Mobility is a crucial thing in a person’s life. Even if you just spend your days around the house, you need to move to reach out for things such as going to the bathroom, reaching for food, among other things. If you can’t move freely, most of your activities will go unattended, or you will miss significant opportunities in life that require your presence.
Unfortunately, not everybody has the luxury of moving around easily on their feet. Even if you’re not born with a disability, old age can render you immobile, or you can suffer mobility disorders like paralysis.
As you grow old, your mobility deteriorates because of weak muscles, pain in the joints, and old age diseases. When mobility reduces in old age, it becomes difficult to move from the simplest place like getting up from a chair or going from one room to another. Reduced mobility will stop you from visiting your old folks, attend your favorite grandchild’s wedding, or even going out to run your business.
But your situation is not entirely hopeless because there are still several ways to improve your mobility with old age. Let’s look at those ways below.
Do Regular Exercise
Exercising is necessary for good health and perfect body shape. While doing exercise can be an uphill task in old age, it is advisable to do regular exercise to improve mobility. You can do simple activities like leg lifting, walking on stairs, and dancing. You can even download fitness instructions for old people on YouTube and do them at home.
Doing simple exercises do not require guidance, but you can also opt for an experienced physical therapist who knows how to handle your situation. With a professional guide, you will learn how to do involving exercises without causing bodily harm. A professional will also advise you on the kind of training to do according to your health and body condition.
Reside In an Assisted Adult Community
Once old age catches up with you, city life will no longer be the best place for you. Moving from your home to an assisted place can be one of the best decisions you can make. Going to this place will help you because they provide adequate care for people with mobility problems and other serious diseases. When in these centers, you will get well refurbished recreational facilities that will encourage you to join different activities that will keep your body active.
The centers also have flexible programs that will keep you engaged and busy like going for nature walks, doing stretch ups, or group games. The programs are easy to accommodate everyone, and they have specialists who guide you through the exercises. Find a comfortable assisted community near you and improve your mobility.
Use Mobility Scooters for the Elderly
Mobility scooters are aids to move around with ease that is used under the doctor’s instructions. When you have a scooter going about your daily activities will continue as usual. You will go for your business meeting and do strolls around the estate. It is advisable to use electric scooters because they are easy to use and do not require physical energy to operate, and setting up is not involving.
Even though scooters will improve your mobility rate, doctors do not recommend their use by elderly people with eye problems, mental disorders, and weak backbones. Ensure that the scooter is the portable, right size, and best speed to make your mobility less involving.
Be Careful While Moving Around
Old age makes a person too fragile that missing a step can result in a serious fall with more broken limbs making mobility even worse. When you are old, chances of full recovery from fractures are minimal, given that old age makes the muscles and joints weak. A hip, feet, or back injury will make moving around hard because of pain and swelling.
To avoid experiencing such challenges, move with care more so on slippery surfaces, raised grounds, slopes, and narrow, bumpy pathways.
Manage Your Weight
When you are old, your feet become too weak that handling your body’s weight becomes a great challenge. When you are overweight, mobility becomes a challenge because your weak legs can’t sustain body weight. You also get tired too fast that running certain errands becomes a huge problem. It will be frustrating being immobile because of the weight you can manage.
You can manage your weight by dieting and doing regular exercise. Managing your weight will also reduce your exposure to diseases. Work on your weight to reduce the effects of overweight on the body, which can, in turn, make you immobile for life. Work with the recommended weight according to age and sex. You can check out with an expert for a proper guide on this.
Eat Healthily
To improve on the weak bones, eat healthy food, which will provide you with nutrients to build the muscles. For mobility, you require energy and fitness to get going. To achieve this, you need enough supply of both nutrients and minerals. If you have a low appetite, look for the possible ways to improve it because you will need energy from food to move.
It would be best to increase your fluids intake as fluids soothe joints and supply the body with the necessary electrolytes. When you have adequate fluids in the body, problems like swelling, joint pain, and cramping reduce, and these are some of the factors that reduce mobility. So if you work on them, your mobility will increase, allowing you to enjoy your freedom of movement.
Final Words
When you work on your diet, do regular exercise, and maintain the perfect weight moving around will be easy. When you are too lazy to go for recreational centers regularly, consider residing in one of the assisted communities that will ensure you move around with care. If your health cannot allow you to move, use a scooter for the elderly. Doing all these will significantly improve your mobility in old age.
