Personal Medical Alert Systems Help Osteoarthritis Patients To Regain Their Independence

When a person is diagnosed with Osteoarthritis (OA), also known as degenerative arthritis or degenerative joint disease, it certainly requires a change in lifestyle. Patients suffering from osteoarthritis need to change their diet, their activity levels, adhere to taking different medications regularly and have medical checkups on a regular basis. This type of arthritis usually causes the person to feel tenderness, stiffness and pain in their hands, feet, spine, hips and knees. Consequently, for many people living life with this condition often means living life with a certain level of apprehension. The possibility that an accident or fall can occur at any time and just taking a few wrong steps can easily cause a medical emergency is a common thought. It can be stressful life, especially if the patient is not taking proper care of him o herself.

When a osteoarthritis patient becomes so aware of the risk of falling or a medical emergency they stop living their life to the fullest, this can lead to a loss of independence and even depression. Therefore, it is important to help them maintain as much autonomy as possible. With all the life changes they already need to deal with in order to keep themselves healthy due to their diagnosis, the last thing they need is the added stress of worrying about being left alone, or the resentment toward those that will not allow them to be alone at any time.

Some osteoarthritis patients that live at home alone, or spend a great deal of their days on their own, may restrain from completing even the smallest tasks. Therefore, having a personal medical alert system in the home can be a very helpful tool for many different reasons. Here are a few of those reasons and how they can affect the osteoarthritis patient's independence level.

Living Without Worries
One of the most common reasons osteoarthritis patients decide not to spend much time being active is because they worry they may suffer from a fall and no one will be there to help them. This is a legitimate concern, especially if they live alone or spend most of their days without someone else around. However, this is not good for their condition. People suffering from osteoarthritis are recommended to follow a healthy diet and to engage in moderate exercise to improve functioning and reduce pain. Therefore, they should stick to a exercising routine that allows them to work out daily or at least as much as possible during the week.

Take this example into consideration. An osteoarthritis patient lives with her daughter and son-in-law. Both the daughter and son-in-law work 9am-5pm jobs and often have to stay late. During the day, the patient is left all by herself for at least 8 hours and usually longer. Since she is alone, she is afraid to work out and ends up sitting on the couch watching television and trying to keep a low-stress lifestyle. Unfortunately, while doing this, she is becoming less and less active and healthy. She ends up putting on a lot of weight and compromising her health even further. Her condition only continues to worsen, not to mention that living this sedentary lifestyle eventually leads to heart problems that can cause her to develop a more serious condition in the future.

If the patient in this situation would have been wearing a personal medical alert system bracelet, necklace or pendant the patient would have probably not been so apprehensive towards physical activity, since they knew they had the added help of a personal medical alert system to aid them in the event of an emergency. Personal medical alert systems allow osteoarthritis patients to live their lives with a sense of safety.

Regaining Independence and Combatting Depression
People living with this disease are definitely at a disadvantage if they live alone. Living alone actually decreases their level of autonomy, oddly enough. They are unable to do a lot of the things that a person without osteoarthritis can do, whether it be because they are too cautious, or because the condition limits them in certain ways. Equipping the home of a osteoarthritis patient with a medical alert service can help them regain their independence and combat depression.

When a person is constantly worrying of suffering from a fall or an accident within their own home, they often do not complete much physical activity or limit themselves to do simple tasks such as cooking, doing the laundry or cleaning because it may cause one of these medical emergencies to occur. If they are wearing a medical alert bracelet, necklace or pendant, they can call for help at the first sign of a medical emergency just with the touch of a button. Knowing this can allow them to regain their independence and feel confident in all their regular activities again.

In regard to depression issues, this usually goes hand-in-hand with a lack of autonomy. With a personal medical alert system, independence is regained, therefore lowering the chances of a osteoarthritis patient becoming depressed.

Personal medical alert systems truly do wonders for both the mental and physical well being of the people suffering from this degenerative disease. It certainly is a simple gadget and a small price to pay in order to provide a osteoarthritis patient and everyone around them with the peace of mind to help them live their lives to the fullest.