Senior woman applying face lotion.

Understanding How to Care for Aging Skin

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Senior woman applying face lotion.

If you’re wondering how to care for aging skin for yourself or a loved one, these tips can help.

It’s not an aspect of elderly personal care that is as commonly talked about as other tasks, but is critical to keeping older adults healthy nevertheless. Understanding how to care for aging skin can prevent a variety of difficulties for seniors, including discomfort, dryness, bruising, itching, and more. 

The home care specialists at Harmony Home Health & Hospice go to great lengths to keep older adults safe and healthy from head to toe, and that includes educating seniors and family caregivers about how to care for aging skin. We have shared below some of the more common skin difficulties in aging, and some recommendations to help.

Dryness

According to Medscape, an overwhelming majority of people over age 65 are bothered by itchy, flaky, dry skin, which is the result of a decrease in sweat and oil glands.

How to help: 

  • The older adult should take fewer showers or baths, using warm (not hot) water, carefully drying the skin, and applying moisturizer
  • See if “dry bath” products work well for the older adult; these clean the skin and hair without using water
  • Try utilizing milder soaps and shampoos, like those with Nizoral, for older adults who have special skin conditions, and always apply sunscreen before going outdoors
  • Make sure the older adult drinks plenty of liquids and uses a humidifier to hydrate the skin
  • Avoid:
    • Perfumes
    • Smoking
    • Stress
    • Overexposure to the sun

Bruising

Bruising is common in seniors, resulting from thinner skin and a reduction of fat and connective tissue that can lead to a weakening of the support surrounding blood vessels. 

How to help:

  • To reduce the inflammation and size of a bruise, place a cold compress over the bruise for about 20 minutes
  • Try to elevate bruised areas as much as possible
  • Encourage the older adult to get plenty of vitamin C, which boosts collagen
  • Help the senior quit smoking, as smoking decreases collagen production

Harmony Home Health & Hospice’s caregiving team is highly trained in skilled nursing care and can help with aging skin care needs, including checking for changes in the skin, avoiding bed sores, diabetic foot care, and more. Contact us any time at 1-877-I-NEED-CARE for more information on our home health and hospice care in Albuquerque, NM and nearby areas. Visit our service area page for a full list of the communities in which we provide care.

Female caregiver helping senior man

Albuquerque Home Care Service Experts Provide Tips on Relieving the Pressure of Bed Sores

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Female caregiver helping senior manImpacting as many as one in every ten older adults, and even more prevalent in those who smoke, suffer from chronic conditions such as diabetes, or whose skin is much more fragile, bed sores (also called pressure sores or pressure injuries) are not merely extremely painful – they can quickly progress to infections that can spread to the bloodstream and even become life-threatening.

For individuals with limited mobility or who are bed- or wheelchair-bound, and for those who look after them, the battle against bed sores can seem endless. Resulting from too little blood flow when remaining in a single position for too much time, it is imperative for those taking care of a loved one to learn about pressure sore prevention. Try some of these suggestions to help protect your loved one’s vulnerable skin from dangerous sores:

Frequent Position Changes

  • Hourly if wheelchair-bound, every couple of hours if bedbound
  • Use lifting devices when possible to prevent friction during repositioning

Support

  • Use specialized cushions and pads:
    • Between knees and ankles
    • Under calves to guard heels
    • To lie at an angle, protecting hips

Skin Care

  • Use mild soap and warm (not hot) water and apply lotion
  • For excessively moist skin, use talcum powder
  • Massage areas susceptible to pressure sores to boost circulation

Healthy Nutrition and Activity Choices

  • Check with your loved one’s doctor for dietary and supplement tips for optimum skin health
  • Maintain good hydration
  • Quit smoking
  • Daily exercise (as appropriate and per doctor’s recommendations)

If, in spite of taking these preventative measures, a senior loved one develops a bed sore, it will progress through the following four stages:

  • Stage 1: A blue, purple or reddish bruise-like patch from the skin can be noticed, which can be warmer as compared to surrounding skin and cause sensations of itching or burning.
  • Stage 2: An open sore appears from the bruise, resembling a blister or abrasion. Discoloration and pain accompany this stage.
  • Stage 3: While the sore worsens, the surrounding skin darkens and the area is deepened.
  • Stage 4: During this period, damage occurs to the bone, muscle and/or joints, and osteomyelitis (a significant bone infection) or even sepsis (a life-threatening blood infection) may appear.

Make sure to contact your loved one’s doctor immediately if a bed sore is noticed. Harmony Home Health & Hospice, the Albuquerque home care services leader, can also help by performing daily inspections to spot vulnerable regions of the skin and detect the early signs and symptoms of pressure sores, as well as assist with ambulation, turning and transferring to cut back on the possibility of developing sores. Our top-rated home health care services and professional care team are just a phone call away. Contact us today at 1-877-463-3322.

Face of an elderly senior caucasian woman

Skin Bruising in the Elderly: Tips to Heal and Protect Elderly Bruising Hands

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Face of an elderly senior caucasian woman

Bruising is a common occurrence for most seniors, particularly bruised hands in elderly loved ones.

Of the many changes that occur in aging, skin bruising in the elderly is one that may be frightening for family members to observe in senior loved ones. While it’s important to consult with the senior’s doctor whenever there’s a concern with his or her health, it is also beneficial to realize that bruising in older adults is fairly common, especially bruised hands in elderly loved ones, resulting from the thinning of the skin and a reduction of fat experienced in aging. Even a small bump or scrape may cause much more extensive bruising compared to younger skin.

Harmony Home Health & Hospice provides the following suggestions to help lessen the chances for bruising, and to help promote healing if you notice bruised hands in an elderly loved one, or any other type of bruising:

How to Prevent Elderly Bruising Hands or Other Types of Bruising:

  • Perform a safety assessment of the property, ensuring there are clear, wide walking paths with stumbling/tripping/bumping hazards removed. Harmony Home Health & Hospice can help assess the senior’s home for safety hazards as well.
  • Encourage the person to wear long sleeves and pants when performing tasks that could result in an injury to the skin.
  • In the event that the senior smokes, help him or her to give it up. Smoking decreases collagen production, which can lead to easier bruising.
  • Ensure that the senior’s diet includes lots of vitamin C, which plays an important role in the creation of collagen.
  • Be conscious that the medications listed below can raise the possibility of bruising (although the senior must not discontinue any medication without consulting a doctor):
    • NSAIDs (ibuprofen, Advil, and Aleve)
    • Aspirin
    • Anticoagulants (coumadin, heparin)
    • Antiplatelet medications
    • Corticosteroids

How to Promote Healing of Elderly Skin Bruising:

  • Apply a cold compress to the bruise for 20 minutes to reduce the blood flow to the area. This may reduce the size of the bruise and decrease inflammation.
  • Elevate the bruised area if at all possible.
  • Wrapping the area with a compression bandage can help decrease swelling.

Be sure the individual receives immediate medical help for any bruising that appears for no reason at all, particularly if a brand-new medication has been taken, or bleeding is seen in other areas of the body, such as the nose or gums.

Harmony Home Health & Hospice’s caregivers are professionally trained in skilled nursing care and can address a variety of elder care concerns, including skin bruising in the elderly. We can also assist with:

  • Bathing and moisturizing
  • Inspecting the skin for changes
  • Preventing bed sores
  • Providing foot care for diabetics
  • Incontinence skin care
  • Help with ambulation to prevent falls and other injuries
  • And more

Contact Harmony Home Health & Hospice at 1-877-463-3322 for more skin care tips for older adults and to learn more about our top-rated home health care in Albuquerque, Salt Lake City, Toole, Orem, Ogden, and the surrounding areas in Central New Mexico and Northern Utah.