Tips to Protect Seniors’ Senses

Retirement is a time when seniors expect to enjoy their golden years and look forward to appreciating time with fewer obligations or commitments. Seniors can play golf more often, stay up late for a show, enjoy a night out, or wake up early for breakfast with the grandkids. Unfortunately, sometimes with age comes reduced or changed senses like loss of vision and hearing or impaired taste, which might make the experiences seniors look forward to a little less pleasurable.

Wesley Enhanced Living (WEL) Pennypack Park and other WEL communities assist seniors with aging in an environment specially designed to make sensory loss easier to cope with. Residents have peace of mind knowing that WEL staff strives to maximize their independence at all times.

How Aging Affects Seniors’ Senses

Seniors may experience sight, taste, smell and hearing changes that could require adjustments to how they live their day-to-day life. Seniors should mention new health-related occurrences to their doctor or a specialist and be patient while their bodies adjust.

The following changes are a normal part of aging:

Sight: Vision will become less sharp as seniors age. Depending on age and a host of other factors, seniors may be at risk to develop cataracts, glaucoma, or macular degeneration.

Hearing: Seniors will probably experience issues with hearing high-frequency sounds. The ability to hear can also affect an overall sense of balance.

Taste and Smell: Reduced saliva may lead to a diminished ability to taste foods properly. Smell detection capability may also diminish with age. Declining taste and smell can lead to little desire to eat food as it is less appetizing.

A doctor or specialist will help seniors decide if a hearing aid, walking aid, trifocals or other options are helpful to maintain a comfortable lifestyle.

Tips to Protect Seniors’ Senses

Seniors cannot stop time in its tracks, but there are a few ways to improve senses and combat the effects of aging:

• Keep track of symptoms related to declining sensory capabilities and share them with a trusted specialist or doctor.
• Eat nutrient-dense foods that support senses. For example, blueberries can help weak eyesight.
• Stop smoking and other habits that have been linked to the loss of senses.
• Wear sunglasses to protect the eyes when outside in the sun.
• Turn down the volume of the TV or music and take a break from loud noises every 15 minutes.
• Train the nose to smell properly, by sniffing out four to six distinct odors like cloves, lemon, and eucalyptus each day.
• Exercise regularly to keep the heart strong and potentially improve sight from the additional blood flow to the eyes.
• Protect the head and sinuses to avoid loss of smell. Get treatment for any injuries or infections as soon as possible, to minimize the damage to your senses.

Seniors can still enjoy doing the activities they love by receiving regular wellness checks and being mindful of simple suggestions to protect their senses.

The non-profit Wesley Enhanced Living (WEL) continuing care communities have a dedicated mission to deliver a purpose-filled life to residents. Serving over 1,100 residents with more than 1,200 employees throughout Pennsylvania, the Wesley Enhanced Living communities located in Bucks, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties provide various combinations of independent living, personal care services, memory care, and rehabilitation and skilled nursing services. Wesley Enhanced Living has been named a Great Place to Work® in 2021, 2020, 2019 and 2018.