How often should an elderly person shower?

Older people have dryer skin. Once a week should be fine. A sponge bath is good between, but if you think back, decades ago everyone took a "weekly bath." They would all have thought us wacko for showering daily. Europeans tend to think we're nuts, too. For health issues, weekly showers should be fine, and if you think a sponge bath is needed that can help.

Be sure the shower has a mat, probably a stool and a hand-held shower head.
There are many aids available to help.

Carol

I care for my 82 year old father, and I give him a good shower once a week. When I'm done, I put lotion on his skin to keep it hydrated. However, I have CNAs come in every morning to give him a sponge bath to wash his face and all of the necessary areas.

Once or twice a week is plenty. Certainly no more than that if they are on cumadin or anything else that makes their skin incredibly fragile.

My husband's gotten along fine with weekly showers for several years. (With additional if accidents happened.) But now we have a walk-in tub and he finds that very relaxing. I also find it easier to help than the shower was. So he bathes more often, for the pleasure of it.

I usually ask my 85 year old mom to shower daily. She gets whiffy pretty quick otherwise. It also gives her something she knows how to do and does not seem to bother her skin.

my roommate showers two times a month it makes me sick he is so lazy he just wont shower.

In my home, we usually gave my Mother a shower every day, due to her waking up with urine soaked bed and overnight disposable diapers. At least put in shower and rinsed off well, then dried and moisturizer applied. In the care home I inquire how often they are giving her a shower and they reply, "Every day, of course." I appreciate this. Her hair is always clean, too, and I think they do a better job than I of moisturizing her entire body. Being an American Boomer, I do prefer our current bathing habits to those of the olden days, or those from other continents who cling to ancient bathing rituals:) I love the smell of Zest.

I'd love some ideas on HOW to get my Dad to agree to take a shower even once a week. It's a knock down, drag out fight to get it even every ten days. I thought I had a good plan: "Dad, I won't drive you to that appointment when you smell like that." But today it didn't work. Having accidents doesn't even warrant a sponge bath, in his mind. There is a lot that drives me around the bend about this adventure but the lack of bathing is the biggest problem.

My 94 yr old father-in law take a sponge bathe twice a week if he need it our not( according to him) he uses no soap and he does it himself. He has a open wound on his hand that I clean everyday with soapy water, but I can't get him to shower. He is under a doctor care for wound. He tells that he takes a bath 2x's a week (not a sponge bath) I sure this no showering has been going on for a while. He wears disposable underwear and has to have a walker to get everywhere. He is unable to stand for any lenght of time show I know that he can't be cleaning himself properly. His undershirt is changed every 3 days, he use the same washcloth for couple weeks or more. I can't help but feel that this sore is very slow at healing because of this.. How do you make he understand that he needs to take a shower at least once a week.

I think once or twice a week is good. My father sounds like the other people that wrote here. If he had his way, he would never shower. He uses disposable wipes every evening before bed to wash himself off a bit. I never feel that he is really clean. I have been talking to my mother about getting a home care agency to come in once a week to give him a good bath. I do not want to bathe him, because neither he nor I are comfortable with him being naked in front of me. It is a chore I don't want to take on.

Does anybody have any advice for how to actually perform a sponge bath for a frail elderly women with some skin abrasions? My grandmother has been asking for assistance, but I am scared to touche her- her skin tears very easily.

I want to help my husband with his shower but don't know how to do it?

Daily! One needs to stay clean. Since we are neverending caregivers, we installed a walk in shower, a bath chair, lots of grab bars and safety mats.

I constantly argue with my mum about the frequency of the showering process, and thank you for proving me wrong, I always thought you had to shower an elderly person daily however after your suggestion, I am now learned in the fact that at least once a week is fine. Although she suffers from incontinence, i always thought that this would be the main reason for showering daily. I must drive her crazy with my constant nagging for showering. She is 80 this year and am the only son out of 5 looking after her, I do love her dearly but couldn't handle her showering habits.

We try to get gma to shower once a week. she has ankle bandages though so she'd probably shower more if she didn't. When I change her bandages I clean her lower legs and then massage with lotion. She LOVES it. she has issues with circulation so sometimes her legs swell so the massage helps with that alot. WHen my fiance changes the bandages, no massage. So obviously, she loves when I do it :)

I am 75 years old, I used to take a shower everyday and as a woman ive always enjoyed my daily shower.Nowadays my lower legs are disabled, nor my knees but I walk like a Penguin`so for tha past 5 years I use my little 3 pound walker and with that I walk just like I did in my youth. When my husband of 57 years takes me out to dinner he insists he push me in a small transport chair in lieu of a wheelchair. It works very well and otherwise I am in phenomenal health. By the was I have been a type 2 Insulin dependent Diabetic from age 35 to the present. Hey all of you Diabetic`s know you can live your life to the fullest get to your doctors and do as they say. Last week I had a barage of Blood tests all were great. My A!C was 4.2.
I am the mother too 6 adult children and 3 Grandchildren. We are so blesses. Come on senior`s you can do it. Many blessings many healings.

My 94-year-old mother lives at her home alone. She has CNAs in every day to help with bathing, dressing, meals, etc. She loves having a daily shower and lotion applied all over, especially if the lotion is massaged in over her back and shoulders (with are often sore from arthritis, previous broken bones, and sitting a lot all day). In fact, when ever she complains about having the CNAs in "all day", I remind her that she wouldn't get a shower every day or the same personal attention in a nursing home!

Use safety, non-slip shower shoes, always standby when someone is afraid.

Maxlam, get in the shower with him. Put on a bathing suit if you must.

Maryindc: Actually using a soft, natural sponge, with lots of tepid water instead of a washcloth will help, to start. Be sure to place plastic sheeting below tons of absorbant towels so you can squeeze water onto the patient instead of rubbing.
Maybe some more experienced caregivers here can recommend if an oil bath of some kind would work? Is baby oil still used? Do you rinse it off?

Danztronic: Always rinse off urine from body parts immediately, not once a week. A shower, complete, can be weekly, otherwise make it a body part specific cleaning.

Ok, this from 2009. I must be in a hurry not to check the previous answers or check the date it was first posted. Sorry.

I have to say mum showers every day foor 2 reasons. The first and foremost is me me me I am afraid - I find it easier to shower her because I have a large bath length shower which is fine now but soon wont be as there is no way on gods earth I could get a wheelchair in there. I also find it easier to then take her into the bedroom and I use two hairdiers to dry her more tender areas (on a slow warm (not fast or hot) speed and temperature) while she stays cosy warm wrapped in usually two towels. The hairdryer works well on her feet and between her toes - I have tried using a towel but she says it hurts her and as for the more tender intimate places if I tried to use a towel to rub or in actual fact pat dry it tends to trigger a wee so we end up having another wash.

My second reason for the shower is thet every day I cram my mums body from head to toe. I use a nice middle of the range moisturiser for her face. I use again a middle of the range nice smelling body butter for the rest of her - I do the whole body and it seems to a) make her skin more supple and less prone to tears b) stop the pain in her knees a little c) ease her back pain and actually does help her pass a stool sometimes too and finally d) is the only physical contact she will ever have. I wash her hair once a week and then hse has a full oil head massage the night before the shampoo and then we get it all washed off leaving her hair really shiny.

I guess I am doing something right for the hospital said she had the best skin they had seen on a 92 year old - not one tear no sores nothing. Mind you she was only in for a week and came home with 4 tears all in the groin area but they were soon sorted when I went back to our old routine

My mother-in-law is a 72 year old woman that gets around ok but has COPD and is limited on things. I've noticed that she doesn't bath unless something is said and it always comes from my husband in a joking manner but is a serious issue. I feel like I
I need to have a talk with her about feminine hygiene because she'll go weeks up to 5 or 6 sometimes without bathing. She has not washed her hair in over 3 months. I have offered to help her and in the few times in over 2 years that we've been living with her she has let me. This makes me cringe because I am a very clean person. She comes from the country and I don't think she knows about some of the illnesses she and my husband and I could get. How do I tell her she needs to bathe more often?

It depends on how elderly. I am what is considered elderly. I shower by myself with no trouble at all, twice a day. Hubby, elderly, showers himself, once a day. Somewhat elderly people might be showered 2 to 3 times a week. It also depends on how active they are and the weather.

it;s now been 10 days since her last shower and my husband told her it was time to bathe again. She said it hasn't been that long and it has. Btw she has all her marbles. I know of a woman who ended up getting gangrene due to bad hygiene. Part of me wants to tell her of this but I don't want to be ugly about it. I'm just baffled as to why I have to tell a grown woman to bathe and to tell her how nasty this is. If she was immobile or couldn't do this herself, I would totally understand.

Worried why dont you tell her that you will come by every Tuesday (or any day of choice) to bathe her - or twice a week if she will tolerate it. That way she will be in a routine. You could spin a story about someone you know being told by the doctor that now they are older they need to really make sure they are clean at least twice a week because as they get older they are at greater risk of infections - especially in the genital area. Although you may not know that person it is not so far from the truth. The creases of the groin are prime areas for tears as they get older especially in warm weather when they sweat

Im lucky in that Mum likes a shower/bath. You need to get her into a routine and if she can't manage for herself what about a bath nurse?

I give my step Dad a shower ever day. So he smells clean and it seems to keep bed sores from forming. He's 84 and he does fine.

I am just seeing the post by bsw in 2012 and realize that it is rather old, but thought I would let everyone know that we use the waterless disposable cloths that you can put in the microwave for about 15 seconds so they are nice and warm (part of the resistance in bathing is the cold). Each pack has one cloth for each body part - I believe there are 8. We also use the waterless shampoo caps to wash hair. Awesome items for those who either can't or won't take showers as often as they should and/or are confined to a bed. Both of these have worked out very well for us. Another tip - if you don't have time to wash hair and need to get rid of the oily look quickly, put baby powder (like J&J) in the hair and mix well through scalp and hair until powder soaks up oil. Brush or comb hair until scalp and hair no longer show any powder. Hair looks amazing!! Still need to wash a little bit later, but for an emergency, this is a great quick fix! Good luck all!

Caregivers with experience surely know these things, but since I had to learn the hard way (like most of us about most of caregiving), I would like to share a few tips about skin care for those of you who are new to caregiving. While talking about showering ... the subject of yeast infections and skin breaking out in body "rolls" and "folds" is important to note as well. If your loved ones are carrying a little or a lot of extra weight and therefore have any body parts that create one or more folds or creases, you should know that these areas are breeding grounds for yeast infections as well as bed and body sores, as well as skin tears. Once a yeast infection appears, it is very difficult to get rid of them without the proper prescription medication, which must be applied regularly (there are several options, but I prefer nystatin powder). An oral medication (such as Diflucan) may also be needed. Further, once a yeast infection appears, it easily becomes recurrent. For women, regular checks are needed in the following areas (especially if large / heavy): (1) under the breasts; (2) under the belly; (3) between the groin folds at the top of the legs; (4) any where else on the body where there are these types of folds. Lastly, don't forget to check the buttocks for skin tears and bed sores. Elder skin is so thin!! When the elderly have problems getting out of their chairs, they tend to scoot or slide from the back of the seat to the front and that scooting action can shear their skin through their clothing - and then they are embarrassed to tell anyone that they are having a problem. I don't have any experience with men, sorry! I hope this helps someone. :)