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Many adults find themselves taking on their aging parent’s personal and medical care. As they get older, many parents go through changes that can range from minor to very worrying. One common change is leaning to the side when sitting.
Leaning while sitting is usually the result of physical or neurological conditions. As people age, their physical and mental well-being worsens. This can lead to difficulty moving and performing other basic tasks that they could previously perform with relative ease.
In this article, I will address some reasons why an elderly parent might lean while sitting down. I will also offer different options for addressing the problem. Finally, I’ll give a few pointers on who and where you can go to help meet your parent’s needs.
Why Can’t My Aging Parent Sit Up Straight?
The reasons why a parent has difficulty sitting up straight can be as varied as they are concerning. Let’s take a look at them.
Weak Muscles and Joints
Older people are prone to many conditions affecting the musculoskeletal system, which comprises bones, muscles, joints, and connective tissue.
Sarcopenia, or the loss of muscle tissue, begins at around 30 years old and gradually progresses for the rest of one’s life. This leads to joint stress and is often a contributing factor to painful conditions like arthritis.
Along with this, it can also significantly affect posture and might be a major reason why your elderly parent leans to the side when sitting.
Skeletal Disorders
There are multiple skeletal disorders and while they aren’t unique to old age, getting older is a major risk factor.
Osteoporosis is one such condition that affects the bones. With age, bones start to lose the calcium and other minerals that keep them strong, making them more fragile and prone to breaking. This fragility can cause posture changes like leaning and hunching.
Neurological Disorders
The cerebellum is the part of the brain that controls balance and movement. It is also the part of the brain targeted by many neurological disorders. Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Lewy body dementia are some of the most common neurological diseases, especially among older people.
Changes in movement and balance are frequently seen in patients with these disorders, impacting their ability to walk, stand, and sit upright.
What Are the Dangers of Leaning?
Difficulties in posture, balance, and coordination can be a source of danger for a parent. Being aware helps us avoid negative consequences.
Increased Risk of Injury
With advanced age comes an increased risk of illness, injury, and other issues. If your elderly parent has difficulty with balance and posture, they are also at a higher risk of injury.
Because their bodies are already weaker, injuries from falls can be long-lasting or even fatal for older people depending on where and how they fall.
Muscle Pain
Poor posture and weak muscles go hand-in-hand; one can exacerbate the other. Weakened muscles can lead to increased fatigue and reduced ability for physical activity. This can cause an elderly parent increased discomfort and pain on top of any other physical or neurological problems.
What Can Help an Elderly Parent With Their Posture?
Despite the difficulties in posture, balance, and coordination experienced by your parent, all is not lost. There are ways to help your parent deal with and adjust to these challenges.
Light Exercise
Exercise is integral to staying healthy at every stage of life, including old age. However, someone in their eighties will not be able to work out the same way as someone in their twenties.
As a result, it’s important to engage an elderly parent with exercises that are effective but still accessible for them.
Simple exercises like stretching their fingers, arms, and legs for a few minutes each day can help ease muscle and joint pain, allowing them to move about easier.
Mobility Aids
Products such as canes, walkers, and wheelchairs can help your parent move around the house. These can grant your parent more independence and the ability to maneuver the home.
More importantly, having support while moving reduces the amount of stress on already weak muscles and bones.
While it won’t give them the vigor of their youth, it could be a good way to help your elderly parent maintain good posture.
Whatever aid your parent needs will depend on their condition(s) and how much they can move independently.
Install Support Fixtures Around the Home
Although mobility aids can be very beneficial, your parent may need more than that. Reacher/grabber tools can help pick up objects your parent can’t bend down and reach easily.
Shower chairs allow your parent to bathe without standing for too long and possibly slipping and falling.
Installing grab bars, bed rails, and stair lifts can make multiple areas of your house more accessible.
This Shower Handle 12-inch Grab Bars for Bathtubs and Showers on Amazon is great value for money if you’re in the market for a grab bar. The bar is suction-based, so installation is as easy as attaching it to the wall. It also comes in a pack of two, so you can have a fixture for the bathroom and toilet.
Where Can You Get More Help for Your Parent?
If you find yourself overwhelmed by the amount of care your elderly parent needs, you might want to look into hiring a nurse.
A nurse will assist with feeding, bathing, and providing medication. The costs can range from $1,500 to $7,600 a month, depending on where you live and how often their services are needed.
Still, don’t write it off completely because of the price. Consider that a good nurse can also be a particularly good companion. This can be great for an aging parent.
You can also consider moving your parent into an assisted living facility. These facilities or “care homes” are specialized to take care of the elderly.
The downside is that it costs significantly more than having a nurse come to your home. Similarly, the cost depends on where you live, ranging from around $5,400 to upwards of $32,000 per month.
The cost of at-home caregivers and nursing homes can be extremely daunting for the average person, but medical insurance can help cover some of the costs for both options.
Conclusion
Older people’s bodies are vulnerable to many conditions and disorders affecting their bones, muscles, joints, and even brains. Weakness in any of these body parts can impact their mobility, balance, and posture.
When this starts to happen, light exercise or physical therapy can be a great help. You should also consider mobility aids and some extra support like grab bars and shower home to make your parent’s life that much easier.
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