Age shouldn’t define your comfort level, but your bed should.
Sleeping is the one thing we do no matter what is going on around us. It is the fuel to take on the world each day, whether you are heading to work or enjoying retirement. We all want to be comfortable while we sleep and not wake up feeling that we missed out on what could have been a great night’s sleep. When this happens, it can cause a domino effect that could have you feeling drained by the end of the week.
One of the biggest groups that experience this more than anyone in the elderly community. Getting older affects all of us in different ways, sometimes even the same way. One of the biggest things an elderly family member might experience is the comfort of enjoying the much-needed rest they need. Being at an age where elderly pains come at any time, don’t you think helping an elderly family member get something as little as comfortable sleep?
Helping an elderly family member get better sleep isn’t as easy as it seems. One thing you need to do is to be aware of the kinds of pain they may be experiencing throughout the day. You want to make sure that if you are identifying a consistent and painful issue, you can truly find the best solution for their sleep, as well as their daily life.
Granted the elderly are very strong-willed and independent, offering an extended hand of assistance or even offering to help them understand the best way they can comfortably sleep will help get them on the right track. There are many things to keep an eye on regarding the pain of an elderly family member. To give you some examples of what to keep your eye out for, here are three problems your elderly family member might be experiencing:
1. Edema is a common problem in the elderly, which usually occurs in the ankles and calves, and will affect life. Experts pointed out that you can raise your legs to the top of the heart, and the effusion can be dispersed and relieved.
2. Back pain and chronic pain as age grows.
3. Arthritis: The morning is when arthritis patients feel the stiffest, sometimes it is difficult to get out of bed.
Knowing all this you can sit down with your elderly family member and see which is affecting them the most. You will want to talk to them to find out what will be the appropriate steps that you can take together to help them have a better night’s sleep. Walking them through how their night is while they sleep is also a good tactic. You will want to know if they are constantly tossing and turning, dealing with any of the pain that wasn’t mentioned before, and even what they are looking for to be comfortable more than they are while they sleep.
There might be things they don’t know they are experiencing while they sleep until they talk about it. Sometimes talking about this might spark something in the back of their mind that may make them realize what is bothering them the most while they sleep. Even seeing if your elderly family member would be willing to see a sleep therapist or specialist is a good way to help get the info you need to find out what bothers them the most during the night.
The biggest thing that will help or even possibly do more harm than good is what your elderly family member sleeps on. Many people have a normal way to sleep such as on a mattress. Sometimes having something on the mattress additionally like memory foam, memory sleep pillows, or even quilted foam for the mattress itself. While these can help, they aren’t the best solution for your elderly family member. One of the best things you can do to help your elderly family member sleep at night, or really during any time is using an adjustable bed base. An adjustable bed base does many things for your health while you sleep. Some of those things include:
Helping them lighten the effects of back pain
Alleviating their sleep apnea, asthma, and snoring
Lowering their chances of acid reflux and heartburn
Easing their insomnia
Improving their digestion
Enhancing their body’s circulation
Helping them lighten the effects of leg swelling
Enhancing their lifestyle and furthering their independence physically
Considering those are just a small amount of the things that your body will get from an adjustable bed base, it seems very worth it. Sure, getting an adjustable bed base might be more expensive than the average bed frame or regular mattress, but what you are doing is not only investing in sleeping better but investing in their future health. Little things that affect your health can worsen over time or even cause serious health issues. Preventing those things from happening early will end up paying for the adjustable bed base tenfold.
If you think about it regarding cost and numbers, an adjustable bed base will cost so much less than many visits to the doctor’s office throughout the rest of your life. There is a balance to having an adjustable bed base when you think of it in these terms. You are chipping away at health problems you have, as well you are spending less money having to continuously get help at a doctor’s office. As we all know, going to the doctor’s even once can be a pain, let alone having to go many times.
The best thing to take away from this is to listen to your body (no matter what age you are) and make sure you do what is best for your elderly family member. Sometimes it is hard to know exactly what their body might be saying but taking some measures beforehand will end up setting them up for exactly what they will need. Let their new adjustable bed base do that for your elderly family member now and for years to come.
