What Can Cause Chronic Pain in Aging Adults?

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Cause of Chronic Pain in Aging Adults in Huntsville, AL

Pain is meant to let people know when something is wrong with their bodies. While most pain eventually goes away once the problem is healed, some types become chronic. Long-term pain is usually caused by chronic health problems that your senior loved one may never be able to fully recover from. You should also know that any pain lasting for more than three months is chronic, and there are ways to reduce your loved one’s discomfort. Chronic pain can arise in just about any part of the body, and these are a few of the most common reasons your loved one may experience lingering discomfort.

Severe Arthritis

Some cases of arthritis are mild enough that your loved one may not notice the pain too much, or he or she may only experience brief flares of painful joints. However, severe arthritis can cause unrelenting pain that keeps your loved one from being able to sit, stand, or even sleep comfortably. Your loved one can manage this pain with arthritis medications combined with alternating periods of rest and activity.

Chronic pain is just one of the many issues that can affect quality of life in the golden years. Seniors can face a variety of age-related challenges. Though some families choose to take on the caregiving duties, there may come a time when they need a trusted Huntsville at-home care provider. Families sometimes need respite from their duties so they can focus on their other responsibilities, and some seniors need around-the-clock assistance that their families are not able to provide. Home Care Assistance is here to help.

Unhealed Injuries

Old injuries can sometimes come back to haunt seniors as they get older. Some injuries never fully heal, and they can progressively get worse over the years as the body experiences more wear and tear. Your loved one could also get hurt today, and his or her aging body isn’t able to heal like it could in youth. Seniors should still get out and enjoy life, but they may need to be more careful about injury prevention. For instance, your loved one can ask a caregiver to climb the ladder to reach something on a high shelf instead of trying to do it him or herself.

Spinal Misalignments

Back pain is a common cause of chronic pain that may begin at any point in your loved one’s life. Some people discover that back pain from earlier in life comes back with a vengeance in their senior years. Your loved one may also have a health condition, such as degenerative disc disease, that accompanies aging. Spinal misalignments can be addressed with medical care and other forms of therapy to help your loved one find relief.

If your elderly loved one is living with a serious medical condition and needs help managing the tasks of daily living, reach out to Home Care Assistance, a senior care agency you can trust. Our caregivers are available 24/7, there are no hidden fees in our contracts, and we offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee on all of our in-home care services.

Diabetes

This health condition tends to slowly degrade a person’s bodily systems until it finally becomes noticeable. Once your loved one experiences chronic pain from diabetes, it’s likely the condition has been out of control for some time. Diabetes is most often associated with nerve pain, which can cause shooting pain sensations in the extremities such as the hands. With this pain, your loved one may also describe it as burning or find it difficult to nail down where it originates from.

Obesity

Simply being overweight places strain on every part of the body. Seniors may feel more pain in their back, joints, and shoulders when they carry extra weight. Often, this type of chronic pain is relieved when seniors take steps to change to a healthier lifestyle.

Managing chronic pain can make it easier for older adults to maintain their independence. Living independently is important for seniors who want to maintain a high quality of life. For some, this simply means receiving help with tasks that have become more challenging to manage over time. Even when families have the best intentions, they may not have the time to provide the care their elderly loved ones need and deserve. If your loved one needs help for a few hours a day or a few days a week, reach out to Home Care Assistance, a trusted provider of respite care Huntsville seniors can depend on. Reach out to one of our qualified Care Managers today at (256) 716-9940 to learn more.

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