Regardless of your age, you have to take extra care to maintain your health and reduce the chances of getting sick. Once you start aging, from 50 years and above, your body becomes weak and prone to infections and diseases, including asthma and diabetes, among others.
One needs to adopt a healthy lifestyle to strengthen their immune system, reduce diseases and remain healthy. However, some conditions are not easy to control, and one must prepare to face them during old age. Although they do not happen to all, conditions like urinary incontinence will require a senior person to use absorbent underwear in handling the situation.
This informative article will discuss five crucial tips that every senior needs to follow to avoid infections and live a healthy lifestyle. Let’s head straight to the list.
Table of Contents
1. Stay Active
When they age, most people stop being active and spend their days indoors, doing less or nothing at all. Being idle is not a healthy practice. To avoid most lifestyle diseases, including high blood pressure, diabetes, and stroke, you need to be active. In most cases, physical activities help to boost your body’s immunity. When you are exercising, you can fight diseases and infections.
Senior people should consider doing the most straightforward exercises that will keep their bodies fit at all times. Some of these exercises include swimming, biking, walking, yoga, or practicing low-impact aerobics. They can engage in these exercises at least 30 minutes a day to keep their bodies active. One should adopt activities that will perfectly fit their strengths and preferences.
2. Eating a Healthy Diet
This point might sound obvious but needs emphasis compared to the rest. In the old stage, the kind of food one takes significantly affects the health status. For a senior person, fatty and sugary foods should not be part of their diet. They can trigger inflammation and lead to a lower immune system, making a body prone to diseases.
A senior person should feed on a healthy diet with fewer carbs since they might not use their body energy that much. Their diet should be full of fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meat, and others to boost the immune system, detoxify the body and strengthen the muscles. All this will help the body fight bacteria and other disease-causing organisms.
3. Have Accessible Clothing
The right clothes are part of a healthier living, especially for a senior person. The dressing done by the typical individuals might affect the seniors in how they walk, rest, or sleep. Their clothing should be light and easy to remove and put on and not cause any inconveniences to their weak bodies. You need to change and clean these clothes every day to avoid germs and disease-causing organisms.
Besides this, adults will require privacy, and you should accord it when changing their clothes. This situation will require getting them comfortable clothes with elastic closures that are easy to wear and pull off. It would be best to encourage the seniors to wear their clothes while seated to prevent trip and fall chances that will compromise their health status.
4. Take Plenty of Rest
As much as the senior individuals need to be active, they should also rest. Taking a rest has many benefits, including reducing stress and repairing damaged body tissues. With adequate rest and sleep, the aged individual will improve their immune system and fight infections and diseases.
Also, sleep helps to improve the seniors’ concentration and can improve their memory. It would help if you left an adult to sleep at least seven to nine hours a day, with shorter midday naps. What if they can’t sleep? If your senior has trouble falling asleep, it might be an underlying condition which a reliable doctor can detect and treat.
5. Have a Daily Hygiene Routine
Old age has some repercussions, which one needs to deal with effectively. One of these issues is memory loss, where one can forget doing the regular hygienic routines. It is essential to develop a schedule for the seniors, which they can mark after performing the tasks. Some of these health tasks include taking a bath, brushing their teeth, shaving, combing their hair, and others.
With these tasks, they will develop a sense of responsibility that helps them take care of their health. While these routines are mainly applicable to individuals with dementia, you can use them to any senior person to improve their hygiene. You also need to plan on their checkups and have them attended by qualified personnel regularly.
Summary:
There are many tips that seniors can follow to live a comfortable, healthy lifestyle. Some of these tips, as highlighted above, require practicing the regular duties but in a particular way. It is essential to ensure that the senior person feels comfortable with the above procedures when helping them. This situation helps them feel loved and not undermined.
