Is Constipation Slowing Your Senior Down?

Being unable to go when she needs to go can be frustrating for your aging adult. In fact, she might experience serious emotional outbursts. But constipation can be more than just irritating if it’s left to itself too long.

Senior Care Salisbury NC – Is Constipation Slowing Your Senior Down?

It’s Really Common for Aging Adults

Constipation can happen for so many different reasons. It’s possible that your elderly family member isn’t drinking enough water or that her diet is causing issues. It’s also highly likely that your senior is taking medications that have a side effect of causing constipation for her. Since there are so many variables to consider, you may need to approach the situation from more than one angle.

Talk to Her Doctor

When you first realize that your senior is having trouble with constipation, it’s already time to talk with her doctor. Because there could be so many potential causes, your elderly family member’s doctor needs to be involved from the beginning. You can rule out side effects from medication and other causes and hopefully get to a solution much sooner.

Check Her Diet

The first variable to check is your senior’s diet. If she’s eating whole foods already that include a wide range of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, that’s a good sign. If her diet consists of foods with empty calories, such as processed or junk foods, then she may need to make some changes. Difficulty keeping up with cooking can be part of the reason behind choosing a less healthy diet. You might want to consider having family members or senior care providers helping with meal preparation.

Get Her Moving

Exercise can help to get things moving along in your senior’s colon when other solutions aren’t working so well. This is because moving causes the muscles around the intestinal track prompt the intestinal muscles to contract and to move a little more as well. For someone with a sluggish colon, this little bit of extra push from other muscle groups can help quite a bit.

Take Advantage of the Urge to “Go”

Talk to your senior about her urge to go. If she’s ignoring the urge to go or she’s not recognizing it for what it is, that can send your senior’s body signals to hang onto that bowel movement. Learning to recognize that urge for what it is and doing something about it right then can help to keep everything flowing the way that it should.

Getting a handle on constipation might require that your senior tries a variety of solutions to find the combination that works the best for her. Once you have a routine, you can work to stick with it.

If you or an aging loved one are considering Senior Care Services in Salisbury NC, please contact the caring staff at TenderHearted Home Care today. (704) 612-4132.