1. How come hyenas are so healthy? 2. What will a bee get from visiting too many flowers? 3. What game can be dangerous to your mental health? 4. What is the healthiest kind of water? 5. What ring is actually a square?
Community News
Brain Teaser Answers
1. Because laughter is the best medicine. 2. High bud-pressure. 3. Marbles, you don’t want to lose them. 4. Well water. 5. A boxing ring.
Words to Live By
Happy New Year from the Board of Directors and the staff at Comox Valley Senior Support Society.
Words to Live By
There are greater things to be achieved in every New Year, and each and everyone must prepare themselves to be great, not by words of the mouth, but by a lot of sacrifices. – Michael Bassey Johnson
DECEMBER LOCAL WELLNESS BOX PRIZE PACKAGE
Over $500.00 worth of prizes including; $210.00 Therapeutic Yoga-Based Movement Gift Card – BodyWell Remedial Exercise & Registered Massage Therapy www.getbodywell.com
$115.00 Initial evaluation and treatment Gift Card – Red Sage Wellness – Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine www.redsagewellness.com
2 Tickets to the Vancouver Island Symphony – Mozart’s Serenade March 19, 2022 in Nanaimo www.vancouverislandsymphony.com
Voxxlife Socks from Great Socks for All – www.greatsocksforall.voxxlife.com
Cactus Club – Gift Card www.cactusclubcafe.com/location/victoria
Holidays with Dementia
Many older adults with Alzheimer’s or dementia enjoy and want to be included in holiday festivities. However, the added activities could cause increased agitation and confusion, unpredictable behavior, or mood swings. To create a stress-free, happy holiday season, try to scale things back and modify activities so they’ll feel calm and safe. Focus on a few of the most meaningful traditions. Ask which activities they value most. That could mean trimming the Christmas tree, lighting the menorah, singing songs, or baking special holiday treats. Even if your older adult might not remember these holiday activities later, the warm feelings they’ll have is a different kind of memory their body will carry for a while.
Should I Remove my Dentures at Night?
Removing your dentures at night while you sleep will increase your oral health and your gums will thank you for it! Experts highly advise that if you wear dentures, you should be giving your gums and dentures a well-deserved break at nighttime. Soaking your dentures in a denture cleaning solution or clean water will increase their longevity and will keep them in tip-top shape, which in turn will prevent bacteria and plaque buildup. Additionally, your gums will have an opportunity to be naturally cleaned by saliva in the mouth, which will prevent infections from developing and decrease the chance of irritations your mouth.
Second Home for Seniors
The Comox Seniors’ Centre, located at 1801 Beaufort Ave in Comox, offers a wide range of opportunities to socialize, be physically fit, and stay mindfully active. The Centre re-opened in July with an on-site meal service and more than 40 club activities ranging from Yoga, Carpet Bowling, Table Tennis, Line Dancing, Mah Jong, Bridge, Spanish Conversation, etc. For many seniors this Centre is their second home. For more information, drop in or call 250-339-5133 or visit our website www.comoxseniors.ca Comox Seniors’ Centre.
Holiday Greetings!
The Board and staff of the Comox Valley Senior Support Society wish you a peaceful holiday season and very best wishes for 2022.
Life Stages and Hearing Loss
Hearing loss can affect people of all ages for various reasons such as genetics, exposure to loud noises, presbycusis, autoimmune issues and sometimes ototoxic medications. More dangerously, untreated hearing loss can cause issues, often psychological, which also tend to be the indicators.
If you’re concerned that you or a loved one may have hearing loss, here’s a list of signs in each stage of life that may indicate a hearing loss.
Children
Signs of hearing loss in children often go unnoticed, hence it’s important to look for signs as early as infancy for quick treatment. If a hearing loss isn’t indicated now, it’s still a possibility as they age.
Here are some of the signs to watch for:
- Lack of attention to sound and sound localization
- Delayed speech development
- Unable to monitor their own voice or follow verbal instructions
- Behavioural changes and hyperactivity
- Poor school performance
Teenagers
Diagnosing teens is easier because they’ve developed communication skills. Personalities influence any diagnosis because they affect our verbal interactions and reactions to different situations.
The following are some indicators:
- Struggles with verbal cues and instructions
- Often ask people to repeat themselves
- Lack of participation in school activities, poor school performance
- Isolated from social situations
- Behavioural changes – may act out or do nothing at all
Adults and Seniors
In adults, signs of hearing loss present differently with age due to developed coping mechanisms. Seniors often lose their hearing as they age, but they can take action to treat it for a better quality of life.
Here are signs to look for:
- Regularly ask people to repeat themselves
- Talk very loud or quiet
- Difficulties understanding verbal communication
- Isolate themselves in noisy environments and don’t participate
- May present with depression or anxiety
- Complaints of dizziness, ringing in ears and exhaustion
If you’re concerned about hearing loss affecting you or a loved one, NexGen Hearing provides free hearing tests and hearing aid consultations, sales and fittings. NexGen Hearing’s team is dedicated to helping you find solutions and discussing your hearing needs, goals and options to find the best outcome and support you every step of the way.
Author: By NexGen Hearing, NexGenHearing.com
Ask The Expert
Q: I don’t see very well out of my lazy eye. Is there any way I can make it better? I’m 39 years old and my eyes are otherwise healthy.
A: That is likely difficult. A “lazy” eye means it didn’t develop functional vision by early childhood, and this can happen for a variety of reasons. At this point in your life, corrective lenses or vision therapy could give you some modest help, depending on how lazy the eye is. Children ought to have an eye examination at an early age for this very reason as it is more easily treatable at that time.
