very effective in increasing one’s range of motion by encouraging natural joint lubrication of the body. Also, it improves balance by its ability to increase muscle strength and coordination. Aging can also bring great stress to your body and most age-related illnesses can cause limited physical activities. These factors can cause your body to break down on its own but if massage therapy is introduced, your body undergoes stimulation like it moved more even if you are in a very relaxed state. Effects of massage therapy are felt at once and a senior who underwent a massage will notice the difference especially with their energy levels and mental awareness. Truly, massage therapies are the most effective solution in alleviating age-related symptoms.

Our bodies are designed to move. When you study its composition, you’ll notice that every strand of muscle has its own duty to perform specifically when moving. Even as simple as typing words over your keyboard, you are using muscles to do the job. When you perform everyday tasks, it becomes harder to recognize the importance of these muscles since it comes naturally as reflex but in reality, it is the mind-and-body coordination at work. For younger adults, moving comes very naturally.

Unfortunately for seniors, moving becomes quite a task and some age-related illnesses usually force seniors not to move a muscle. This in return, contradicts what the body is made for. When this happens, something in there is bound to break down eventually causing areas of mobility to deteriorate rapidly. Before moving on, seniors should know that these unfortunate events can be prevented—or delayed—if you have introduced regular exercise earlier in your life. Here are some known points of deterioration in seniors when you decide to stop moving your body:

·    Staying power or endurance. Most seniors tend to lose endurance as they age which limits almost all physical activities. When a simple activity proves to be very exhaustive such as walking and climbing the stairs, you would know you lack exercise or you don’t move around that much. Endurance is something you train and it certainly can be pushed when the body is trained to do so however, lack of endurance training will result to decreased staying power on the senior’s part.
·    Muscle mass. Muscles are dead giveaway to your age since, naturally, it shrinks along as we age which results to frail, sagging look. In this day and age when looks are important, looking all crinkly and saggy is a crime indeed! Furthermore, when muscles stopped moving, it will start wasting or what medically referred to as muscle atrophy. Decrease muscle mass will result to weakness since force depends on the mass.
·    Impaired balance. This is the most hazardous implication of them all and sadly, it is prevalent among seniors since there are many reasons for balance impairment aside from lack of exercise. Impaired balance, almost always causes falls and slips among seniors and it could be very disabling to fragile bones. On the other hand, there are exercises that can improve your balance such as yoga and Pilates.
·    Lessened tractability or flexibility. As we age, it is but natural to experience joint stiffness every now and then but when a person lacks motion, it progresses fast enough to disable the suffering person. Compromised flexibility will result to reduced mobility and limited range of motion.

Overall, a person’s body needs to move so you can use it better. If a senior wants to enjoy his or her retirement years, it is important that you indulge your body more. Taking care of your body will compel it to pay you back handsomely and will guarantee you a happy life years ahead.

In some cases such as accidents and medical emergencies, it becomes easier to determine when and how to intervene with your beloved senior’s life but unfortunately, there are times when your efforts are met with resistance and things steer into a much harder road of second guessing and lifestyle changes. Sometimes, decreased capacity to lead life normally in seniors is not that obvious and worst, if the senior don’t acknowledge this fact in the first place.

It was always said that the key to a successful intervention is good communication-relationship between the senior and the supposed negotiator or the caregiver himself since more often than not, seniors tend to be weary and untrusting to intruders—sadly, that’s you in this situation. If the senior could somehow feel sincerity in there, he or she will allow you to help them albeit reluctantly. But the question still remains, how would you know when it’s time?

Sending the senior to a long term care facility is way off the mark especially if there is no apparent reason for doing so. In fact, these facilities should be your last resort preferably in phases when the senior can no longer move on his own and he needs medical attention too. As much as possible, allow seniors to have a little breathing room because they still need their privacy as an individual. If your senior can still function normally, like caring for himself but having some trouble keeping the house up and running, then the most you need is a cleaning lady to keep an eye on the house and the senior too. This way you are meeting with the senior halfway.

Actually, the first thing to give way is the appearance of the senior if there is an existing problem with his mental and physical capabilities. It helps if you are good in observing their behavior but be careful not to point out everything you are noticing. Instead, try a different approach such as offering help with their daily tasks. When offering help, give reasons other than what it’s intentionally for such as doing their laundry just because you have nothing better to do this weekend or doing their grocery because you’re also getting yours. With this approach, seniors will give in easily thinking that they are not a burden on your side and you are willing to help with their odds and ends.

There will be times that the senior may mention some minor health problems, these are the times that you should be paying attention and reading between the lines. If your mom or dad is living with someone younger than them then ask this person what he or she thinks. As soon as you notice signs of deteriorating health, it is best to increase number of visits just to see if the situation progresses and how fast it goes. Be on the look out for safety risks that your parent may have left behind unconsciously such as burnt pots, open doors, and slippery floors. Moreover, a senior who is suffering depression needs assistance too and almost always, it is the hardest illness to detect so it pays to take note of that as well.

Good news for working seniors, effective last Friday, July 24, 2009, the third installment of minimum wage increase came through. Although the increase is not a life-changing one, this proves to be very helpful for most seniors struggling with daily expenses, and not to mention their medical needs and bills. This is the third and final federal wage increase which preceded the first two ones in 2007 and 2008. However, if as an employee you are qualified for both state and federal wages, the higher of two shall apply.

The wage increase states that there should be a 70-centavos raise to the $6.55 making it at about $7.25 per hour. This means that there will be a $28 more every week for employed seniors if you are working under the federal minimum wage. On the other hand, seniors who are working under the disability program, please be reminded that you are entitled to receive special minimum wage for workers with disability. Furthermore, seniors who are working through the Senior Citizen Employment Program are also eligible for the increase. State wage is expected to follow lead after the federal wage increase has taken effect.

Working seniors are now looking forward to their next paycheck knowing that there will be a big difference as compared to their last one. Most of them are thankful for the increase since it will help them tremendously with their daily living expenses—something that keeps these seniors working even if it’s way beyond their retirement years. It seems that everyone in the workforce had been looking forward for this raise for some time now considering the fact that the economic crisis has been affecting us still.

Prior to this very good news, there had been debates on whether to push through with the wage increase or postpone it for next year. Economic analysts argued against it since they fear that it will only aggravate the situation further. What they fear the most is that small businesses might see the need to cut back on hiring employees or shorten their working hours to ease the stress of wage increase to their businesses. Also, big companies who are hiring employees on a regular basis would be compelled to seek people who are better experienced for the job at hand, eliminating the possibility for entry level jobs which help those first time workers with no experience under their belts. Nonetheless, this situation doesn’t pose any risk for seniors but is proving to be an advantage since most seniors are well-experienced and don’t need further training.

We all need sleep. Sleep helps in relieving our mind and body of all the stress we encounter when performing our daily activities. When we are sleeping, the body’s system goes on auto-function and heals itself to get it ready for the next day’s tasks. Whereas the body undergoes recuperation while fully relaxed, the mind on the other hand stays active and performs systemized organization of gathering data and information stored at different nooks and crannies of the brain hence the possible manifestations of dreams.

Unfortunately, as we age, our sleeping patterns suffer tremendously. As a newborn child would, it seems that the body doesn’t recognize time anymore and won’t respond to the circadian rhythm like it used to. Due to this very unfortunate occurrence, a senior’s body will have to put up with the very destructive effects of sleep deprivation.

While sleep problem with seniors has relatively unknown cause except for a couple of potentially plausible explanation such as medication side effects or diminishing sleep hormones, there are ways to induce “the mood” and help you achieve better sleep. Here are some of the ways you might want to try tonight:

·    If you find that alarm clocks work for you, then it too may work to remind you of your bedtime. The body needs to prepare itself for hours of sleeping even if you already had a long and tiring day. In other words, it needs conditioning, best if you can do it for about an hour. Within this hour, before-bedtime rituals should be done but they need to be relaxing such as reading a book or listening to soothing music. Set your alarm clock one hour before sleeping to remind you when it’s time to wind down.
·    Emotional status of the person prior to sleeping plays a big role in his or her capacity to sleep. We all know that it gets quite hard to attain sleep when you are bothered or troubled but try as we might, clearing up the head is easier said than done so the next best thing you can do is try to slow things down even for a bit.
·    Avoid worrying too much if sleep doesn’t visit you right away for there are days that it won’t really come easily. Just don’t do anything that will stimulate your senses in getting active again such as action-packed movies or exercising. Never force yourself to sleep when you are not feeling it since it will only create panic if it doesn’t come at once.
·    Seniors tend to suffer nocturia or night-time urination. This disorder is extremely common among men but it also manifests in women. Try to lessen your trips to the toilet during the night by avoiding drinking water and diuretics prior to sleeping.

Sleep deprivation has many effects on one’s health. It is most advisable for seniors to try to get sleep as much as they possibly can and not to be overly conscious of the time it arrives. One golden rule for seniors’ sleeping problem, when sleep strikes, grab the opportunity and sleep!

Love doesn’t recognize age. It strikes when it does and there are no limits. In fact, seniors swear that finding love at a later stage in their lives proves to be a rewarding experience—something they never felt before. Experts say that maybe it’s because when seniors look for love, it is without extra baggage unlike most younger adults.

By the time seniors look for love, it is when it’s most convenient for them therefore guarantees no extra baggage for the new couple to carry. Seniors, just because they have been through many life experiences, are matured enough to maintain a healthy relationship that doesn’t go heavy on either side. This is assuming that seniors go for the ones within their age bracket since breaking that age barrier can be tougher and more complicated.

Seniors without any emotional baggage make a perfect partner for anybody, both young and old. This is because a person, when he or she had already accomplished most of what’s expected of them such as raising a family or giving something back to the community is more ready to love someone freely. It enables them to truly enjoy their partners without worrying so much for what the future holds. When seniors look for love, it is more for the connection and not for anything else.

Statistic shows that almost half of the senior population is single so if you are one of them, you would know that there are hundreds, even thousands of potential seniors who might be looking for love right at this very moment. Although hooking up with another senior must be awkward, it is good to know that there are ways to let love find you instead–that is if you know where to look. Here are some places you might want to check out when looking for a new relationship to keep:

·    Join short courses and exercise classes or any sessions that will enhance you as a person. Not only these classes will keep you active and moving but also it provides a great way for you to interact with people within your line of interest. It provides you and your potential partner that elusive common ground.
·    Going back to school, whether it’s for finishing your college degree or pursuing your master’s degree, is a great way to improve your personality especially if you are looking forward in entering the workforce again. Moreover, you’ll be able to meet other interesting seniors who share the same experiences of school life.
·    Going out with your friends will help you unwind and best of all, meet other people.
·    Get a little techie and join online dating sites. While seniors prefer meeting their potential mates face-to-face, seniors can also try online dating sites since it is, more or less, safer than blind dates.

Although the initial shock and panic that recession had brought upon us is way behind us now, the crisis is still existent—and for how long, God only knows. Due to this unexpected turn of events that no one had dreamed of, senior workers are now making the move to, at least, damage-control the situation they find themselves in now and making the best out of it, just like everyone else the world over.

Years back, you are at your retirement age when you reach the age of 62. Legally, you are expected to give up work at around this age while others who had been lucky enough in life retire much earlier than this age. Today, working seniors delay retirement for fear of not being capable to make their life savings tide them over for the rest of their lives. Those who made it to the 60th mark choose to stay at work for 5 years more even if they are already having discomforts in going to and fro work.

It seems that a healthy, enjoyable retirement life will have to stay as a dream for now. But these working seniors are still thankful since they still have work considering there are millions out there who are in search of a job, and they are still increasing in number by the minute. Just imagine all that pressure and competition! In a much racked up shape are seniors who just got off work to start their happy retirement days only to be greeted by the ugly economy and now find it hard to acquire a job once again. These unfortunate seniors would have to put up with rough times ahead and hope for the best. Also, they need to be very wise in spending their money and try to find an alternative source of income such as going online or joining organizations which help seniors find jobs suited to their capabilities and limitations.

According to statistics, about half of the senior population in America now is actively hunting for jobs when they should have been enjoying their golden years comfortably at home and with their loved-ones. This could be very hard especially for seniors who are forced to go back working since issues of age discrimination are still prevalent. Not only it will pose as a great challenge considering the competition and what-not but also it will feel like a Herculean job to accomplish!

Job market consultants recommend seniors to acquire additional credits by enrolling in short courses and even finishing your master’s degree to give you an edge over other job candidates. Short courses will refresh and update you with latest applications you can use for your line of work. This will also help you in acquiring or enhancing other skills that you may have while master’s degrees will build stronger credentials hence higher salary to compensate seniors.

One of the many signs of aging is hearing loss. Actually, hearing loss can be experienced even by younger adults but unfortunately, almost all seniors get them since they come packaged with all the other age-related afflictions known to us therefore hearing loss is most associated with older adults.

Hearing loss is not an immediate health risk per se. There is no reported case of someone dying from deafness but many are having accidents which some lead to dying due to hearing problems. Due to this fact, it is only safe to consider hearing loss as an immediate threat to senior lives. The intensity of hearing problems can go from mild to severe—the latter being totally deaf. Hearing loss is a very serious condition and can be very embarrassing at times resulting to diminished self-esteem for seniors.

When you feel something is amiss with your hearing, it is best to see a doctor at once so he can better help your with the problem at hand. Seniors should know that hearing loss has different types and extent. These will be considered by your doctor prior to advising seniors of what to do with their hearing problems. Here are some signs that you might want to watch out for:

·    Having trouble with telephone calls and would shout when inquiring assuming that this is the right “loudness” for the receiving party.
·    It gets hard to follow spontaneous conversation especially when there are 3 individuals involved.
·    When you’re watching TV, others are complaining about its loudness which puzzles you since it seemed fine.
·    Too much mumbling from other people especially when kids are talking to you.
·    Words are harder to understand especially when there is an ongoing background sound.
·    You find yourself leaning towards the person you are talking to just to catch whatever he is saying.
·    You find yourself reading the words directly from the mouth of the person you are talking to and associating them with the little sound you hear instead of relying with the sounds alone

Hearing problems are best handled by otolaryngologist. Otolaryngologists are doctors specializing in ears, nose and throat. These doctors will assess the damage, extent and type of hearing problem the patient has and will then send the patient to an audiologist, if needed. An audiologist is needed if you’re prescribed to wear hearing aids for your hearing problems.

Aside from aging, some of the known causes of hearing loss are:  exposure to loud noises, infections, earwax buildup, medications, hereditary factors and even lifestyle diseases.

Have you noticed a slight difference with how your longtime pet responds to your calls lately, particularly how long it takes for him to finally recognize the call? Or have you been noticing this already in the past and has been bothered to see that it keeps getting worse everyday?

If you have been living with your pet for a long time now and you are certain he’s already way pass his expected doggie lifespan then it’s time for his visit to the vet for a round of consultation. Due to the “life extension” that most vets give to our ailing pets, it was proven that pets are now living longer than what’s expected of them. This, to the delight of pet owners since we love our pets so much, we wanted to keep them for life but unfortunately, longer lifespan exposes them to a disease similar to Alzheimer’s disease in humans.

Canine Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome or CCDS is also referred to as doggie Alzheimer’s. This condition manifests as our pets age. CDS is also found out to be a brain disease, as what Alzheimer’s disease is to humans. It also makes our beloved pets to have erratic sleeping patterns, confusion and disorientation at times and losing control of their housetraining pattern. The latter being the number one problem for pet owners since they have to put up with messy pees and poops.

According to statistics made for canine cognitive dysfunction syndrome, dogs—and even cats—are more exposed to the disease when they reach the age of 8 and above but goes into full force at about age 13 and accelerates as the years progress. The common symptoms of CDS are:

·    Confusion and disorientation. This includes wandering aimlessly around the house and walking in circles. The pet owner would also notice the lapses in reaction time such as greeting a friend or when the owner calls him. Sometimes, you would notice that he’s fast becoming distant and won’t come when called.
·    Erratic sleeping pattern. A pet owner is most likely to notice unpredictability in his pet’s sleeping pattern which includes sleeping all day and wandering aimlessly at night when he should have been sleeping. As the disease progressed, there will be more sleep and less waking up. Sometimes, pet owners refer to this symptom as fatigue.
·    Limited interactivity. Your pet no longer greets you at the door, oftentimes, ignoring you. Most of all, he would bark at friends and families like he sees danger when he used to love them.

When you see these signs, it is best to seek help from your vet to advise you on how to handle these things and also to rule out other age related illnesses that can affect your beloved pets such as hearing loss and other internal disorders.

Due to years and years’ worth of abuse inflicted to our own world, it’s bound to make us pay one way or another. For now, the littlest warnings we have been experiencing from Mother Nature are enough to make us rethink of the way how we are living our lives and how large, as an individual, our impact to the world in general. It seems that with every invented technology comes a sacrifice the world has to take. Saving the world requires collective effort from every human living in it. No matter how hard a single person fight for a better world, nothing will ever come out of it but disappointment. Together, we are expected to make a difference.

Fortunately for seniors, we are conscious enough of our own carbon footprints and sustainable living is a way of life for many of us so it really doesn’t matter if we cut back or make a change. Still, as an obliging citizens of this world, most seniors are ready to give everything they can just so the next generation will have something to look forward to.

Simple everyday actions can still be improved ecofriendly-wise, such as reducing our waste as much as we can. This includes making use of those we are already giving up to the waste basket especially plastic containers and leftovers. Almost all of our waste are reusable or at least can be used for other purposes, only it is left to our own imagination as to how. If there’s nothing we can do anymore, at least practice waste segregation. Waste segregation is part of the recycle program that most cities are supporting. People from this program would know what to do with your discarded waste better than to have it end up in oceans and seas. Also there are companies accepting recyclable materials in exchange for cash refunds for those who prefer to earn something from their wastes.

Also, it’s a known fact that seniors take up millions of prescribed medications every year the world over. In fact, it was said that almost 50% of drug purchases belong to seniors whether it’s OTC or prescribed drugs. These drugs can cause disastrous results if it somehow end up in bodies of water so if you happen to have a couple of unused medications, please dispose of it properly or better yet, bring it to proper authorities who are better equipped in handling these things.

Cars are the number one contributing factor in worsening air pollution problem secondary to CFCs. Although most senior citizens prefer public transportation than driving their own cars to and fro their destinations, it is also recommended to try walking especially if the distance is short enough to manage. This proves to be very beneficial to seniors not only for lesser gas consumption but for its health benefits as well.

Bottomline is, when we are trying to live up to sustainable living, we must recognize all luxuries as a gift, not a necessity. These are the things that need to last even way beyond our lifetimes therefore it should never go to waste. This is also the best awareness we can pass on to our grandkids.