How Seniors Can Relieve Symptoms Of Dry Eye Disease

By Care Street Home Care Staff | January 14, 2022 | Comments Off on How Seniors Can Relieve Symptoms Of Dry Eye Disease
Personal Care at Home in Monroe NJ

Personal Care at Home in Monroe NJ

January is National Eye Care Month and it’s a great time to learn more about how Dry Eye Disease affects seniors. Dry Eye Disease is the most common eye disease. Even though anyone can have Dry Eye Disease it affects seniors in greater numbers than other groups. Nearly 30% of all seniors have symptoms of Dry Eye Disease. And in the winter months those symptoms can get worse because of dry and warm indoor air. The primary symptoms of Dry Eye Disease are red eyes, itchy eyes, watery eyes, and irritated eyes. Your senior loved one’s doctor may prescribe medicated eye drops to help your parent deal with the symptoms of dry disease. But home remedies like these can help too:

Run A Humidifier

One of the best ways to help seniors with the discomfort of Dry Eye Disease is to run a humidifier in the room where your senior loved one spends a lot of time. A personal care at home provider can help keep the humidifier full and make sure it’s clean. A cool mist humidifier will add moisture to the air and relieve some of the dryness. A humidifier can also help with dry skin and sinus problems. It’s a good idea to set up one humidifier in the bedroom and another in the living room or family room so that your senior loved one can always be close to a running humidifier.

Get Plenty Of Rest

When seniors sleep their eyes are naturally kept moisturized behind closed lids. Not getting enough sleep can make the symptoms of Dry Eye Disease worse. Seniors should be getting at least 8-10 hours of sleep at night. If your senior loved one isn’t sleeping very well try to address some of the reasons why they are finding it difficult to sleep. Having a personal care at home provider with your senior loved one overnight may help them relax and get more sleep. Many seniors experience anxiety at night which can be relieved if someone is with them.

Add Indoor Plants To Rooms

Indoor plants can add both humidity and oxygen to stuffy rooms. Plants are the perfect way to brighten up dull and dark rooms and to help keep the air fresh and moist enough to not cause any additional skin or eye dryness. Houseplants are easy to grow and with some help from a personal care provider your senior loved one should have no problem taking care of any indoor plants. Just make sure that the plants you choose for your senior loved one are pet safe if there is a pet in the household.

Drink Lots Of Water

Drinking water is something that seniors should do for good health anyway, but drinking water can help eliminate some of the redness and itching that can be symptoms of Dry Eye disease. Seniors should be drinking at least eight glasses of water each day spread out throughout the day.

Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4150485/
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dry-eyes/symptoms-causes/syc-20371863

 

If you or an aging loved one is considering personal care at home in Monroe, NJ, please contact the caring staff at Care Street Home Care today. Call (732) 607-8870.

Care Street Home Care Staff
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