Why It’s Important for Seniors to Maintain a Healthy Back

Senior Home Care in East Hampton NY

A senior should focus on having a healthy back to maintain mobility, independence, and overall quality of life. Keeping a strong back will allow them to age in place without increasing the risk of falling or other issues that could hinder them as they get older. A healthy back reduces the risk of chronic pain, improves posture and balance, and allows seniors to engage in daily activities and hobbies without limitations. When your loved one can walk around more, they will feel happier with their lives and depend less on the people around them. But how does a senior maintain a healthy back? Here are a few tips that will help keep your loved one’s back strong.

Focus on Posture

Believe it or not, posture has a lot to do with maintaining back strength. Senior home care shouldn’t judge or harm your loved one in any way, but if they notice your senior mom or dad slouching, they should kindly remind them to sit up straight and engage their core. This will support a healthy back and keep their muscles working actively. Maintaining good posture helps strengthen the back by aligning the spine in its natural state, reducing stress on the muscles, and promoting the proper distribution of weight, which minimizes strain and potential injury. This is often overlooked but will help your senior walk around easier and even sit without back pain.

Find the Right Workouts

Just because your senior is getting older doesn’t mean they should stop moving around. In fact, seniors should always have an exercise routine that they do every day. Senior home care will aim to make this a big part of their routine, and your loved one can focus on back-strengthening exercises to help maintain a strong core and back. If your senior needs to know what exercises to do, they should always talk to a professional. This means either their primary care doctor or someone their primary care doctor referred them to. Senior home care isn’t always trained in physical therapy or how to be an exercise coach, so it is important to find someone who can teach a senior a good exercise routine focusing on back strength without hurting their bodies.

Always Treat Injuries

If your senior loved one has other injuries, it could weaken them overall. Let’s say they break their leg but don’t want to get it treated. This will not only hurt their chances of walking, but they will also weaken their core and back muscles by not walking or moving around. This is why it is crucial to always treat other injuries as soon as they happen. Your senior loved one will need to focus on their whole body to stay healthy. Sometimes seniors can be stubborn when it comes to getting treatment but talk openly with them and help them get to a doctor they trust.

Avoid Heavy Lifting

When your loved one lives alone, it can be easy to overdo it on housework. They may move furniture around on their own or lift something too heavy for them because they don’t want to ask for help. Most of this is common, but you should encourage them to save the heavy lifting for other younger individuals who can help them. When your senior lifts something too heavy, it can put too much strain on their body, and then they need to rest and recover for a long time which will weaken their back and core over time.

If you or an aging loved one are considering Senior Home Care Services in East Hampton, NY, call the caring staff at Artful Home Care today at 631-685-5001.