Keeping Residents With Rheumatoid Arthritis Comfortable
A common condition in seniors, Rheumatoid Arthritis (or RA) can cause pain and mobility problems for sufferers, making many daily tasks difficult to complete. People who suffer from RA suffer from joint pain and swelling and inflammation.
Luckily for sufferers of RA, there is medication that can help to make this deliberating health condition easier to live with. Even so, daily life for RA sufferers can still be a struggle, which is why if you’ve got residents in your care home living with this condition, it’s important that you know how to make daily life easier and more comfortable for them.
Ensure they get a good night’s sleep
Studies have shown that many people living with RA struggle to get a good night’s sleep due to the pain and discomfort that they experience. The pain from RA causes tiredness as well as causing insomnia because it’s hard to fall asleep when you’re uncomfortable and in pain. So RA sufferers are often tired but unable to sleep because they’re so uncomfortable. Studies have found that not getting enough sleep can actually make the symptoms of RA worse, which makes it even more important that you know how to ensure your residents get a good night’s sleep. The best way to deal with RA-related insomnia is to ensure that any RA sufferers are taking their medication properly to help prevent pain. It could also be worth contacting their doctor to see if they can be prescribed sleeping pills to help ensure that they’re getting a good night’s sleep.
Encourage gentle exercise
For RA sufferers, regular exercise is important and can help to prevent stiffness and make managing pain easier. For any RA sufferers living in your care home, it’s important to encourage them to be as active as possible. As well as helping to make pain more manageable and prevent joint stiffness, regular exercise can help RA sufferers to sleep better and feel happier. Research has shown that in RA sufferers, exercise can slow the speed at which muscle mass is wasting away, helping to make the condition more manageable. For RA sufferers, water-based exercise tends to be best, as it means that less pressure is put on the joints.
Prepare them anti-inflammatory foods
A nutritious diet that is high in anti-inflammatory foods is important for RA sufferers. Not only because anti-inflammatory foods help to make the condition more manageable, but also because eating healthy foods is important for ensuring that your residents are at a healthy weight - this is crucial for RA sufferers. This is because being overweight puts more pressure on the body, making joint pain and stiffness worse. A diet made up of lean meats and fish - especially fish high in Omega-3 fatty acids - green leafy vegetables and fresh fruit is a must for RA sufferers. Foods high in antioxidants have been proven to help reduce the amount of pain that RA sufferers are in, so ensuring that these are part of their diet is important.
