Headaches affect people of all ages, not just younger folks. Seniors can experience headaches for a variety of different reasons, including health issues. Understanding why seniors are having headaches more frequently can help them to get them back under control and experience a better quality of life. Home care assistance can help seniors track their symptoms and figure out a path through their headaches.
Causes of Senior Headaches
So many different causes can contribute to headaches for seniors. Medications are a common cause, because of some of the side effects seniors might experience. Common culprits include medications for high blood pressure or depression. Dehydration is another common cause of headaches, but that’s relatively easy to correct. Stress, anxiety, health conditions, and even poor posture can also cause headaches.
Monitoring and Tracking Symptoms
One way that senior home care providers can help with this is through tracking and monitoring symptoms. Keeping a log with medication times and dosages along with how seniors felt afterward can narrow down medication side effects. It also helps to track foods, beverages, and anything related to meals and how those might affect how seniors are feeling. All of this information helps narrow down possible causes.
Encouraging Hydration
Staying hydrated is such an easy way for seniors to avoid headaches consistently. Home care assistance can remind seniors to sip water throughout the day and to hit their fluid intake goals. If seniors aren’t sure how much water they should be drinking, their doctors can help them to determine that amount. Hydrating foods can also help. Adding more of these to their diet allows seniors to improve hydration without having to drink a lot more water.
Reducing Stress
If seniors are under a lot of stress, that could contribute to their headaches. Working with home care assistance does a lot to reduce stress for aging adults. Home care providers can take care of tasks that are getting more difficult to handle alone. They also offer companionship for seniors, which greatly reduces stress levels.
When to Seek Medical Help
Seniors really need to know when they need to seek medical attention for their headaches. Headaches that are sudden and severe could be a sign of something more serious, like an aneurysm or stroke. Headaches that are accompanied by confusion, vision changes, weakness, or trouble speaking could also indicate a more serious issue. If headaches become more severe or more frequent, seniors need to talk with their doctors about what underlying issue might be contributing to the problem. Home care assistance can help seniors to track all of these issues and can help them get medical treatment in an emergency.
Headaches greatly affect quality of life for seniors, especially if they are having extremely bad headaches or are having them fairly often. None of that is enjoyable at all. Home care assistance can offer aging adults practical help before, during, and after a headache. Figuring out the causes of headaches helps seniors improve their quality of life and avoid bigger issues.
If you or an aging loved one is considering home care assistance in St. Louis Park, MN and the surrounding areas, please contact the friendly staff at CareBuilders at Home Minnesota. Call today 612-260-2273.
