Getting out of a chair takes more than most of us realize. You need strong thigh and hip muscles, knees and hips that bend without pain, decent balance, and blood pressure that keeps up when you change position. When any one of those slips, standing up is usually the first everyday task to show it.
Why getting up gets harder with age: Common reasons
Weaker leg muscles
As we grow older, our bodies lose muscle mass, and the major muscles involved with standing up are those in the thighs and hips. This happens faster in someone who spends a lot of time sitting and walking around less. Hospitalization or getting the flu can be even more damaging than you might expect. Just one or two weeks of being confined to bed could have quite an impact on the strength of your parent.
Arthritis in the knees or hips
Anytime there is pain with flexing a knee, your parent will avoid doing it. This means your parent will sit on the edge of a chair, swing his or her legs in weird ways, and will generally avoid sitting in any kind of chair that requires bending the knees.
Medications
Certain drugs that are used to treat hypertension, insomnia, depression, and pain have been known to result in dizziness, drowsiness or weakness of muscles. You should inform your health care professional about such side effects especially if they appeared shortly after taking the new prescription medication.
Fear of falling
Once you experience a fall or even just the scare from nearly falling, you might simply stop being active. You may sit more often and wait for help. This will only make your legs weaker, and the more it happens, the greater your fears become.
The chair itself
Sometimes the problem is the furniture. Deep sofas, soft cushions, low seats and chairs without arms are hard for anyone with weak legs. A firmer, higher chair can make a real difference overnight.
When your parent needs someone there
That’s where an in-home caregiver or companion from A Place at Home can help. A caregiver can:
- Be there when your parent gets up in the morning and during the day, standing close to steady them
- Help with bathroom trips and showers, where a lot of falls happen
- Encourage the exercises the physical therapist gave, and go on short walks together
- Make sure meals happen and water stays within reach
- Keep floors clear of clutter and cords
- Notice changes, like a new wobble or more faintness, and let you know early
Companionship matters here more than people expect. A parent who has company is more likely to get up and move around. One who sits alone all day usually doesn’t.
Caregivers work together with your parent’s doctor and therapist, not in place of them. What they add is a steady person in the house during the hours when you can’t be.
Talk to A Place at Home
If getting up from a chair has become a daily struggle for your mom or dad, you don’t have to figure it out alone. Call A Place at Home Little Rock, AR and tell us what’s going on. We’ll talk through the kind of help that fits your parent, whether that’s a companion for a few hours or a caregiver who helps with bathing and getting around.
