How To Help Your Aged Parent With Arthritis

I have always appreciated all that my parents did for me during childhood and early adulthood and have always thought I should do something to help them in their old age, with living independently with arthritis being one of my main goals. Arthritis is an extremely painful and debilitating condition, but I could do a lot to help them live independently with a positive state of mind.

The two main types of arthritis are rheumatoid arthritis that occurs when the body’s immune system refuses to function properly and affects the hands, feet and internal organs and osteoarthritis that is age related and is caused by the wear and tear of the joints.

Management of pain is one of the biggest issues to deal with for an elder who is suffering from arthritis. Firstly ensure that your parent goes for consultations with his/her physician and also take the prescribed medicines regularly. You could educate your parents about alternative pain relief therapies like hot showers, stretching, ice packs, acupuncture and resting.

Most of these therapies help to reduce and manage pain, but there could be times when your aging parent’s symptoms worsen; ensure you seek medical help immediately so that the doctor will be able to give your parent cortisone shots or provide a supportive brace to help support the joint.

It would be best if you can be at home and help your aging parent with arthritis; in case of arthritis attacks of the knee or hip the doctor may suggest joint replacement surgery as an effective option. It would greatly help if you care well for your parent during the recuperating period.  

There is nothing to fear arthritis and how it could cripple one’s life; your parent with arthritis would benefit by controlling arthritis pain and could live a longer, more productive, and more satisfying life. You could do a lot for them by your support, encouragement and positive thoughts.

You could help reduce pain of arthritis in your parent by cultivating healthy habits like a healthy diet and exercising regularly. It would help to lower body weight and reduce pressure on the joints. The risk of osteoarthritis and its progression can be reduced by taking orange, orange juice and other rich sources of Vitamin C and antioxidants.

You could make use of various technical products to foster continued independence of your parent. If your parent’s joints hurt while walking up and down stairs you could install ramps. You could also make carts available to bring groceries from the car and to move items around the house without straining the painful joints and muscles.

It would help your parents to indulge in swimming, water aerobics, and other pool-focused exercises to not only improve health, but also reduce the level of pain one experiences, while improving range of motion.  Lastly it is best understood that that as your parent takes an active role in combating his/her arthritis they will soon be able to maintain their independence.   

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