For many seniors, the winter months have wreaked havoc on their skin, causing it to dry out, flake, and even crack. If you are a family caregiver, you may have noticed her complaining about itchy skin or even painful areas where the skin is so dry and thin, it hurts to stretch.
As a person ages, their skin becomes thinner and flatter, making it more susceptible to drying out and becoming painful. Their skin is not able to retain moisture as it did before, or react and adjust to different temperatures and the moisture levels in the air around it.
While your loved one may think dry skin is just a fact of life that she has to live with, there are things you can do to improve dry skin. You can also rely on personal care at home to help you in providing relief for your loved one’s dry skin.
Here are a few steps to take to help your loved one find relief from her dry skin.
Eat a well-balanced diet
To help keep her skin soft and moisturized, it begins with what goes into your loved one’s body. Make sure her diet includes plenty of protein, fatty acids, and vitamins. Having a well-balanced diet will help her body to regenerate damaged skin and do the necessary internal repairs for her skin to feel comfortable on the outside.
Stay hydrated
Many seniors live a life of constant dehydration. Because they may not be thinking to drink a lot of water during the day, they may not be getting enough to keep their body hydrated and keep areas like their skin well moisturized. A personal care at home provider can make sure your loved one is getting the hydration she needs by prompting her to drink plenty of water as well as finding other foods and drinks that can aid in hydration.
Stay away from excessive indoor heat.
Homes that are heated to high temps and hot baths may seem like a nice relief from the cold outside but they can cause some seriously dry skin. During the winter months especially, make sure your loved one has a humidifier running in the rooms that she spends a lot of time in to combat the drying effects of the forced heat that’s needed to keep the home warm all winter. When taking a shower or bath, if your personal care at home provider is helping, make sure the temperature of the water is warm, not hot.
Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize.
While over-the-counter lotions will help, if your loved one has extremely dry and painful skin, you might need to get a prescription ointment to help heal the damage done. Ask your loved one’s doctor which lotions are best for keeping dry skin at bay and how often you should apply them. It might be a lot more often than you would think.
If you or an aging loved one is considering personal care at home in Portage, MI, please contact the caring staff at Fresh Perspective Home Care today. Call (269) 329-4717
Fresh Perspective Home Care is a trusted non-medical senior home care provider in Kalamazoo, Portage, Mattawan, Richland, Vicksburg, Schoolcraft, Three Rivers, Gull Lake, Yorkville and Otsego, Michigan.
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