Smart Senior – Seniors Lifestyle Blog

Milk..is not just milk these days

Milk is not just milk

We recommend choosing a milk that is good for you-a milk like milk used to and should be. A milk that tastes like milk. Have you ever had a real glass of milk?

Most supermarket milk is pasteurised, ultra pasteurised and/or homogenised and is produced from cows who are completely confined and live only to produce milk, making them sickly, weak, disease prone Moos. These are not healthy, happy cows making nutritious milk. These cows produce 4 times what a normal cow would and must be pumped full of antibiotics and growth hormones to sustain this output.

More milk=cheaper milk right? Right. But where do all those growth hormones and antibiotics go? Into your cheap milk along with the pus that the antibiotics don’t clear. Not to worry….the reason these milks are ultra pasteurised is to ensure they are safe for human consumption and do not fret there is a maximum limit on how much pus is allowed into our milk…..!?!?!?

Maintaining Youthful Skin: A Guide for Mature Complexions

Caring for mature skin and keeping it looking youthful is a nuanced journey, blending protective measures, thoughtful skincare routines, and lifestyle choices. Based on tips from the experts at The Beauty Gallery, here’s your guide to navigating this journey gracefully and effectively.

The Fundamentals of Sun Protection A golden rule in skincare is diligent sun protection. Mature skin, in particular, benefits immensely from this practice. Daily application of broad-spectrum sunscreen with at least SPF 30 is non-negotiable. Additionally, wearing sun-protective clothing and seeking shade can significantly reduce sun-induced aging. Remember, these measures are essential even on cloudy days or during short outdoor trips.

Embracing the Alternative Glow While sun-kissed skin is appealing, the cost is premature aging. Opt for self-tanners instead of sunbathing or using tanning beds, emitting harmful UV rays that speed up aging.

7 Tips For Landscapers To Create A Child-Friendly Garden

Any homeowners with children, especially younger children, thinking about having landscaping to transform their garden must ensure that both they and the landscaper consider those children when discussing the design. What is even better is if the created landscape design has features that help ensure the children’s safety and provide them with educational and fun activities.

For Perth Landscapes, the extent of these child-friendly features will depend on the garden’s size and the budget for its design and construction. However, most of the steps that can be taken to create a child-friendly landscape design are not expensive, as you are about to discover when you read the seven tips that follow.

Take Account Of The Children’s Ages

Landscape design for a family with children aged 4 and 6 will differ greatly from one with children aged 9 and 11. For example, any play area for much younger children should be close to the house so parents can constantly watch them. In contrast, older children might prefer their play area to be semi-hidden to give them space to play unfettered by their parent’s attention.

5 Key Questions That Will Help You Choose The Right Funeral Directors

When a loved one passes, it can be a trying and highly emotional time for all the family; however, despite the grief, there are still many practicalities to consider, and one of those is choosing funeral directors for the deceased’s funeral. Given that funerals, thankfully, are not an everyday occurrence for families, there might not be any plans in place for such a choice, nor a funeral director that the family has used recently.

The good news is that almost all funeral directors are professional in what they do, for example, Silkwood Funerals; however, that does not mean you should not take some care and time in choosing one. To assist in this task, having a series of simple questions will help you answer the questions about which funeral director is the right one. Here are five key questions and what you should look for in the answers.

What Budget Do You Have?

Before getting into the specifics of the funeral director arranging and conducting the funeral, you must determine the available budget. In every instance, this will differ between different families, so there is no figure we can give you that we suggest you aim for.

Exercises For Those With Reduced Mobility

If you ever see or hear the phrase, “fitness is for all”, you might question it, especially if you, or someone you care about, finds exercising difficult. This could be down to a physical disability, an injury that has temporarily restricted one’s movement, or something which we will all have to face at some point in our lives, and that is our senior years when our bodies are not as mobile or nimble as they were in years long since passed.

However, with only a few exceptions, everyone, including those in the groups we have just mentioned, should be able to take part in some form of exercise. Ok, we might not be talking here about extreme sports or workouts that require extraordinary strength or lightning fast speeds, but nevertheless, several exercise and fitness workouts exist that are suitable for those with reduced mobility. Here are some of them.

Why Speech Pathologists Treating The Elderly Is Becoming Increasingly Common

It is well known that the vast majority of the patients that a speech pathologist will treat are children, many of whom are under 5 years of age. However, it is also true that adults suffer from speech and language problems too, and one group where it is specifically prevalent is older people, which is why an increasing percentage of those aged 65 and over are seeking speech therapy.

This occurs, not because older people are suddenly reporting communication problems, but due to ever-increasing shifts in the age demographics of the population. For example, in the 30 years from 1990 to 2020, the average age of the Australian population increased by almost 6 years, and from 2000 to 2020 the percentage aged 65 and over rose by 4%.

Those numbers are certain to increase further with predictions showing that by the year 2050, Australia will have 1.8 million residents aged over 85, which works out at around 5%. So, it is clear that medical professionals, including speech pathologists, have increasing numbers of patients who are classed as elderly, not just because the elderly are more prone to ailments and illness, but also because there are many more individuals within that age group than ever before.

7 Unusual Uses For Custom Labels At Home

When most people think about how they are going to use labels, including custom labels, their primary thoughts are likely to be their pantry or their kitchen. Admittedly, these are the two areas in a home where custom labels are most commonly used, but what if we told you there are countless other ways you can put custom labels to good use?

You might be thinking, “Yes, I know. I can use them in other rooms too”, and you would be correct. Custom labels are an ideal way to keep your whole home organised by using them in your utility room, bathroom, home office, garage, or workshop. Specifically, custom labels can be used to identify and organise many items, making it easier for you to locate them.

However, what we are going to do is outline seven ways to use custom labels that we are pretty sure that the vast majority of people reading this may not have thought of before. As such we hope they give you even more reasons to use custom labels to make your life easier.

Personalised Gift Tags

Instead of using the same old gift tag types for birthdays, weddings, and Christmas, why not make your own distinctive and personalised gift tags. Personalised santa sacks are a great way to enhance the Christmas spirit. Custom labels can be made to any shape, colour, and size, plus the message on them can be unique.

How Your Age Can Influence Your Laser Eye Surgery Options

It is the case that many medical treatments and surgical procedures come with caveats and limits based on a patient’s age and that most certainly applies to LASIK eye surgery. This means that when a laser eye surgery consultant is assessing your suitability for laser eye surgery, your age is going to be one of the factors they take into account, although not as much as they will consider the health of your eyes as a factor.

When people become aware of that fact, especially those who are older, they assume that means that there is an upper age limit for laser eye surgery. They are usually pleasantly surprised to learn that contrary to there being an upper age limit, there is instead, a lower age limit. For details on that and other advice relating to age and laser eye surgery, please continue reading.

Lower Age Limit for Eye Surgery

When a person turns 18 it means they can legally buy alcohol, gamble, obtain a mortgage, and vote in elections. It is also the age that they become eligible for laser eye surgery, although there are several caveats, so being 18 does not automatically make you a candidate for laser eye surgery.

5 Health Problems to Make You Consider Retirement

Retirement planning is on many people’s horizons, with those reaching retirement age often seeking help from financial planners to maximise their entitlements and learn about superannuation access.

However, not everyone retires simply because they reach an age that entitles them to pension payments. Some people quit work because they experience health conditions, such as these below.

Depressive Symptoms

The prevalence of depressive symptoms in older adults living in Australia is well-known, with around eight percent of healthy community-dwelling Australians over the age of 60 experiencing depressive symptoms in recent studies. They were also more frequently experienced by women, current smokers, ethnic minorities, and those living alone or in residential care.

Depressive symptoms can involve your mood, behaviour, sleep, body, cognition, and weight. You may consider retirement if you feel general discontent, loss of interest, sadness, fatigue, or other common signs of clinical depression.

4 Ways To Help Your Dog Learn To Love Baths

Being able to bathe your dog is an essential part of dog grooming, but unfortunately, there will be many dog owners reading this whose first thoughts will be “If Only”. The frustration which is evident in that thought comes from the fact that, unlike many dogs, some dogs hate the thought of getting into a bath.

This fear can be borne out of so many possible experiences and occurrences in the dog’s past that to try and pick them apart would take forever. Instead of going over what has caused a dog to not like baths, it will be more useful to identify ways in which the situation can be reversed.

No matter what a dog does or how it behaves, much of what they do comes from conditioning. In other words, if something happens which is pleasurable for a dog, it will want it to happen again, with an example being giving its owner a paw and getting a treat in return. Conversely, if they have had a bad experience, such as being bitten by a large dog when younger, then than can mean it being fearful anytime it sees a large dog, no matter how friendly that dog is.

These behaviour principles in dogs should give us hope because it means that whatever negative behaviour they display, it can be reversed with positive reinforcement. However, it may require patience and a lot of understanding. Some dogs might change immediately, others may take time, but if you follow the advice that follows, bath time should hopefully become a stress-free event for both you and your dog.

7 Simple Ways To Hide Carpet Stains Until The Pro Carpet Cleaners Attend

So, you have finally booked professional Perth carpet cleaners to come and give your carpets the proper clean they so desperately need. The problem is they are in so much demand it will be a couple of weeks before they can come round. You look at your carpets and see how dirty they are and the many stains they have, and start to panic.

Between now and when the carpet cleaners are due, you have your sister visiting with her husband, and it is hubby’s birthday next week, and when you always invite a few friends round for drinks. What are they going to think when they see the state of your carpets and all those stains? They will think you are lazy and keep an unclean house. Aaarrgghh!

Ok, time to stop panicking because none of that is going to happen. Why? Well, because we have some awesome ways for you to “hide” the stains in your carpet until your professional carpet cleaners can deal with them properly. They may not remove them completely, but they will at least stop you fretting about your friends and family seeing them and passing judgement on you.

Suffer From Dentophobia? How To Overcome Your Irrational Fear Of The Dentist

When we think of people having phobias, the more common ones such as arachnophobia and claustrophobia come to mind. Whilst many people are terrified of spiders and enclosed spaces, there is also a significant number who have a debilitating fear of dentists, and for the record that is known as dentophobia.

At this point, we must make a distinction between phobias and fears. Most people have some level of fear regarding specific things they dislike and that can include spiders and the dentist. However, when those fears are irrational, cause you to behave in certain ways, and make you mentally traumatised, they become phobias. The problem is that a phobia of the dentist can negatively impact your oral health, and that is adding one problem on top of another.

To try and help anyone who has either a fear or a phobia about visiting their dentist, we are going to suggest some ways you can try to overcome them. What we are not going to say is “pull yourself together” because we are sure you have heard that a thousand times, and unless someone knows exactly how you are feeling, advice like that is far from helpful.

Exposure Therapy

This is known to help resolve lots of different phobias and works on the basis that you chip away at your phobia a little bit at a time. In the case of dentophobia, you take small steps towards being able to have your dentist treat you. You could start by driving to the dental surgery’s car park. Next time, go into the reception area. You might speak to the receptionist or the dentist on your next visit.

Moving on you might sit in the dentist’s chair, and just relax there for a while. Next time have an examination but not treatment. Next, a session where the dentist takes an x-ray and so on until you can have full appointments such as a cleaning or teeth whitening.

Why Some DIY Tooth Whitening Methods May Do More Harm Than Good

Everyone wants to look their best, and one of the features that contribute to us looking good is our teeth. The cleaner, brighter, and whiter they are, the more our smile beams, but unfortunately, not everyone’s teeth are whiter than white. Many people suffer from tooth discolouration, and their proper course of action is to visit their Perth dentist to ask that they whiten their teeth professionally.

In most cases this would be the recommended way to whiten teeth, however, it cannot have escaped your notice that there are also numerous DIY teeth whitening solutions available. These come in several forms such as whitening toothpaste, whitening powder, whitening strips as well as a whole raft of homemade recipes which it is claimed can whiten teeth ‘naturally’.

Let us state here that many people use these teeth whitening options and have had good results with no side effects or secondary issues. However, that is not the case for everyone. Teeth whitening done on a DIY basis does not always produce the desired result, and worse, it can lead to other issues. Below are some examples of how DIY tooth whitening can go wrong.

5 Must-Haves In Your Estate Plan

Research has revealed that not only have Australians not put time or effort into estate planning, but half of them don’t even have a basic will. That means that if they should die before putting one in place, their assets may not go to the people they were hoping for, and dependents may not end up with those who can care for them the best.

If the fear of not having control over who gets your possessions has spurred you to take action, you might be wondering what you need to do next. For the most comprehensive plan for your loved ones to follow once you pass, ensure your estate plan incorporates the following:

A Will
A will is a legal document that outlines how your assets should be distributed when you die. Typically, there are instructions for your loved ones to follow and even some lifestyle requests, such as scattering your ashes somewhere lovely.

When putting your will together, you must have at least one executor to ensure your wishes are followed. This document must also be witnessed.

5 Reasons Why You Don’t Need to Fear the Dentist

For many decades, dental care was something most people feared. In fact, older generations were subjected to sometimes painful procedures that made them fearful of visits throughout their adult life.

However, technology has evolved in leaps and bounds, which means that some of the most common reasons why people used to fear going to the dentist are no longer relevant.

If you have been putting off a visit for much-needed dental implants, dentures, or just a check-up, the following information may help you see that there is nothing to fear.

What’s Involved in Estate Planning?

Not everyone realises that estate planning and wills are not the same things. While your intention can be the same, there can be much more involved in estate planning as a whole, rather than simply putting together a will.

If you’re unsure what’s involved in either estate planning or will creation, the following information may prove helpful.

What is an Estate Plan?

An estate plan involves creating a plan for your assets and any investments when you die. It ensures your loved ones are provided for while also making sure your assets make it to the people you wished to benefit from them.

Estate plans incorporate the making of a will, your superannuation death nomination, power of guardianship, power of attorney, testamentary trusts, and medical treatment wishes if you’re no longer able to communicate.

While having an estate plan in Australia is not a legal requirement, it can be a worthwhile plan to make sure your family and friends are well cared for in the event of your passing.

5 Reasons Why Older People Fear the Dentist

The highest rate of dental fear is in the 40-64-year age range, with many people in this group avoiding trips to the dentist as much as possible.

However, dentists themselves are not scary people. They are like any other adult, just doing their job and providing a service. So, why do people fear them? Dentists shouldn’t take it personally because these common reasons for dental fear below have nothing to do with the dentist themselves.

Past Bad Experiences

Dental technology has come a long way in the last few decades, but it can be hard to see that if you’ve had previous bad experiences with archaic technology.

Most Common Mistakes When Planning a Will

One of the best things you can do for yourself, your family, and their future, is put time into planning wills. Even though you may not think you have enough assets to require a will, the threshold can be a lot lower than you might think.

Wills allow you to have some control over who gets your assets when you die, including your estate, pets, and children. Whether you’re in the process of creating a will from scratch or upgrading the one you already have, make sure you take some time to plan and research. By doing so, you may be able to avoid some of the following mistakes.

Failing to Create a Will At All

Estate planning and will creation can take some time. So much time, in fact, that you may put it off until it becomes too late. Once you have a will in place, it can require minimal upkeep.

Therefore, it can be worth setting time aside to think about your estate and who you would like it to go to. Everything from life insurance policies and superannuation to personal belongings and cars should be factored into a will.

If you don’t make your intentions known in a legal document, you may never be able to ensure that the people you wanted your assets to go to will receive them. Your death may even result in court cases to split assets between family members with legal intervention.

Why Dentures Might Be the Best Option for You

Whether you’ve lost your natural teeth to decay, disease, or even an accident, you might be wondering what your options are. Your dentist might recommend dentures, which are especially common among older adults.

However, not everyone is convinced that dentures are the right option for them. While it’s true that dental implants might also be of value, there are several reasons why dentures could be even better for your unique situation.

They Are Comfortable to Wear

Technology is evolving all the time, which means that uncomfortable dentures your own grandparents wore several decades ago may not be the same dentures you can expect to wear. It’s true that it can take a few visits to your dentist to achieve the correct fit, but these visits are worth it for your overall comfort.

Most Common Types of Laser Eye Surgery to Help You Decide

Many people decide to get laser eye surgery when they are tired of wearing contact lenses and glasses. They don’t have to worry about making allowances under helmets or experiencing discomfort when swimming and partaking in adventure sports.

However, it’s easy to become overwhelmed when you start looking at your laser eye surgery options. There are so many different laser surgery types available, and not all will suit your needs.

Fortunately, your eye care specialist can walk you through the best options. Still, we’ve included the most common surgery types available in today’s market.

Laser Assisted In-Situ Keratomileusis (LASIK)

Out of all laser eye surgery options, LASIK or laser assisted in-situ keratomileusis would have to be one of the most popular. It’s fast, offers the quickest recovery times, and is also one of the most comfortable options for patients.

This type of eye surgery involves two lasers to reshape the cornea rather than blades. It’s also one of the most preferred options for conditions like presbyopia, astigmatism, hyperopia, and myopia.

When your appointment time rolls around, you will experience laser treatment for just a few seconds on each eye, and you will be able to drive and do most daily activities within 24 hours. It may offer you much-needed peace of mind to know that LASIK is FDA-approved.