As and when you grow old, your body sort of needs more care than usual. Now, most of us are quite reluctant these days for actually making a conscious effort on staying healthy, therefore to help you identify how you can stay fit, with both leading a healthier life style, exercising, and also by getting the much needed health and fitness tools such as the walking sticks, traction kits and hot and cold pads and bottles in the old age.
Walking Sticks
The walking stick can assist the older people to maintain a sort of balance and to minimize the risk of falling. Falling is common in the older people and the risk of the falling increases with the increasing age. The physiological changes associated with the ageing, such as:
- The reduce balance
- Increase in the reflex times thus, increasing the risk of falling. Even in a healthy old age, all of these systems show the physiological decline, putting more at the point of risk.
- The adjustable walking sticks are always used to facilitate the walking, for the defensive reasons.
- A simple walking stick can often mean the difference between the getting out and about and being confined to the home.
- A walking stick should be one which meets the user's specific needs.
- If the stick is required to bear a weight, a carbon-fiber or an aluminum model may be the considered as the most appropriate, whilst a tripod or a quadruped walking stick will be able to cope with almost the entire body weight of the user.
- A folding walking stick folds very quickly and safely holds in a pocket or handbag of the elderly.
- People who are suffering with the immobility can also use the walkers and should stay as active as is possible, then why not take the help of a walking stick to be active and have a well-made frame, which will allow them to do just that.
Types of Walking Sticks
There are several different types of the walking sticks depending on the need and also the affordability factor. Walking sticks should not be confused with the canes used by the blind, also known as the white cane, as this is a rather mobility tool but not specifically designed for assisting with the balance and stability.
- A walking stick is strong and also sturdy, able to bear a person's entire body weight many times over and may be specifically designed for individual needs.
- Most walking canes are made of either wood or aluminum these days although the latter is preferred for being rather lightweight yet very strong.
- The term single-point cane indicates a single stem, much like a traditional walking stick.
- The tripod or quad canes also have three to four stems or feet respectively.
- It is available in a narrow or even in a wide base. This offers a greater degree of balance and also stability but can be restrictive for faster movement.
- Other ambulatory devices such as the walkers offer the greatest degree of stability but are somewhat more cumbersome for the moderately impaired.
- Walkers do not fall under the category of the walking sticks or of walking canes except for the hemi-walker.
Selecting the Correct Walking Stick
- The single stem, which is more correctly referred to as the single point cane, is indicated for a rather mild instability.
- It can also be used for the one-sided (unilateral) pain or muscle weakness.
- The quad cane can be used for a rather moderate balance and the stability problems.
- A wider base may be needed for a greater degree of the instability.
Four criteria have been identified in the selection of an appropriate walking cane. These criteria are not limited to just the walking canes but to all types of ambulatory devices.
- Effectiveness - the degree to which the device improves the overall level of the functioning, capability and the independence.
- Affordability - the financial ability of the person to actually purchase, maintain and repair the device.
- Operability - the ease of the operating the device and whether it is sufficiently responding to a person's needs.
- Dependability - the reliability of the device to actually operate repetitively in a predictable manner and also offer reasonable levels of the accuracy when needed.
Traction Kits
- The traction kits are used to keep the affected part in a specific position for some amount of duration to relieve the pressure on muscle, nerve tissues etc.
- The traction kits are also used for the minor fractures of the cervical spine, pelvic reason and the other such parts which are not amenable to other type of the immobilization.
- Traction kits are also extremely useful in the treatment of the slip disc and other ailments of the backbone.
- Traction kits can be easily set up for the home use, and therefore are wonderful tool for the elderly whose health and body structure requires much more care and assistance than the younger people.
- Further, as their bones and body in general are more prone to be damage and injury due to their increasing age, it works wonders for relieving them from the excruciating pain as well.
Types of Traction Kits
There are several types of traction kits such as:
- The Angle Traction Kit
- The Foot Traction Kit
- The Cervical Traction Kits
- The Skin Traction Kit
- The Pelvic Traction Kit
Commonly Used Traction Kits
Traction Kit for Spine Injury
When a person's spine is quite injured or dislocated the Pelvic Traction Kit is recommended by most of the doctors to retrieve the back into the original position. This kit can be easily and also conveniently be used at homes or even at hospitals and is adaptable to most of the beds.
The Pelvic Traction kit is a traction system whose main function is to basically apply the uniform and the controlled traction to the following areas:
- lumbar,
- sacral, and
- Thoracic areas of the vertebral column.
The Pelvic traction belt, like a halter holds the pelvic area together. The straps of the pelvic traction belt are also attached on the two sides of the spreader bar, and to the traction pulley system. They give the controlled and uniform traction. To give the best results to the patient they give an accurate focus of the traction force. The oblique traction straps ensure that the vector of the traction force on to the lumbar spine vertebras of the body.
Traction Kit for Ankle and Cervical Area
These include the traction kits that have an accurate design and that gives the maximum comfort with the best results. The straps of such kits are usually made with the best material that provides the customized compression and flexibility in sizing. They give the much needed support to your ankle and also to those cervical prone areas and help you recover faster.
- The Skin Traction kit
The skin Traction Kits assists in providing the indirect traction to the leg or even to the arm that is either suffering from the muscle contractures, muscle spasms, skeletal deformities and also helps in reducing the fractures. It provides the accurate pressure on the nerves to regain the normal length and the alignment of the involved bone.
Hot Water Bottles or Bags, Heating Pads and Cold Pads
All the three combined, helps in reducing the pain, let's discuss them distinctly:
The Hot Water Bags
- Everyone these days always has a hot water bottle at home. In case you do not have one then it is time that you can buy one for the advantages that this bottle has.
- The hot water bottles are a good investment and it surely proves to be one of the most useful items, by relieving the pain and providing much requited comfort and warmth, especially for the elderly.
- These bottles can be used like the heating pads to alleviate all types of pains even including menstrual cramps.
- With the hot water bottles, you can be free from the worry of the shorting wires or puncturing the bottle, as it is quite thick and you can also carry it with you everywhere.
- You can even push it inside your jacket or even sleep on it without any of the worries.
- The hot water bottles are made of the fuzzy polyester and do not have any of the electromagnetic rays as produced by the heating pads.
- They are the most natural and the best way of delivering the heat in the most natural way.
- The hot water bottle provides all the warmth without the increasing the fuel costs or the electricity bill.
- You can just warm up some amount of water and fill it in the hot water bottle and have it kept under your blanket or even relax with it while watching television or just reading something.
- It relieves you from the terrible pain and gives comfort.
- There are some bottles that come even with the faux fur and give a warm fuzzy feeling when applied.
- These bottles are good when someone is feeling rather cold and provides warmth in the best way.
Hot Pads
Heat is primarily for the relaxation, comfort, and the reassurance, and taking the edge off of the several kinds of the body pain, mostly duller and the persistent pains associated with stiffness, cramping, and/or sensitivity, which can be loosely categorized:
- Acute soreness from the over-exertion: the pain you get after the extreme overexertion of the body, which could be extremely painful especially for the elderly.
- Stiffness and pain in a specific areas related to the osteoarthritis, muscle "knots" or the trigger points, and the most kinds of cramping/spasm3 (menstrual, the neuropathic, restless leg syndrome, for example, or even just the stiffness from postural strain). But not, of course, the cramps from heat exhaustion!
- "Hurts all over the body" pain and the sensitivity. There are many kinds, but primarily: the fibromyalgia, the rheumatic diseases, the drug side effects, the 4 vitamin D deficiency, and the sleep deprivations.
How to useHot Pads
- Place the heat belt inside of the cloth cover.
- Plug in the heat belt into a power source and then switch it on.
- You can use the desired amount of the heating but in most cases do not heat for more time as has been prescribed by the manufacturer of the product that you are using.
- Place it on the afflicted area, and relax.
Cautions for using the Hot Pad
- Don't let it get too hot.
- Don't lay on it, instead put the pad on top of you.
- Don't ever sleep with the heating pad on.
Cold Pads
- One of the greatest uses for our ice pads is that they are a great way to ice down the sore muscles.
- Each ice pad is small enough to wrap around almost any of the body part, as well as large enough to provide the excellent cold icy relief.
- The cold pads are also great for the minor bumps, bruises, itches and the sprains.
- It works wonders for the headaches or you can even use it on your neck for the neck aches and pain.
How to usethe Cold Pads
- Put the pack in the freezer to help cool it down.
- Place it flat in the freezer for at least 2 hours.
- Remove from the freezer. Place the pack within a cover and apply to the desired area.
- Apply gel pack to the desired area.
Cautions for using the Cold Pad
- Keep it in the refrigerator at the refrigerating temperature when the power is off.
- Put the ice bag in a flat place or the shape the according to demand before it being refrigerated.
These will work as a good aid and is a must have in your safety kit, so always keep them handy.
Please exercise, and have a balanced meal. This is because with age the body needs more and more of
care and if you don't care for your body, growing old would be a lot more difficult for you or your
loved ones.
