Skin Care Tips to Help Protect Your Aging Parent from Skin Infections
Elderly Care in Skokie IL
October is National Skin Care Awareness Month. This is the ideal time for you to ensure that your skin care efforts are tailored to helping your parent stay as comfortable and healthy as possible as
they age in place. While many people may think of skin care as just being about the skin being clean and looking good, this is not the case. Instead, maintaining an effective skin care routine for your elderly parent can help them to avoid damage and infection to the skin that can put their comfort and health at risk.
Use these tips to help you create a skin care routine that can protect your aging parent from skin infections:
- Clean effectively. Older adults tend to have skin that is much more sensitive than younger adults. This means that products that they have used for years might no longer be good for their skin. Products such as exfoliators or washes with fragrances and colors can be too harsh for sensitive older skin and leave it dry, irritated, and damaged. This can cause your parent to scratch or rub, opening their skin to infection.
- Moisturize regularly. Adding moisture to the skin helps to prevent it from drying out and becoming uncomfortable and tight. Look for a high quality moisturizer that does not contain potentially drying or irritating ingredients such as alcohol, water, colors, or harsh fragrances. Apply moisturizer after bathing as well as throughout the day to help keep the skin healthy and comfortable. Vegetable shortening whipped with a small amount of olive oil and the essential oils that your parent likes makes an inexpensive but highly effective moisturizer that nourishes the skin.
- Treat issues promptly. If your parent does show signs of irritation or injury, it is important to treat those issues as quickly as possible to help prevent your parent from scratching at their skin. If they are dealing with itchiness or irritation, use soothing products such as colloidal oatmeal, aloe, or calamine lotion to ease the discomfort. If there are minor injuries such as cuts, scrapes, or tears, use antibacterial gel or cream to treat the area, and cover lightly until it heals to prevent infection and further picking.
Skin care is one part of a series of personal care needs that your parent might need assistance with as they get older. While these are tasks that everyone must handle throughout their lives, it can be uncomfortable for your senior to rely on you for help with them. Elderly care can be extremely helpful in this situation. An elderly home care services provider can be in the home with your aging parent to fulfill needs that they are not comfortable with you managing, that you are not comfortable with, or that you have physical challenges or limitations that keep you from handling them effectively and efficiently. This care provider can offer a personalized approach to these needs that will manage them in a way that is respectful, dignified, and appropriate for their personality and care goals.
If you or an aging loved one are considering elderly care in Skokie, IL, contact the caring staff at Companion Services of America today at (847) 943-3786. Our home care service area includes Northbrook, Highland Park, Deerfield, Glenview, Buffalo Grove, Evanston, Des Plaines, Skokie, Lake Forest, Wilmette and the surrounding areas.
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