Blog

Decreasing Muscle Strength Leads to Higher Fall Risk: What Can You Do?

February 16, 2017

Elder Care in Hobe Sound FL

Elder Care in Hobe Sound FLHaving even a small fall can cause tremendous health ramifications for your elderly loved one. If her strength is decreasing, your loved one's risk of falling increases. Try some of these solutions for helping your loved one deal with her decreased strength.
Decreased Strength Causes Other Issues When your loved one's strength decreases, it causes her to have other problems as well. She's not likely to be as active physically, which can cause her muscles to become even weaker. As if that weren't enough, weakened muscles don't support your loved one's joints as well as they should, so her joints can suffer. Everything connects to everything else in the human body, creating a domino effect.
Talk to Your Loved One's Doctor As you start to notice that your elderly loved one is having difficulty with decreasing strength, talk to her doctor. There may be a medical cause for the situation and that might mean a solution, too. Even if there's not a medical solution, there may be other solutions, such as a change in diet or a new exercise plan.
Set up an Exercise Plan With a blessing from your loved one's doctor, it may be time to set up an exercise plan. Your loved one will have to start out slowly and steadily, but she should be able to gradually improve over time. Even if your elderly loved one is confined to a wheelchair, there are still exercises that she can do. Talk to her doctor or physical therapist to get recommendations.
Look for Other Solutions Your loved one might benefit from or enjoy a variety of other solutions, too. Massage therapy can help to loosen your loved one's muscles and help her to stay active. Acupuncture, acupressure, and physical therapy are other options you and your loved one might consider. Talk to your loved one about what she might want to try in order to help compensate for her decreasing strength levels. Let your loved one's other family members and elder care providers know what your care plan is for her now that her strength is decreasing. They can help you to implement it.
If you or an aging loved one are considering elder care in Hobe Sound, FL, contact the caring staff at BrightStar Care of Jupiter. Call today (561) 741-1200.