Visiting a doctor’s office can make a senior nervous, impatient, or even scared. He or she may have only a few minutes with the health care provider, and later the patient may remember unasked questions. And it’s hard to remember what was said.
Before the visit, take a list of specific questions to the appointment, making sure to list the most important ones first. It’s a good idea, too, to review your health history, so you can convey it concisely to your doctor. Writing out a brief synopsis to give a new doctor can be helpful and save time.
A list of medications and dosages is essential. Make copies of this list for all doctors.
During Your Visit:
- Tape-record the visit or bring a pencil and notebook to take notes or bring a trusted friend or relative to take notes.
- Keep the discussion focused, making sure to cover the main questions and concerns, symptoms and how symptoms impact your life.
- Ask for clarification if you don’t understand what you have been told or if you still have questions.
- Ask for explanations of treatment goals and side effects.
- Let your doctor know if you are seeing other doctors or health care providers.
- Share information about any recent medical tests.
- Let your doctor know how much information you want and if you have religious or cultural beliefs that affect your treatment.
- Stand up for yourself or have a friend or family member advocate for you if your concerns are not addressed.
- Balance assertiveness with friendliness and understanding.
Hopefully these tips will help seniors understand their diagnosis and any recommended treatments.
No matter what, skin ages because of too much cold weather, too much sun, and too many years. Most people make a point of taking care of their skin, using moisturizers and creams to keep inevitable damage at bay as long as possible. But as aging takes place, skin dilemmas happen to nearly everyone.
According to the Mayo Clinic wrinkles happen due to many years of ultraviolet rays and gravity. The skin becomes less elastic and subsequently sags and wrinkles. Habits like frowning and smoking can cause wrinkles around the mouth.
Seniors are prone to dry skin which is rough and scaly skin that appears on the lower legs, elbows, and lower arms. A few causes of dry skin include:
- Dehydration due to not drinking enough fluids
- Staying in the sun for long periods of time
- Being in very dry air
- Experiencing stress
- Losing sweat and oil glands which happens naturally with age
- Some health problems like diabetes or kidney disease
- Using excessive amounts of soap, antiperspirant, or perfume
- Taking hot baths
Dry skin can lead to itching, bleeding, and infection. It can also contribute to sleep problems. Such problems can be treated by medication, so it is encouraged that one seek medical attention before itchy skin leads to more serious conditions. Men and women can also use lotions and ointments, take fewer baths, use milder soap, use cooler water when bathing, or use a humidifier in order to treat dry and irritable skin.
Age spots, which are sometimes referred to as liver spots, are brown spots that can appear on the hands and body. They are harmless signs of years of sun exposure.
Skin tags are flesh-colored growths of skin that can grow anywhere, but the neck is a likely spot.
Although these age spots and skin tags are harmless and are simply due to aging, it is important to alert the doctor as it may be difficult for those without medical training to discern between these and irregular growths. A dermatologist can remove both of these types of growths if they are bothersome.
With age, men and women can bruise more easily and take longer to recover from bruising. Seniors with excessive bruising should see a doctor.
Psoriasis. This skin condition is marked by a rapid buildup of rough, dry, dead skin cells that form thick scales.
Thyroid disorders. Hypothyroidism, a condition that occurs when the thyroid produces too little thyroid hormones, reduces the activity of sweat and oil glands, leading to rough, dry skin.
Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States and is mainly caused by exposure to the sun, sunlamps, or UV light in tanning booths. People with fair skin are more at risk for developing skin cancer. If diagnosed early, skin cancer can be cured.
According to SeniorAdvice.com , some ways to prevent skin conditions are as follows:
- Sun exposure, especially between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. when the sun’s rays are the brightest, should be limited. Cloudy skies or staying in water does not mean you are not being exposed. UV rays travel through these translucent surfaces to reach the skin.
- SPF15 sunscreen and higher should be reapplied at least every two hours with long periods of sun exposure.
- Hats and sunglasses can help protect the face and eyes from harmful UV rays.
- Purposefully exposing the skin to direct UV rays without protection is discouraged.
Health care can be a maze of doctor’s appointments, prescriptions, tests, safety measures, etc. As seniors age, the maze becomes even more complicated. What the doctor said is unclear, driving becomes a challenge, and a myriad of additional issues add to the confusion.
Ten areas of concern are outlined below. Some of these concerns are moot when a move to an assisted living community occurs. In a community, systems exist to manage medications, safety measures have been carefully considered and built-in, more help is available, and many seniors give up the car when they move to a community.
According to the Institute for Healthcare Advancement it’s true that many seniors are living longer, but it’s also true that many could improve the way they deal with health problems. To help seniors stay healthier longer, the IHA has identified the 10 most common mistakes older adults make in caring for their health:
- Driving when it’s no longer safe
Seniors often associate mobility in a car with their independence, but knowing when it is time to stop driving is important for the safety of everyone on the road.
- Fighting the aging process and its appearance
Refusing to wear a hearing aid, eyeglasses or dentures, and reluctance to ask for help or to use walking aids are all examples of this type of denial.
- Reluctance to discuss intimate health problems with the doctor or health care provider
Older Americans may not want to bring up sexual or urinary difficulties. Sometimes problems that the individual thinks are trivial, such as stomach upsets, constipation, or jaw pain, may require further evaluation.
- Not understanding what the doctor told them about their health problem or medical treatment plan
Not understanding the doctor or not remembering what he said are typical complaints. Reluctance to ask the doctor to repeat information or to admit that they do not understand what is being said can result in serious health consequences.
- Disregarding the serious potential for a fall
To help guard against falling, seniors should remove scatter rugs from the home and have adequate lighting throughout. They should wear sturdy and well-fitting shoes, and watch for slopes and cracks in sidewalks. Participating in exercise programs to improve muscle tone and strength is also helpful.
- Failure to have a system or a plan for managing medicines
By using daily schedules, pill box reminders or check-off records, seniors can avoid missing medication doses.
- Not having a single primary care physician who looks at the overall medical plan of treatment
Health problems may be overlooked when a senior goes to several different doctors or treatment programs, and multiple treatment regimens may cause adverse responses.
- Not seeking medical attention when early possible warning signs occur
Reasons for such inaction and denial may include lack of money or reduced self worth due to age. Of course, such treatment delays can result in a poorer prognosis.
- Failure to participate in prevention programs
Flu and pneumonia shots, routine breast and prostate exams are examples of readily available preventive health measures that seniors should utilize.
- Not asking loved ones for help
Many older Americans are reluctant to ask for help whether due to a need for independence or because of early signs of dementia. It’s important that elderly people alert family members or other loved ones to any signs of ill health or unusual feelings so that they can be assessed before the problem advances.
A healthy knee easily can withstand loads equal to more than four times the body weight. Pretty amazing, don’t you agree?
A knee is a joint, and a joint occurs wherever two bones come together. But that definition doesn’t begin to convey the intricacy of joints which provide the body with flexibility, support and a wide range of motion.
The body has four types of joints: fixed, pivot, ball-and-socket, and hinge. Knees are hinge joints which work much like the hinge of a door, allowing the joint to move backward and forward. Knees are the largest and heaviest hinge joints in the body. They’re also the most complex. In addition to bending and straightening, they twist and rotate like a gyroscope. This makes knees especially susceptible to damage which is why they sustain more injuries on average than do other joints.
The knee joint is four bones held together by ligaments. The thighbone (femur) makes up the top part of the joint, and two lower leg bones, the tibia and the fibula, are the lower part. The fourth bone, the patella, slides in a groove on the end of the femur. Ligaments are large bands of tissue that connect bones to one another. In the knee joint, four main ligaments link the femur to the tibia and help stabilize the knee as it moves through its arc of motion.
Over the course of a lifetime, natural lubricants dry-up, and the cartilage wears away. This can lead to arthritis. Then is knee pain inevitable? Many experts think that the human knee can last a long lifetime, provided it’s not abused and receives some basic preventive maintenance. The right lifestyle and activity choices can help make knees stronger, healthier, and more pliant. Most important is to keep moving.
- Do not exercise to the point that you start to feel pain
- Knee exercises must be done very slowly and gradually increased to avoid putting too much stress on muscles, tendons and ligaments.
The following exercises are recommended for seniors by ehow.com:
To strengthen the quadriceps (front of the thigh):
- Sit in a chair with your back straight and the balls of your feet touching the floor. If your entire foot lies flat on the floor, sit on some cushions to lift yourself up so only the balls of your feet touch the floor. Your hands can be either resting on your thighs or holding the chair.
- Bring your right leg in front of you and lift it very slowly until your knee is straight without feeling painful.
- Point your toes back towards your head while in this position and hold for 3 seconds.
- Lower your leg back slowly to the starting position, resting the balls of your feet on the floor.
- Repeat the entire exercise with your left leg. You can repeat this exercise 5 to 10 times if comfortable.
To strengthen the hamstrings (back of the thigh):
- Sit up straight in a chair with arms that will not move as you do this exercise. Prop the chair against a wall if that will keep it stable. Place legs at a 45-degree angle with heels resting on the floor.
- Dig your heels into the floor as you hold onto the arms of the chair. Hold that position for 5 seconds. You will feel your hamstring muscles tighten as you do this.
- Relax for 10 seconds and then repeat 5 to 10 times.
Most seniors, as they age, they think about their Will. They see a lawyer and make decisions about the division of assets among children and/or grandchildren. There’s another kind of asset to leave family members that is historic and incalculably dear – the story of your life.
A granddaughter expressed regret that she never really knew her grandparents on her father’s side. They came through Ellis Island from Finland, and they both were gone by the time the granddaughter was 12. Decades later, as she faced her own mortality, her thoughts dwelled on the couple, and she wished she had asked her dad more details about what his parents were like. But he had died, too, and the unasked questions were haunting. Any stories about the courage it must have taken to come to America are impossible to know.
If only…if only they had written down a personal story or two.
The drama of coming through Ellis Island isn’t a necessity to tell a life story, however. All the remembrances and experiences of a long life are precious and priceless. Life story writing leaves a lasting legacy for future generations. And it can bring enjoyment, satisfaction and even closure in the last stage of life.
According to CreativeQuotations.com, Grandma Moses, in her autobiography, wrote, “I have written my life in small sketches, a little today, a little yesterday, all the things from childhood on through the years, good ones and unpleasant ones, that is how they come out and that is how we have to take them.”
Life story writing in a group can be very enjoyable, and it’s an excellent way to build community with others. Sometimes a family member can serve as a scribe while the senior reminisces aloud. Often a grandchild or great-grandchild compiles the stories and self-publishes from his or her computer. With a little computer know-how, the document can have photos to go along with the stories.
Writing your life story: six suggestions for seniors from JournalTherapy.com
- Write in small sketches of five or ten minutes on specific topics, such as a favorite holiday, the first job, a memorable world event.
- Engage family members in the process. Invite correspondence, or ask nearby relatives to scribe “spoken poems” by writing down everything that is said, in your exact words.
- Join a life story or memoir writing group. Ask at your senior center, library, or doctor’s office. If a writing group doesn’t exist, see if you can get one started.
- Tell the stories of how you participated in world history. Where were you when you heard about the bombing of Pearl Harbor? How did you and your family spend the Great Depression years? Where were you when President Kennedy was assassinated? How did you and America react to 9/11?
- Write your “ethical will.” What life lessons, personal philosophies, mottos, and core values do you want to leave as legacy to your descendants? How did you learn these lessons or acquire these philosophies?
- Ask someone in your family with computer skills to compile your stories into a self-published memoir.
In 1860, as the Civil War was about to start, Anna Mary Robertson was born in upstate New York, according to http://gardenofpraise.com. She was raised on a farm and only very briefly attended school. At age 12, she left home to be a hired hand at another farm. At age 27, Anna Mary married Thomas Moses, a fellow hired worker. The couple rented different farms and finally was able to buy a farm of their own. Anna Mary and Tom had ten children, five of whom survived.
Despite farm duties and a huge family, “Mother Moses” was a whiz at needlework. With thread she would make wonderful pictures on fabric until arthritis took away her ability to push a needle through material. So, at age 75 she took up painting mostly because it was easier on her hands. Her first work of art was created with house paint.
She continued to dabble, learning by trial and error. In 1938, a local drugstore displayed some of her paintings, and an art collector from New York happened by. Anna Mary’s daughter-in-law told the man that Grandma had ten paintings to sell. When she counted the paintings, there were only nine, so Grandma cut a large picture in half and reframed it as two pictures.
The man, Louis Caldor, introduced Grandma’s work to a New York art gallery owner who opened an exhibit titled, “What a Farm Wife Painted.” At age 78, Grandma had a following. She appeared on the Edward R. Murrow’s television show and demonstrated how to paint a picture. She said she painted from the sky down; sky first, then the mountains, then the land, then the people. Her people were shown doing anything she might have seen someone do in her long, active life and were rich in color.
According to , between the start of her painting career at age 75 and her death in 1961 at age 101, Grandma Moses painted approximately 1,600 paintings. Some 250 of those were painted after her 100th birthday. Her family never took her work seriously, but the art world certainly did. Her paintings continue to be enjoyed by people of all ages.
Other amazing seniors from http://www.selfhelpzone.com:
- Two months after her 100th birthday, Estrid Geertsen, born in 1904 in Denmark, made a tandem parachute jump from an altitude of 13,000 feet.
- Charin Yuthasastrkosol began ballet lessons at the age of 47. In 2002 at age 71, she performed for Sakthip Krairikish, Thailand’s Ambassador to the USA, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
- Greek runner Dimitrion Yordanidis ran a 26-mile marathon. At age 98, he finished in 7 hours, 33 minutes.
- The oldest person – and the oldest male – to summit Mr. Everest is Katsusuke Yanagisawa, a former school teacher, on May 22, 2007. He was 71 years old.
- Ruth Hamilton was born in 1898. She died in 2008 at the age of 109. Toward the end of her life, she became an avid blogger. The woman who used to be a school teacher in Iowa was given a new lease in life through her video blog: .
If only there was a recipe for aging well – a little of this and a little of that, and voila! Perfect old age.
Well, according to the National Institutes for Health’s magazine, “Medline Plus,” there are seven important “ingredients” to aging well. There are no concrete promises that it will turn out perfectly, of course, but these seven steps are everyone’s best shot.
First, quit smoking! It is never too late to quit, especially because smoking is a leading risk factor for lung cancer. Quitting smoking may be challenging, but there are resources to help. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has guidelines for quitting in its Cancer Topics online. The American Lung Association’s “Freedom From Smoking Online” program describes smoking cessation program and offers support from many other smokers and former smokers.
Second, lose some weight! Studies show that being overweight increases the risk of many diseases in seniors including type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, some types of cancer, sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, and other health-related problems. Losing as little as 5 to 15 percent of body weight can significantly improve health. A safe, healthy rate of weight loss is half a pound to two pounds per week.
Third, get moving! It’s a fact that exercise burns calories. Generally, seniors have less muscle mass in the body, but strength exercises can help to restore strength and muscle mass, often fairly quickly. To get started on an exercise plan, talk to the doctor about what is right for you. Working up to exercising 4 to 6 days per week for 30 to 60 minutes will work wonders.
Fourth, control blood pressure. High blood pressure or hypertension can lead to stroke, heart disease, eye problems and kidney failure. High blood pressure is defined as a blood pressure of 140 over 90 or higher at two different checkups. What helps is a healthy weight, regular exercise, healthy diet, watch the salt, watch alcohol, and listen to the doctor!
Fifth, control cholesterol levels. The body needs some of this waxy substance, but an excess of it in the blood can clog arteries and lead to heart disease or stroke. To reduce levels of LDL and increase HDL, it’s vital to eat well and exercise. If medications are needed to control cholesterol, they will be used in combination with a good diet and exercise.
Sixth, don’t drink too much. Drinking more than the recommended amount (two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women) can increase the risk of certain cancers, cirrhosis of the liver, problems with the immune system, and brain damage. In other situations, irresponsible drinking can lead to car accidents. The best advice is, if you drink, drink responsibly.
Some of us remember when elder grandparents lived in the same household with their children and grandchildren. It’s a rarity these days. Today, many families are scattered and separated by distances both great and small. The website GrandParenting.org says that no matter how far grandparents and grandchildren live from one another, there are two things working in their favor that can help to keep their bond alive and well:
First, young children have the ability to expand time. Remember when you were younger how time moved more slowly, and your house seemed enormous? This means the time you spend alone with your grandchild can nourish your grandchild for quite a while.
Second, technology is a marvelous asset in helping to encourage emotional connections over distance. True, technology can’t go fishing with a grandchild or help out a harried parent, but it can be a godsend to foster ongoing communication
In fact, communication is the most indispensable factor in keeping grandparent and grandchild as close as possible no matter how far apart they live. Today, there are lots of ways to communicate.
About.com reminds us that the “old” ways are still extremely meaningful: letters to an individual grandchild, letters with sketches or drawings, photos of yourself, greeting cards, a note with a stick of chewing gum, packages with several small items, or send something hand-made like a birdhouse or quilt. Young kids like the thought more than the content. Just the fact they receive a letter is more important than what is in it.
Technology has given everyone even more options. Lots of kids are computer literate, and now’s the time to have someone show you the ropes of email. There’s also videoconferencing (you can talk with your grandchild real-time, face-to-face). E-Mail, computer games, and the ability to send notes back and forth (or recipes, jokes,) can keep your contact loving and lively. You can even establish your own home page on the world-wide-web.
Faxes can be fun. One grandmother gave all of her grandchildren fax machines so they could keep in touch on a daily basis. Children can fax jokes, report cards, drawings etc. to their grandparents and vice versa. This grandma faxes her grandchildren individual notes several mornings a week.
Telephone contact is important, too. It’s a live voice. But make sure that you call your grandchild alone. Your grandchild wants to feel special and individual. It’s best to call at a regular time when your grandchild is not rushed or a parent is not harried about getting a meal on the table.
Some suggestions from GrandParentsToday.com:
- Videotape yourself reading a grandchild’s favorite story. If possible, have someone else record you and your spouse, especially on birthdays or other special occasions.
- Bake and send favorite cookies. Include the recipe, and videotape yourself making the cookies for a personal cooking lesson.
- For a far-away grandchild’s birthday, buy party hats, favors, balloons, etc. and send them to the grandchild to use at their party.
- Create a video family history using old slides and pictures. Narrate it or just set it to music. Or create a scrapbook with copies made from the original pictures.
- Watch a television show or rented movie “together.” For instance, at Christmas, plan to watch It’s a Wonderful Life and share your thoughts via a phone call, letter or e-mail.
- Have a prearranged time on New Year’s Eve for you and your children and grandchildren to each light a candle and make a special wish for the coming year.
- Make up a quiz about you and your spouse. It can be a fun way for your grandchildren to get to know you better.
Most importantly, be there when your grandchild is born and be there for the important events; graduations, religious passages, recitals, holidays, whatever events your family values highly. With a little time and ingenuity, connections can be strong and loving in spite of the miles between you.
People love to play Bingo, and it’s especially popular with seniors. This age group enjoys the game for entertainment and companionship, and added benefits are brain power and enhanced focus. And who isn’t excited to win? Most senior communities have Bingo as part of their weekly activities. Some feature Bingo every day.
According to about.com, Bingo’s history can be traced back to 1530, to an Italian lottery game called “Lo Giuoco del Lotto D’Italia.” Travelers brought the game across the Alps to France where it was called “Le Lotto.” The Germans also played a version of the game in the 1800s, but they used it primarily to help students learn lessons.
Fast forward to 1929 in America. A game called “Beano” was introduced at a carnival near Atlanta, Georgia. A pitchman selected numbered discs from a cigar box, and players would mark their cards with beans. When they completed a line of beans horizontally, vertically or diagonally, they yelled “Beano” and won a prize or money.
Edwin S. Lowe, owner of a very small New York toy company (two employees), had a sales call near Atlanta. As he drove down the road, he happened upon the bright lights of the carnival. He was early for his appointment, so he stopped. There was a huge crowd filled with people wanting a turn at a game called Beano. Lowe knew his games, and he had never heard of it.
While he was waiting for a seat (which he never got), he noticed that the players seemed addicted to the game. The pitchman wanted to close up, but every time he announced the last game, nobody moved. The game finally shut down at 3 a.m. After locking up, the pitchman told Lowe that he had run across a game called Lotto while traveling with a carnival in Germany the previous year. He thought it would make a good tent or carnival game. He called it Beano.
Returning to his home in New York, Lowe bought some dried beans, a rubber numbering stamp and some cardboard. Friends were invited to his apartment, and Lowe assumed the pitchman’s duties. Soon his friends were playing Beano with the same tension and excitement as he had seen at the carnival. During one session Lowe noticed that one of his guests was close to winning. She got more excited as each bean was added to her card. Finally there was one number left – and it was called. The woman jumped up, became tongue tied, and instead of shouting “Beano,” stuttered “B-B-B-BINGO!” The name stuck.
Lowe realized the game’s potential and started to market it. He hired a math professor to help him increase the number of combinations in bingo cards. By 1930, Dr. Carl Leffler had invented 6,000 different Bingo cards. It is said that Leffler then went insane. Who can blame him?
By 1934 there were an estimated 10,000 Bingo games a week, and Ed Lowe’s firm had 1,000 employees frantically trying to keep up with demand. The company took up nine entire floors of its New York office space, and 64 presses printed 24 hours a day.
According to Wikipedia, the Lowe Bingo Game had two versions; the first a 12-card set for $1, the second a $2 set with 24 cards. Bingo was a huge success. By the 1940s Bingo games were all over the country. Lowe had many competitors, and all he asked was that they pay $1 a year to conduct the games and to use the name Bingo.
Bingo was off to a fast start, and at the same time, it had reserved itself next to baseball and apple pie – thanks to Ed Lowe and the loss of Professor Leffler’s sanity.
Then, a Catholic priest from Pennsylvania approached Lowe about using Bingo as a means of raising church funds. It caught on like wildfire.
The rest, as they say, is history.
It’s an old stereotype – You will lose all your teeth as you age, and all seniors have dentures. Not so! Teeth are never too old to be repaired or replaced, and dentures aren’t the only game in town. Dental implants are a new option that many older adults are choosing.
But let’s not talk about repairing or replacing. Let’s talk about keeping the mouth healthy in the first place.
According to WebMD, daily brushing and flossing of natural teeth is essential to keeping them in good oral health.
It’s important for all individuals – regardless of age -to:
- Brush at least twice a day with a fluoride-containing toothpaste.
- Floss at least once a day.
- Visit the dentist on a regular schedule for cleaning and an oral exam.
The Mayo Clinic says the state of oral health can offer lots of clues about a person’s overall health.
The mouth is normally teeming with bacteria. Brushing and flossing can keep these bacteria under control. Saliva also is a key defense against bacteria and viruses, because it contains enzymes that destroy bacteria in different ways.
But harmful bacteria can sometimes grow out of control and lead to periodontitis, a serious gum infection. This disease is caused by bacteria in dental plaque, which if not removed through daily tooth brushing and flossing, results in red or swollen gums that bleed easily. And, if plaque remains on teeth too long, a hard deposit called tarter or calculus forms. This deposit is removed by a dental hygienist or dentist when the teeth are professionally cleaned.
Left untreated, periodontal disease can destroy the gum tissues and bone around teeth, and eventually teeth can be lost. Periodontitis also may provide bacteria a port of entry into the bloodstream. Medications or treatments that reduce saliva flow or disrupt the normal balance of bacteria in the mouth also may lead to oral changes.
To summarize, oral health is connected to many other health conditions beyond the mouth. Sometimes the first sign of a disease shows up in the mouth. Simply said, oral health is important for overall health and vice versa.