Has the senior in your life reached a point where she can no longer care for her hair? She might not have the flexibility to reach around her entire head to style it. Or perhaps she doesn’t have the arm strength to hold a blow dryer or curling iron. There are many reasons your elderly loved one may not be able to take care of her hair the way she used to. Because of that, you may have found that beauty duty has fallen to you. Having personal care at home services could assist in this situation.
Whether you love doing hair or have no interest at all (or ability), here are five questions to consider when determining the best way to take care of your elderly loved one’s hair.
Who should do it? Yes, you can find a way to do it yourself, but you need to consider a lot of things in that process. Do you have the time to style her hair as much as she’d like? Do you have the ability? Luckily, it doesn’t have to fall all on your shoulders. You can bring your loved one to a salon, or you can have someone else come to the home to help. A personal care at home provider has the skills needed to help your loved one. And having a personal care at home provider take care of your loved one’s hair, can let you take care of other important tasks.
How often does her hair need to be styled? Is this a daily task or a weekly task? The less often it needs to be done, the easier it will be for everyone so seeing if your loved one will have a short, simple style is a great way to reduce how often (and how intense) her hair needs to be styled.
What can you do to simplify the process? Again, having a simple cut is often the best way to simplify the styling and upkeep of your loved one’s hair. If she has a simple cut, you might just need to have a personal care at home provider come in a couple of times a week to shampoo, dry, and style her hair. In between those times, a comb and maybe some dry shampoo can hold her over until the next time her personal care at home provider visits.
What products should you use? Hair changes as a person ages. It thins out and often becomes more coarse and dry. The same shampoo may not work as well as it used to. Look for products that are made for senior’s hair but that are also gentle on the scalp and eyes (in case any accidentally gets in her eyes).
Who are you trying to please? When determining how much to do and how perfect it needs to look, remember to ask yourself how important is perfection. If your loved one is happy with a simple comb-through, do what pleases her and don’t worry about appearances to others.
Remember to keep it simple and realistic as you help your loved one with her hair. You’ll all be much more happy with it.
