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That’s how important personal hygiene is when you’re bedridden
Sick or old people who are unable to wash and care for themselves due to their physical condition depend on the help of their relatives. Even if it may be difficult at first, personal hygiene is immensely important – especially for people who are bedridden. Sores quickly develop, or diseases cause dry and cracked skin, which can be very uncomfortable for those affected. Having a relative take care of personal hygiene is often not an easy topic for the patient either. Care experts advise talking openly about the need for care, but also about fears and concerns. In this way, unpleasant situations can be avoided in many cases.
Nursing courses can reduce fear of contact
It is not only emotionally that relatives’ personal hygiene can cause initial inhibitions. From a purely technical point of view, washing, applying lotion and drying a physically handicapped person often causes problems at first. A nursing course can be helpful at this point: Anyone who is shown by professional nursing staff learns important techniques and prevents the patient from feeling pain or discomfort when moving or washing. Ideally, the registered nurse comes straight to your home and helps you on the spot to adjust to the individual needs of the person in need of care, because every patient is different. Dealing with people with dementia, for example, requires special sensitivity, as do the various illnesses and physical impairments.
Helpful tips on personal hygiene in home care
Which care steps have to be carried out in detail on a daily basis also depends not least on the patient’s state of health. If they are still able to carry out individual activities themselves, it makes sense to encourage this and thus maintain a minimum of independence. In the best case, personal hygiene can be used to spend time together and, of course, to take a close look at the body of the person in need of care: Vacancies or other changes must be examined and treated promptly by a doctor. Experts recommend washing your head first and then working your way down. It is advisable to talk to the person concerned and explain what is happening to them. Especially for people with dementia or Alzheimer’sthis is immensely important, as they often react aggressively if they are touched without warning. If you only have a certain time window for personal hygiene, you should set priorities and determine which parts of the body have to be cleaned once or even several times a day and which not.
