Ways to help save your senses

It may not be possible to reverse or prevent all the results of aging, but saving your senses and managing the effects of sensory loss could be within reach.

Check out these ways to prevent or improve your senses of sight, sound, smell, taste and touch, and stay mobile.

1. Find doctors and specialists you trust.

Regular check-ups become more important as we age.

Staying on top of symptoms with a general practitioner or geriatrician can help pinpoint important changes in sensory loss.

2. Eat like your life depends on it. A poor diet can jeopardize health and contribute to a decline in senses.

3. Stop smoking and other hazardous habits.

In addition to being bad for your health overall, your senses could benefit from giving up the smoking habit.

4. Celebrate the sun safely. The sun provides important Vitamin D that can boost health, But do wear sunglasses to protect eyes from the sun’s harmful rays.

5. Turn down the volume. Seniors and Boomers grew up with 60s and 70s rock and roll music. If you don’t want to have to turn up the volume as you get older, crank it down now and avoid other loud noises.

6. Exercise your sense of smell. Smell begins to deteriorate for older adults, especially after the age of 70. https://www.homeinstead.com/careresources/wellness-lifestyle/

7. Keep moving. Exercise has been called the fountain of youth, helping to keep the heart strong and manage conditions such as arthritis. As it turns out, exercise also could improve sight by helping increase blood flow to the eyes.

8. Protect your head and sinuses.

Head injuries and sinus infections are leading causes of smell decline, which could also lead to problems with taste.

9. Get help when you need it.

Consider home care to help mitigate the impact of sensory loss. Assistance at home could keep older adults who are suffering from loss of sight, sound, taste, smell and touch independent longer.

Grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked, the good fortune to run into the people I do like, and the eyesight to tell the difference.

What you may discover along life’s journey:

1. I started out with nothing, and I still have most of it.

2. My wild oats have turned into prunes and All-Bran.

3. I finally got my head together; now my body is falling apart.

4. Funny, I don’t remember being absent minded.

5. All reports are in; life is now officially unfair.

6. If all is not lost, where is it?

7. It is easier to get older than it is to get wiser.

8. Some days you’re the dog; some days you’re the hydrant.

9. I wish the buck stopped here; I sure could use a few.

10. Kids in the back seat cause accidents; accidents in the back seat cause kids.

11. It’s hard to make a comeback when you haven’t been anywhere.

12. Only time the world beats a path to your door is when you’re in the bathroom.

13. If God wanted me to touch my toes, he would have put them on my knees.

14. When I’m finally holding all the cards, why does everyone decide to play chess?

15. These days, I spend a lot of time thinking about the hereafter. I go somewhere to get something, and then wonder what I’m here after.