Keeping You Safe From COVID-19
Interested in a career at Golden Heart Senior Care. APPLY HERE!

Tag: Diabetes

Foot Care for Diabetics

Posted on by Craig Bass

If your loved one has developed Type 2 Diabetes as she’s aged, she needs to keep on top of her condition to prevent any other health issues from developing. Diabetes occurs when a person’s blood sugar levels get too high. This occurs because the body has stopped being able to create enough insulin to keep those levels at a safe level. Without enough insulin, glucose can’t get into your loved one’s cells as quickly as it should. It then builds up in the blood and causes high blood sugar levels.

Over time, these high blood sugar levels may damage the vessels and nerves in the feet. The nerve damage, also known as diabetic neuropathy, can cause some foot problems as well as mask some foot problems.

If your loved one has diabetes, home care assistance can support her daily efforts to manage the disease. These efforts can include a specific diet, incorporating exercise into her daily life, or assessing them regularly for signs of damage.

Here are some ways to help keep your loved one’s feet healthy:

  1. Check them daily for any type of injury. Because diabetic neuropathy can cause feet to become numb and not always feel the pain associated with a cut or scrape, it’s easy for those areas to become infected without your loved one knowing. A home care assistance provider can help look for any new sores or ingrown toenails that might need medical attention.
  2. Wash them daily. Don’t soak them, but give a good washing each day with warm (not hot) water and soap. Then make sure to dry them well and apply lotion if dry skin is a problem. Never apply lotion between the toes. Use talcum powder between toes if needed.
  3. Trim the nails, but not too short. Your loved one might need help trimming her own nails. That’s where your home care assistance provider can help or you might have her visit a podiatrist. Nails should be cut straight across and left long enough to prevent ingrown toenails from developing.
  4. Since the feet often can no longer feel heat or cold very well, it’s important to prepare them correctly for the elements and not rely on signals from them about being too hot or too cold. If your loved one is walking on a hot, sunny day, make sure she’s not barefoot, even at the beach. Invest in some beach shoes that’ll protect her feet from the hot sand or cement around a pool. When it’s cold outside, wool socks and well-fitting warm shoes are the key to keeping her feet comfortable.
  5. Put her feet up. When it’s time to rest, putting your loved one’s feet up on an ottoman or the couch can help with blood flow. Encourage her to wiggle her toes and make sure socks are not too tight.

With proper care, your loved one’s feet will stay in good shape.

Reference
https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/library/features/healthy-feet.html

If you or an aging loved one is considering home care assistance in Lafayette, CA, please contact the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care of Walnut Creek. (925) 203-3039.

Diabetes Management in Seniors: How Companion Care Can Help

Posted on by Craig Bass
Companion Care at Home in Walnut Creek CA
Companion Care at Home in Walnut Creek CA

Diabetes can often cause severe health issues. Sometimes, people go into diabetic shock. This is just one of the many reasons why diabetes management in senior citizens is so crucial. As a family caregiver, there are some ways that you can help your elderly loved one with this health condition. However, it is also important to know when to ask for help in caring for your elderly loved one. If you can’t be there with your senior regularly, you may want to consider hiring companion care at home providers. They can be there to help your elderly loved one to manage their diabetes in many ways.

Reminders

Does your elderly loved one need to take medications or insulin? If so, it is vital they are taking their medications and injections at the proper times and days. If they are likely to forget, you should get on top of this issue. One solution would be to hire home care providers. They can go to your elderly loved one’s home and remind them to take their medications or insulin injections. That way, they aren’t missing doses and risking getting even sicker.

Eating Better

As a diabetic, your elderly loved one will need to focus on eating better. However, there are many elderly people who know they need to do this, but they either forget or don’t keep up on it. For example, if your elderly loved one used to be a late-night snacker, they may slip up and eat cake or cookies often before bed. By having companion care at home providers in their home in the day and/or night, your elderly loved one can be encouraged to eat better all the time. This can reduce the number of times your elderly loved one would be to slip up on eating healthy.

Stay in Touch with Doctors

Does your elderly loved one forget to keep in touch with their doctors? What about when they are having symptoms that aren’t under control? How do they usually handle those? If you don’t think your elderly loved one is staying in touch with their doctors or attending their appointments, you may want to hire senior care providers. These providers can take your elderly loved one to and from their appointments and make sure all unmanaged symptoms are discussed.

Conclusion

Does your elderly loved one have diabetes? If so, the condition must be managed to keep your elderly loved one as healthy as possible. Between the help that you and home care providers offer, your elderly loved one should be able to better manage their condition.

Sources
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6092888/

If you or an aging loved one is considering companion care at home in Walnut Creek, CA, please contact the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care of Walnut Creek. (925) 203-3039.