Urinary Tract Infections

One of the most common things that happens to the elderly is getting a Urinary Tract Infection. Most of the time, they can not tell you what is wrong. If they have not had any incontinence, and all of a sudden it develops, that is a good sign. But, the biggest sign is when they are all of a sudden more confused then you can ever remember. The first thing you want to do is check that out first.

The elderly do not want to drink enough fluids because the more fluids they drink the more times they have to go to the bathroom. The more times they have to go to the bathroom just becomes an added chore. If they are prone to incontinence or accidents, they want to avoid that at all costs. So less fluids, so the urine is very concentrated sits in the bladder and has a nice place for bacteria to grow.

The other thing they tend not to do very well is clean well when they are wiping after going to the bathroom. Or they have a tendency not to want to take showers as often so their general hygiene isn't as good.

If they are incontinent, make sure you have a good incontinent product for them to use that will wick away the urine so as not to have contact with the skin for too long. If that happens then you have the risk of skin breakdown from the urine.

Make sure the clothing is easy to get on and off, wash and dry.


You want to make it as easy for them and for you if you are doing the wash. Make sure if they are going into an Assisted Living or Nursing Home, you do not bring in anything that needs to be dry cleaned because it will probably come out of the dryer the size to fit a cabbage patch doll. :^)