More than 18 million seniors are living with chronic pain. Now is a great time for you and their elder care providers to learn more about seniors living with chronic pain. Often it’s hard for seniors to find effective methods to manage their chronic pain. If you have a senior parent that has been struggling with chronic pain as they age in place they may have tried several of these methods of managing that pain.
These pain management mistakes that seniors and their families make can end up leaving seniors with more pain:
Overmedicating
Elder Care Albany NY – Common Pain Management Mistakes Elders Make
One of the worst things that seniors can do to manage chronic pain is to overmedicate with over the counter painkillers. Seniors who have chronic pain should be working with their doctor to manage their pain, which may involve taking prescription strength painkillers. Over the counter pain killers can have bad interactions with other medications that seniors may be taking and they can cause health problems if they are overused and taken for long periods of time. If your senior parent’s elder care provider notices that your senior loved one is going through a lot of OTC pain killers it’s time to get your senior loved one to the doctor.
Not Talking To Their Doctor
Seniors sometimes assume that if they ignore their chronic pain or just rely on over the counter painkillers that pain will go away. Or they assume it’s just part of aging and there’s nothing they can do to stop it. But there’s nothing normal about being in pain. Pain could be indicating a serious health problem. If your senior loved one complains about having pain often that’s something that you and they should take seriously. Encourage your senior parent to talk to their doctor about their chronic pain so that they can find a safe and effective solution.
Staying Sedentary
No one wants to exercise when they’re in pain but not exercising can make the pain worse. Seniors need to stay active to help reduce pain that’s caused by chronic conditions. Even just 30 minutes of gentle walking most of the days of the week can lead to a big reduction in the amount of chronic pain that your senior loved one has. Encourage your senior loved one to get up and move, and have a elder care provider help them get motivated for a daily walk.
Taking A Holistic Approach with Elder Care Services
Chronic pain management is something that takes a consistent and holistic approach. Your senior loved one will need to make some lifestyle changes like eating healthier, moving more, and taking medication that the doctor has prescribed to bring their pain under control. This can be done with elder care services providing help. Sometimes seniors are reluctant to make any big lifestyle changes even though those changes are the best thing for their overall health. But medication alone won’t fix chronic pain. Seniors need to commit to living a healthy lifestyle as they age if they want to reduce their chances of having to deal with chronic pain later on.
Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3843850/
