Essential tremor is one of the most common conditions affecting seniors. What’s worse is that essential tremor makes it harder to perform several daily tasks, from eating food to writing down a note on a piece of paper. If you have to live with essential tremor, here are 8 tips to make life easier.
- Ask Your Doctor About Pharmaceutical Medication
For some people, medication is the most effective way to treat essential tremor. You can take a beta-blocker orally or receive routine botox injections to help stabilize your hands. However, it’s important to keep in mind that there are side effects for these medications, so make sure you talk to your doctor first.
- Change Your Diet
Your diet may also affect your essential tremor. Caffeine is one of the biggest problems for people with essential tremor, so you should try to cut it out of your diet. That means avoiding soda, coffee, tea and other foods. Try replacing your coffee cup with a water bottle so you still have something to drink throughout the day.
- Avoid Alcohol
Alcohol consumption is particularly problematic because alcohol can interfere with medications you take to treat essential tremor. While small amounts of alcohol may improve essential tremor symptoms in some people, it’s best to avoid alcohol to keep your body healthy and keep medications working.
- Relax and Reduce Stress
Stress can also make essential tremor symptoms worse, so make sure you’re taking time to relax and let off some steam every once in a while. If you’re constantly stressed out, work on finding ways to reduce stress. The more relaxed you are, the more you can control your
essential tremor symptoms.
- Use Hands-Free Features
One of the best ways to make living with essential tremor easier is to take advantage of any hands-free features. You can use your voice to search things on your phone, send text messages and call people. These same functions are also available on a desktop computer or laptop.
There are even voice-controlled remotes that allow you to search for your favorite TV shows. If you’re having trouble using your phone or navigating through channels, these hands-free options help you rely on your hands less.
- Get Enough Sleep
Sleep is important when it comes to every facet of your well-being. Although your sleep needs change throughout your life, it’s still just as important to get plenty of sleep when you’re older. Sleep gives your body a chance to recharge itself, improving your overall health. Plus, fatigue makes tremors worse for a lot of people, so sleep is essential.
- Tackle Tough Tasks When You Feel Best
Like with most medical conditions, essential tremor tends to flare up during certain times of the day. If you notice your hands are most stable in the morning or afternoon, use that time to tackle any tasks that will be more difficult when the tremor sets in. This small change can make it easier to accomplish difficult tasks and live a fulfilling life.
Living with any medical condition is hard, but essential tremor is especially difficult to manage. With dietary and lifestyle changes in addition to medication and medical aids, you can manage your essential tremor symptoms to live a better life. If you’re unsure about making these changes, you can always talk to your doctor to get a second opinion.
