Five Hair Washing Tips for Seniors

By Care Street Home Care Staff | October 13, 2023 | Comments Off on Five Hair Washing Tips for Seniors
Personal Care at Home in South River NJ

Personal Care at Home in South River NJ

Hair care is a crucial aspect of helping seniors to maintain personal hygiene and overall well-being. As seniors grow older, they start to face a variety of different challenges related to grooming, bathing, and hair care. Having help with these tasks, especially from personal care at home, makes a huge difference for seniors. But it also helps when family caregivers understand different ways to help seniors keep their hair in good condition.

Challenges in Hair Washing for Seniors

Lots of different factors impact how and when seniors are able to wash their own hair. They may have limited mobility, for instance, which makes it difficult for them to handle tasks like this independently. Cognitive changes such as dementia also make it difficult for seniors to remember what to do and how to do it. Sensory changes make it complicated for seniors to take care of hygiene tasks properly, too. And a massive concern is often safety concerns, especially if seniors are afraid that they’ll fall or experience some other type of injury.

Use a Tool to Reduce Fall Risk While Washing Hair

Using some sort of tool to help reduce fall risk is essential when seniors need to wash their hair. This might mean using a bath or shower chair in the tub. A hand-held showerhead can also help to ensure that seniors safely wash their hair and body. Using a shampoo basin in a sink along with a chair can also be an easy way for seniors to get help washing their hair.

Choose Gentle Products

Senior skin is often a lot more sensitive than many people realize. This happens with age, and it means that using gentle products that are hypoallergenic is a good idea. This helps to reduce the risk of irritation but helps to keep the hair and scalp clean.

Warm Water Is Better than Hot Water

Lots of people spend years using hot water in showers and to wash their hair. As they age, however, hot water starts to do a lot more damage. It strips natural oils from the scalp and hair, so it’s better to go with lukewarm water. Also, seniors become more sensitive to hot water as their skin ages, so it’s easier to scald themselves with hotter water.

Seniors May Need Less Frequent Hair Washes

In the past, seniors might have had valid reasons to wash their hair frequently, even every day. But as they grow older, it’s less likely that seniors need to wash their hair very often at all. Washing seniors’ hair every few days can be more than enough to take care of hair properly.

Consider Getting Help from Personal Care at Home

Something that family caregivers should definitely consider is bringing in home care providers to help seniors with personal care tasks like washing hair. Personal care at home can help seniors to establish and maintain consistent routines around personal care tasks. Elder care providers ensure that seniors are as safe as possible while offering them as much help as they need.

Maintaining hair and other personal care tasks is so important to help seniors stay healthy and happy. Personal care at home can make these tasks easier and safer for seniors whenever they need that extra help.

If you or an aging loved one is considering personal care at home in South River, 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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