Jim

For seniors, age-related muscle loss, joint stiffness, and bone weakness all contribute to the tendency to slouch, slump, or hunch over when sitting and standing. If you’re wondering if poor posture in old age is really that big of a deal, the answer is yes.

Poor posture habits can culminate in a host of symptoms including:

• Back and neck pain – wear and tear on the spine from prolonged bad posture coupled with tense and inflamed muscles compensating for the slouching and slumping add up to chronic pain.
• Reduced breathing capacity – hunching your back places added pressure on the thoracic cavity, leaving less room for your lungs to fill with air when you breathe.
• Interrupted digestion – intestinal motility is believed to be at its most efficient digesting food and moving gas when your abdomen is straighter and more upright.

Musculoskeletal damage – poor posture habits can cascade from strain in the back to pelvic imbalance, to even knee and leg issues over time.

So how can seniors make small improvements to their posture to benefit their health? Don’t miss this quick list:

Sit Less, Move More – prolonged sitting which has been linked with early death is also a classic bad posture culprit. Because of mobility issues or illness, seniors may feel prevented from staying active, however, it’s essential to spend less time sitting each day and more time moving, whether it’s walking, exercising, socializing, you name it.

Avoid Text Neck – the more modern posture habit of craning the neck past the shoulders and tilting the head down at a 15 to 45° angle to look at your tech devices places serious strain on your back muscles as they work overtime to hold your head up. Try to:

1. Make phone calls or using talk-to-text instead of staring down at your phone and texting
2. Use a laptop desk when working on the computer in bed or on the couch
3. Hold your smartphone or tablet up in front of your face instead of at your waist

Practice Posture Exercises – your back and core muscles play an important role in properly supporting your spine and helping you maintain good posture. Reinforce these key muscle groups with routine exercise!

Check Your Biomechanics – your feet and the biomechanics of your gait can seriously impact your posture. Overpronating can lead to exaggerated inward knee rotation which stresses the hip and thusly compromises spinal integrity. Check your gait and sitting/standing form with your doctor.

Almost one-fourth (23.9 percent) of seniors between the ages of 60 and 90 suffer from frequent hip pain.

Whether it’s the result of a bad fall or is brought on by a combination of poor mechanics and old age, it’s important for seniors to know that they’re not doomed to suffer from hip pain for the rest of their lives.

Read on to learn some simple tips to help seniors combat hip pain.

1. Do Hip Bridges
A hip bridge is one of the best exercises you can do to combat hip pain.

To do this exercise, simply lie on your back with your feet hip-distance apart and planted on the ground. Press into the ground and lift your hips in the air, trying to form a straight line from your shoulders to your knees (don’t arch your back).

Hold for 3-5 seconds, then return to the beginning. Complete ten repetitions.

2. Use Ice Daily
Icing your hip can work wonders for relieving pain and inflammation, especially if your hip pain is brought on by bursitis or arthritis. Depending on your pain level, you can ice your hip up to 4-5 times per day in 10-15-minute increments.

3. Raise the Seat
Many seniors find that their hip pain is aggravated when they try to lower themselves onto and raise themselves up from a chair, sofa, or even a toilet. Devices like a chairlift or a raised toilet seat can help reduce hip strain for seniors as they stand up and sit down.

4. Stretch Consistently
Consistent stretching is also important for relieving pain and improving hip mobility. The figure 4 stretch is one of the best for hip pain.

Start by lying on your back with your knees bent. Lift the leg that’s bothering you and cross it over your other leg so that your ankle is resting on your opposite thigh. Pull the bent leg in toward your chest, clasping your hands around the back of your thigh if possible. Hold for 10-15 seconds, then release and switch sides.

5. Use Natural Anti-Inflammatories
Finally, instead of using over-the-counter anti-inflammatories, which can cause serious issues for seniors, try using a natural anti-inflammatory like curcumin (found in turmeric). Turmeric is safe for most people, and research shows it works just as well as ibuprofen for improving joint pain and function.

As automotive technology has improved, increasingly more consumers are seeking out that technology during the car shopping process. Every year, the rate at which technology changes personal transportation accelerates. As a matter of fact, NY speeding violations lawyer http://www.zevgoldsteinlaw.com/ quotes General Motors CEO Mary Barra; “We’re going to see more change in the next five to ten years than we’ve seen in the last 50.”

For baby boomers, who are hoping to stay on the road for as long as possible, this is more important than ever. The question many consumers find themselves asking, however, is what technologies will make their way into the mainstream market and which ones will remain in the realm of science fiction. In the very near future, there are 25 advanced car technologies that we expect to see making their way into showrooms.

1. Intelligent Brake Lights are being developed that indicate whether a driver is stopping quickly or simply decreasing acceleration.
2. Smart Windshields will use augmented reality to help display key information about what’s happening on the road.
3. Night Vision Enhancements make it easier for seniors and others with night vision troubles to see when they’re out on the road at night, removing obstacles that might create an earlier curfew for seniors.
4. Automated Parking Systems make parking easy. Simply put the car into parking mode and it will slide itself into the parking space—perfect for those who have started to see their motor skills deteriorating.
5. Lane Departure Warning Systems don’t just help distracted drivers who might have wandered out of their designated lane. They’re also designed to help elderly drivers who may struggle to keep their car inside the lane when they’re driving.
6. Crash Notification and Avoidance Technologies recognize the conditions that can lead to an accident, from someone running into the road to a car slamming on its brakes ahead. Some of them are designed to notify drivers so that they can react. Others may even slam on the brakes or have another reaction to help avoid the collision.
7. Blind Spot Detection and Back-Over Prevention Systems note any time there’s something behind the car or in a blind spot, making it easier to avoid accidents.
8. Fatigue Warning Systems analyze driver behavior and notify them when they are becoming fatigued, letting drivers know when it’s time to pull over for a while.
9. Forward Collision Warning with Auto Brake notices when accidents are going to happen and puts on the brakes to avoid them.
10. Self-Driving Cars were the technology of the future just a few short years ago. Now, however, they’re becoming a very real possibility, removing the responsibility of driving the car from the senior’s shoulders.
11. Driver Override Systems recognize when drivers are accelerating faster than the driver intended, such as when the gas pedal is slammed instead of the brake. The unsafe response is then overridden.
12. Biometric Vehicle Access offers an even greater level of safety and protection, pulling together the safety systems needed by an individual driver based on biometric scans.
13. Comprehensive Vehicle Tracking lets you know where your car is at any moment. It’s a fantastic resource for children who might worry about their elderly parents wandering off.
14. Active Window Displays bring GPS and other apps straight to the windshield, removing the need to look away in order to effectively use those apps.
15. Remote Vehicle Shutdown allows a car to be shut down from a distance—especially effective in conjunction with the GPS tracking that will let adult children know if their parents are out of the geographic area where they should be traveling. This feature is one of 10 advanced car technologies predicted by Forbes contributor Karl Brauer by 2020.
16. Active Health Monitoring is something nearly everyone is now familiar with. Active health monitoring in a vehicle allows drivers to know when their health isn’t adequate to safe driving.
17. Reconfigurable Body Panels change the shape of the car, making it possible to use a single vehicle for many purposes.
18. Tablet Transforming Steering Wheels use gesture control, similar to what’s used on a tablet screen, to make cars easier to maneuver—even for those with joint problems.
19. High-Tech Car Seats with Stress Gauges help drivers stay calm behind the wheel, shifting responses to help create a safer driving experience.
20. Dashboard Safety Integration provides safety information on the dashboard, where it’s easy to view while driving.
21. Augmented Reality provides warning messages and other key information on the windshield, making it easier to see obstacles and other concerns.
22. Hydrogen-Powered Fuel Cell Cars combine hydrogen and oxygen to produce the power for fuel cells that run the car—truly the car of the future.
23. Rotating Motorized Lounge Chairs provide an increased level of comfort for drivers who might otherwise have trouble in the car.
24. Eye-Tracking Holographic Dashboard technology uses gestures and eye movements to allow apps to be accessed without needing to touch the screen.
25. Autopilot systems, like self-driving car technology, provide drivers with the safe travel they need without reducing their independence.

These new technologies have helped make traveling by car safer than it ever has been before. This is particularly true for older drivers who may need additional assistance behind the wheel. This offers a significant improvement in quality of life for aging baby boomers who may no longer feel safe behind the wheel. New technology, however, prepares the way for them to drive longer.

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save