Maybe this has been discussed before but I am wondering injuries are more common with Alz and dementia. My DH seems to go from one injury to another. Mainly because he won't listen to me when I say no shoveling, or no lifitng heavy lifting. Last month it was a torn rotary cuff this month he ruptured a disk in his back, several months back it was his knee. This is frustrating. Any words of wisdom?
It would stand to reason that they would be more prone to injury since they don't use good judgement. My DH would work outside all day if I'd let him and then hardly be able to move the next day. Also later in the dx they tend to trip more often.
I think injuries go hand in hand with Dementia because their reason button is broken and their brain-body wiring is impaired. This becomes another area where we have to think for them. We also need to be alert to looking for injuries, because they may not perceive that they have injured themselves.
My DH has been shoveling snow this winter, but I've been directing him to limited areas. For example, this morning I had him shovel off our front deck and ramp. Last night he did the back deck and the doggy ramp. Each time I went on with my activities, but kept track of how long he was out.
As long as they have any mobility, we have to be vigilant.
Eventually less so, as incentive, motivation, goals of any sort go out the window. On the other hand, stuff like walking into doors or having trouble negotiating stairs seem to be increasingly evident. So I guess that even for those who spend most of their day sitting in chairs, opportunities for injury are not far off.