5 Tactics to Help Seniors Reduce Daily Pain

5 Tactics to Help Seniors Reduce Daily Pain

By: Avery Bullock

As we age, it’s only natural that aches and pains becomes part of our daily life. After many years of stress on our joints, we eventually begin to feel the pain, but nobody wants to just accept life becoming more painful as we age. And even if you do accept it, you don’t want it to worsen.           

Instead of letting old age make you feel defeated, take action to feel better each and every day by finding ways to reduce your body’s aches. Check out these five tactics that do just that by providing immediate relief or reducing overall intensity and frequency of pain.      

1. Get the Recommended Daily Exercise

If you aren’t regularly keeping your body in motion, your joints will become more stiff, causing more pain and likelihood of injuries. Without exercise, the body will become more prone to tears, micro-fractures, and increase stress on ligaments.

Seniors should get at least 2.5 hours of light aerobic activity such as cycling or walking each week. Don't wait until mobility becomes an issue. Physical therapy becomes much harder to do when simple house chores are a challenge.  

2. Improve Sleeping Habits

Getting a good night’s sleep is surprisingly a key factor in helping pain. Why? Because your sleep time is when your body has a chance to rest, recharge, and heal. Sleep becomes increasingly important as you age, but it also becomes increasingly challenging with issues due to circadian rhythm shifts, side effects of medications, and other factors. Be sure you know what you need to do to improve your sleep so your body can get the rest it needs to be restored. This means keeping up with a regular routine, having healthy lifestyle habits, and asking for help from a medical professional when necessary.

3. Chiropractic and Massage Therapy Solutions

Muscle and joint inflammation are key contributors to chronic pain in seniors. When the joints are inflamed, they impact bone positioning, which exacerbates the pain. Both massage therapy and chiropractic therapy can help relieve this pain and retain the proper alignment of the joints.     

Massage therapists reduce muscle tension and help improve blood flow. A chiropractor helps maintain healthy joints and offers helpful nutritional plans to strengthen joints, reducing chronic pain.

4. Assisted Living Help       

There's no shame in turning to assisted living options to get daily palliative care. Seniors may suffer from early stages of dementia or become disenchanted with the idea of chronic pain management. Even, as a family member or friend, if you could help them every day, it's not a healthy relationship.

Noble as the cause may seem, a trained health professional is the best person to help manage pain and improve the lifestyle of seniors. Whether it's a live-in caregiver or a group home, get them the help they deserve.  

5. Natural Remedies

Rather than turning to medications, try natural remedies first for your pain. One solution is to take a warm bath -- for those with back pain, stick a tennis ball behind your back to apply slight pressure to the problem area. You may also want to consider essential oils such as lavender, eucalyptus, and hemp oil.

Follow these five tactics for treating chronic pain in seniors and you will see improvements in both comfort and happiness. It’s never worth it to settle for living with pain when you can take active steps to improve your health and well-being.

This post was shared by A Caring Hand for Mom (and dad) for our readers as we attempt to provide relevant information for our readers.  We help senior and their families find assisted living options throughout Arizona and the surrounding states.