Living a long fulfilling life is considered one of the joys of life. You get to see your children become fully functioning, independent adults, hopefully changing the world. Then, there’s the grandchildren who can be a complete joy to be with. 

They can be the recipients of your elderly wisdom and insights. More importantly, you get to kick back, relax and enjoy a well-deserved retirement after decades of hard work, and full-time activity. However, as beautiful as the golden years might be, they have some downsides in the form of health problems. 

Thankfully, with modern medicine, these conditions can be mitigated, cured or managed at the very worst. Here are a few things you should prepare for as you get older. Now, they may or may not happen. If they don’t, then no need to worry. And if they do, at least you’ll know what to do. 

Weakening Eyesight

Weak eyesight or complete loss of sight may or may not happen. Some folks have such great genes that they won’t need glasses throughout their lives or go for eye surgery. For our generation though, this might become a necessity sooner. In fact, over 40 percent of the population currently need and use eyeglasses to correct near or long-sightedness.  

Why? Because most people spend their time in front of a computer working all day. This is one of the reasons why people often need glasses after staring at screens all day for years. 

Thankfully, there are certain eye exercises that you can do to slow this down or deter it. Eye care specialists recommend staring into a far distance for 3-5 minutes after staring at a computer screen for 30 minutes. This keeps the long-distance muscles active, thus eliminating the need for glasses.

Partial or Complete Hearing Loss

If you develop hearing loss, it can be easily managed with hearing aid devices. Most of these are easy to use and come with hearing device care information that anyone can easily follow regardless of age. 

They are also very easy to maintain. All you need to do is keep the device dry, clean it occasionally, avoid moisture and humidity, and be careful while handling it. It’ll last you for a really long time if you take care of it.

Hip and Joint Issues

Every year, 450,000 hip replacement surgeries are carried out on senior citizens. This is because, with age, the bone gets more brittle, which means they tend to break if people fall. 

Health conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, childhood hip disease, and osteonecrosis can necessitate the need for these surgeries. The best thing to do is avoid slipping or tripping and falling as much as possible. Most victims of falls tend to do so on wet floors or environments. Others occur when the elderly person is climbing up or down the stairs. 

So, always make sure there’s adequate friction and traction in the bathrooms, kitchen, and anywhere that’s prone to be wet. Older people should actually just live downstairs in the home, even if they’re used to living upstairs. And if you currently have some elderly folks in your life, find time to go visit them.