Has anyone dealt with poor hygiene issues? My DH will go 1-2 weeks without brushing his teeth and showering. It is so offensive. How do you tell them the breath is bad and what do you do to correct it? I hate having him go places and functions with me because he wants to talk in people's faces and the breath is horrible and when we are home even talking to me I can't handle this. Is there anyone else dealing with this? And what do you do? I wrote a note to his doctor to bring up the issue but she didn't. I need help with this
When they get to that point, you either have to put the toothpaste on the toothbrush and stand there while he brushes, or you have to brush them for him. As for the shower, you have to lead them in and guide them just like we had to for our children. Things like that just doesn't come to their mind anymore so we have to make sure they get done, by doing it for them or guiding them. Also you will have to put the deodorant on for him at some point. They just don't remember how to do these things anymore. Also, stand at the shower and make sure he shampoos, that is another thing they forget how to do. Good luck!
Please do a search on this issue. You can use my username to find it; I know I participated in one that was all about this. Long story short, I think a lot of us started telling our spouses they were stinky! But there is a lot more to it than that, especially dentists. Someone go back and bring those thread to the top.
The discussion is "Dental Stuff.........Help", and I will bring it to the top. Don't know if there is anything in there that will be of help to you, but you can take a look at it.
I lay out the toothpaste and toothbrush. DH will tell me that he brushed his teeth ( I think that he really thinks he did). I usually feel the toothbrush. If it's dry, I know he didn't. He'll still insist that he did "but I'll do it again, if it'll make you happy." :)
My problem is my husband sees a toothbrush, he uses it...no matter whose it is! We have to wash them in alcohol when he does! We haven't tried hiding them. That is our next step! He had mine in his hand when he went outside the other day to pick up leaves. When he came back in, my toothbrush was in his hand! Needless to say, that one went in the trash, and I got out a new one I had hidden just in case! We use the Braun electric that has a rechargeable stand and it does great on teeth and gums.
If I want him to bathe, I just say let's go somewhere, and he'll go in the bathroom and take a bath. He went through a period of two weeks where he took showers instead of baths, but he's now gone back to baths. I don't know if it was his sight and perception or what. I have gotten in the shower with him to shampoo his hair and rinse it and help him bathe, but now he remembers how again, so he's doing it by himself a while longer.
FTD, I really do wonder if bad breath or bad odors have something to do with our husbands' condition. The dentists say maybe breath of gum, maybe, but could be the digestive tract. The gasttoenterologists seem to have no suggestions except antiacids, and the ENT MD saw no obvious sinus infections. I will bring it up to my new neurologist this week. One more thing to deal with!!...or accept some way!.....
I gave my DH lots of the cheap electric toothbrushes and he loves turning them off/on all day and carries it everywhere. the added attractiion is i can direc thim to use it thruout thed day so he gets some added use out of it instead of a toy. i scrub them daily and clean them since he carries them around- i usually do flossing when he will let me and supervise a good brushing in the shower with him. i bath him/hair- -shave him-spray deodorize him-cologne him/dress him -and it just became easier onme to do it myself instead of having to direct or repeat myself so many times trying to get him to do it alone. its alot of work but you will become better and faster at it over time. i have to crush some of my DH meds as the pills are too big to swallow for him and i think that has something to do with the mouth odors now-and without a decent brushing there will be gums to worry about later which also can harbour bacteria. its true the sinus issues too which i have with DH can have cause issues if infected. divvi
divvi-crushing the pills that are crushable (many aren't) and putting them in sugar free pudding works well. You can get the single serve and just store them in the fridge. Don't use more than just a spoonful if your spouse will get balky about eating the whole pudding.
Thanks bluedaze, have done that as well:) after hes up that works well-i have to give in early AM like 5am so usually i just crush and add to a couple of spoons of water/juice and it goes well and i dont get the 'closed' mouth much this way. like others here, he can get quite hornery about if he wants to open and take a pill-esp in the early hrs-haha...all in days work, huh? i just discovered a new trick, i use two depends and found while he is standing i can pull pants down and just break the sides of the interior depend and pullit out and leave the overlay one clean for a while longer til bath time...yipee!! i had been trying to do it while hes on the toilet, this is MUCH easier and hes not expecting it..ha. surprise, surprise!! took me all of 30sec to remove the old one, and leave in place the overlay one :::)))) divvi
ok bluedaze---lets dont go that far and call it 'fun'?haha...but yep i am always on the lookout on any new sneaky invention that can make life easier :) esp if i am the one doing it! divvi
I don't know if anyone wants to get into this - I don't really have problems with heat up here in RI - but are you aware that most of the b.o. in underarms comes from the HAIR there? Now whether or not you can persuade your LO to use his nifty buzzy razor to SHAVE his underarms, I can't say, but it does work very well.
I really hadn't given it much thought but the last conference the leader of our support group went to said there was a big heads up on the fact that dental hygiene is so important because the teeth and gums are very close to the brain and any decay or gum disease is in such close proximity to the brain it is just one thing to keep and eye on and ward off any complication. Jenene