How can I get an alert, active female who's 93 to do exercises?

OMG. If I make it to 93, am alert and active and can still live independently, there better not be someone in my life nagging me to exercise! Or trying to regulate how much television I watch or how much I read. Or telling me I can't have ice cream for breakfast. Grrrrr

Has a doctor diagnosed the back pain as being caused by lack of exercise? Would exercise really help? Has a PT given specific kinds of exercises to her for this problem? My mother had back pain. I knew we'd never get Mother to "exercise" but I asked her geriatrician if it would help if she didn't sit so much, if we should take her for short walks, etc. Doc said there was really no way to cure the deterioration in her spine. The focus should be on relieving the pain. This was hard because she could not tolerate narcotics, but a pain treatment plan was worked out. She walked with a walker until her hip broke at 93 and she did well in a wheelchair after that. She died at 94.

Our bodies wear out as we age. There is no cure or prevention for that.

Yes she has been diagnosed w/ back pain & she doesn't sleep or do anything when this happens. It also causes her to get depressed. She can't rely on pain medication because she can't take it indefinitely. The dr. has told her to walk regularly and to do the exercises her PT gave her to strengthen the back muscles & her abdominal muscles. She will do them for a while but as soon as it doesn't hurt anymore - it's back to the sitting which then eventually causes the pain to return. It's a cycle.
Believe me I'm not trying to force her to exercise or trying to get her into skinny jeans- I just want her to Not have to deal with the back issue when she can't move around any longer. I think as long as she can do the strenghthenung exercises & walk - she should.

She may understand that doing the exercises are helpful, but, can't get motivated. Maybe, figure a way to motivate her, without being pushy. OR maybe, she forgets that the exercises help and she needs reminding. I'd try to figure a way to gently remind her. I'd try to be realistic about it. She may just not want to keep doing it. I'd figure a way to accept that if that is her decision.

I'd also consider that she won't be able to do certain things indefinitely. To me, if she's competent, I'd let her make her own mind up about what she does. At 93 years of age, I'd support, encourage and not insist or bother her. I know your heart is in the right place. I get it.

"She can't rely on pain medication because she can't take it indefinitely." Because ... ?

Is she of sound mind? If so, and the doctor has told her the consequences of inactivity, and you have explained it to her, then I guess she gets to make her own decisions. (Sort of like elders who decide to keep smoking.) If she is losing her cognitive abilities and can't really understand the link between doing the PT exercises and not having back pain, then that is a different issue.

Do you live close to her? Could you drop by and go for walks with her on nice days?

Sblturner, how old is her mattress? If it has been around the block a few times, it would be good to invest in a new one. Sometimes that can make a difference, but no guarantees.

Thanks Jeannegibbs & Sunnygirl.
Yes she does live close by & I do walk w/ her but will try to do it more. I think I can convince her to get back to the chair exercise class she used to attend. My Husbands mom got addicted to her pain medication so my mother doesn't want to take them all the time- Also because of her heart medication she can't take many meds that used to help her. I just got her tickets to see Barry Manilow for her 94th bday so that will motivate her for a while. She won't want to miss that!

Freqflyer. It was new when she moved here 10 years ago but I will check. May be too soft.
Hadn't thought about that.

I hadn't thought about the mattress, but getting a new one stopped my hip pain! (Ours was older than 10 years.)

BARRY MANILOW! That sounds like a great prescription. You know, he's had a terrible hip problem. Can she stretch, while listening to his music? When I used to run, I ran to music. It kept me going and into another zone.

Also, check out what kind of chair she has. I've read that classic recliner chairs are bad for back support. I might explore other options for a comfortable and supportive chair.

And lastly, you are right about the stretching. My doctor told me to stretch, because my leg and hip pain was really a back problem. So, I started stretching and it was the BEST TREATMENT. It really does help me more than meds, ice, etc. Still, mom may still not get on board with it. I'd try to accept her decision. And if her doctor clears the meds, why not go with it. If she wants comfort, I'd try to support her in that decision.  Problem is that meds don't touch some kind of pain.  They never helped me much, the way stretching does. 

My mother could not take opiates. But a treatment plan was worked out for her pain. Maybe some alternatives could be considered.

When you nag her maybe change the word 'exercise' to something she likes to do that involves some physical activity? something where she gets a prize, like walking to buy herself her favorite snack. Instead of nagging her yourself you can use a service to send her automatic phone calls that will remind her to get some exercise. You can record any message you like, for example 'your loving family reminds you to stretch your back'. You can also try a recording like 'we are proud that you did your back stretch today' so then she will need to actually do them to earn the compliment.

Great thread - she's wonderful, and you're wonderful. If you can get by to her more often that will be a gift. I'd avoid the word 'exercise' and just call it morning stretches or calisthenics. Another vote for checking into a new mattress! Here is a good site to read up http://www.sleeplikethedead.com/mattress-compare-type.html, latex mattresses are terrific.

Is there any chance she could dance? Maybe if you brought a boombox and played a CD of her favorite music, she would be motivated to move to the music. She wouldn't have to do fancy moves, just sway and do whatever she can. You could start moving first, and she might join it.

I think worrying about being addicted to pain medications is silly when someone has a terminal illness, and lets face it when anyone reached their 90's their end time on earth is just over the next hill. I have avoided opiates for my mother only because they cause constipation, something she already has trouble with. Between a degenerated spine, knee and hip and lifelong headaches I know that pain is a constant in her life and achieving a level comfort is a prime concern.

When you find out how to get an alert, active 93 year old to exercise please let me know..the method would be the same as to how to get an alert, active 63 year old to exercise.
Seriously forget "exercise" and just focus on the active part.
Walking
Some gardening.
Cleaning
Any activity that will keep you moving and a plus if it will keep you engaged.
Can she get out?..
How about once a week stopping in at an animal shelter and taking a dog for a walk, play with the cats or kittens. Animal shelters need people that will volunteer to do just those things.
How about volunteering at the local school to tutor a student or just help in a classroom. (might be a bit late this year but a thought for August or September)
Spending a bit of time volunteering at a local food pantry or resale shop.
I volunteer for the Hospice that helped me care for my Husband. I do office work. I also bake. They are always looking for volunteers to sit with patients in the In patient unit, gardening, shopping for needed items but there are many jobs that volunteers do and she would be welcome and fulfill a great need.
So for get "exercise" for the sake of exercising and just keep moving.

There are Senior Citizen Centers where your mom can interact with people her age. They have dances twice a month, lunches, and all that's free. Would help her depression too a bit. There's also places called, Silver Sneakers, where the elderly get together for light exercising and socializing. That one I think Medicare covers.

old bones are brittle, so many people have hip replacement as well as fractures due to aging bones. Let her get up & down on her own unless she needs assistance, if she needs help in any form by all means help her. If you really think she could benefit from exercise take her to her family DR. and an orthopedic DR. to have an evaluation, they should be able to tell you her needs and limitations. God Bless

First, you must remember people back in Bible days lived well in their hundreds, like several hundred years. Diets back then we're definitely better and they were always working doing something. You may take this clue and do something to help her. First, look what goes in her mouth since you already know per level of physical activity. Change her diet and make the healthy stuff she doesn't like taste better. There's always ways to get unpleasant veggies for instance to taste better because the body will start breaking itself down to get nutrients when it's hungry, that's just the mechanism of how it works. Either feed yourself or your body will devour itself. If she already has arthritis and it sounds like she does, not eating right or not eating at all will make an already bad problem worse because the body will attack those particular areas for nutrients like calcium and other related nutrients that bones absorb. It's so sad to hear how bad modern diets really are and how much shorter our life spans are today versus back in Bible days, what a shame. Humans back then were actually able to live much longer than they are now, but now you have all of these modern diseases and physical conditions that just didn't exist back then all because people simply took better care of themselves much better than today. We can all learn a lesson from this and start making better choices of what goes in our mouths

I like the word "stretching" better than "exercising".

Like most 83 year olds, I too have back pain. Instead of a firmer bed, I got one of those new Memory Foam toppers for mine. It has done wonders. It seems that the hard mattress just made my arthritis bother me more. It was cheaper than a new mattress also.

Current recommendations for all is to take periodic breaks from sitting (this was suggested to us when I was still working, though my job tasks did not include a lot of sitting).
If you could at least get her to take a break from sitting, say once/hour, and take a little 10 minute walk, stretch or what have you, it might help. Just sitting for long periods does stiffen up the works!

Couple of suggestions: the Miranda Esmonde-White videos, even if she can't do all of them. "Aging Backwards," "Classical Stretch." Agree with all the suggestions to not call it exercise. Maybe they could even run a class at her independent living facility?

Also, and this may not work with the oldest old, but it worked with my sister who had a stroke in her mid-50's. My brother-in-law hired a "stretch buddy" / cheerleader / easy drillmaster(!) to do her exercises with her. He was young, cute, and a PT student at the local college. He was happy to have the work and it was way less costly than a personal trainer or more (direct, prescribed) PT. Seemed like she was willing to try a little harder when he showed up, and just going through the motions regularly worked way better than any amount of nagging.

You know, I don't know if this will help the patient, but what I ended up doing for my lumbar arthritis is first putting a comfort bench right up against my bedside so I must come down onto it coming down off my high sitting bed. No, it's not a loft, just a high sitting thing something like a mid height bunk. This allows me to have my favorite bench right there below and if I need any lumbar stretches or exercises, I can just do them right there on my bench. I don't know the set up of the patient's room, but I found something that definitely works for me because I must climb over the bench getting into and out of my bed and this is sometimes where I sit waking up. While I'm sitting there, I can do gentle lumbar stretching exercises as needed. Putting the patient's favorite seat somewhere beside the bed can help encourage gentle lumbar stretching exercises. You can do these exercises sitting down and yes, a little music may very well help like you would do in a jazzsercise class. After being rescued from my abusive bio parents, I was in a facility under state care. Every week I think it was about Tuesday we had a special instructor come in and put on some music and she would teach a Jazzercise class. It was mandatory, we were teens. I can tell you that there's nothing like feeling better after a full body workout of about an hour. If you have arthritis in your lumbar or knees, standing and walking can be limited. This is where you have alternative exercises you can do sitting or even laying down without ever being on your feet. I've watched shows on morbidly obese people and even bedbound people have exercises they do to help them in the process of losing weight. There's a saying, "move it or lose it" and it sounds to me like this patient you speak of is probably losing function to part of her back. If it happens to be the lumbar column, this is especially painful if you have arthritis. I must forewarn you that when I was last to a chiropractor, there really wasn't much she could do for me since I have arthritis in part of my back. The lumbar column can actually radiate pain throughout nearby areas if you overdo it. With me, lumbar arthritis pain radiates even if I'm up-and-down too much in a day like say at a public event like the county fair or some other event that requires lots of walking. When you have arthritis in either your lumbar or knees, this can be especially painful and even risky because if you have a sudden pain in one of your knee joints, it can cause you to suddenly collapse and hit the ground. This is what scooters and wheelchairs are for, to take the load off. You must be careful though, because you don't want to become a cripple either. You must know a healthy balance between using these tools and being on your feet at least within reason. Not everyone who uses mobility scooters or wheelchairs are necessarily confined to them. In fact, we are really not confined to them at all. People have different levels of need for scooters and power chairs. You can definitely learn a lot from her website because she her self also uses a wheelchair. Just because someone looks fine on the outside doesn't necessarily mean they're fine on the inside because there's also a thing called invisible disabilities and one of them is arthritis. Just because your joints aren't obviously swollen doesn't necessarily mean there's not arthritis in those joints. It sounds to me like this particular patient probably has lumbar arthritis if that's where the pain is. Lumbar arthritis is especially painful and a very common condition among many people of different ages. Many years ago I did discover how to reverse the type of arthritis where the joints are enlarged by simply consuming liquid trace minerals and ionized water. Within no time at all, the arthritis was reversed and is no more to this day. However, there is another type of arthritis that involves wearing out of the cartlidge between the joints. I'm not sure what you can do about that, but I'm wondering if the same method I used before would also reverse this type of arthritis and repair the damage. I can only wonder

Would chair yoga help? I know Judi at the Cleveland Clinic started a great yoga program there and has a couple DVD's available. She's a very positive person and suffered herself at a younger age which is what led to her getting into this.

Mattress answer is brilliant! I never thought of that! Have you tried "MagnaBlocs" (developed at Vanderbilt Univ.)for pain? The company doesn't make them anymore, but you can find them on Ebay. They help block pain and they have helped my mom with neck pain in the past and my husband when he had alot of dental work done. Just a suggestion.

If looking for a new mattress, educate yourself prior...lots to know, including about box springs; consumer reports reviews them and one that was considerably less ranked up with the ones in the 1K range...of course always a personal choice/decision...and regrettably, if it spinal stenosis type issues, it won't hurt...but isn't likely to do much good either.

I suggest you let the elder do simple chair exercises with her arms and legs. Quite honestly, a lot of PT facilities use those.

Woofer to take the class with her.

Offer not woofer- lol