Managing angina symptoms can feel overwhelming, especially when lifestyle changes are needed to improve heart health. That’s where personal care at home services can make a difference. With the support of a dedicated caregiver, your loved one can make meaningful adjustments to their daily routine, from eating healthier to staying active, all while maintaining independence. \
Let’s explore the symptoms of angina, the steps for managing it, and how personal care at home providers can help create a healthier, more balanced lifestyle.
What is Angina?
Angina is not a disease but a symptom of a disease – coronary heart disease. While it can cause immediate discomfort, angina isn’t an emergency medical crisis. It is more like a warning that something else is going wrong with getting blood flow to the heart and should be immediately brought to the attention of your loved one’s physician so she can do tests to determine the level of damage to the blood vessels leading to the heart and help your loved one come up with a plan for treating her coronary heart disease and the angina it causes.
Common Symptoms of Angina
Angina symptoms usually occur either during exercise or immediately afterward, although for some, they can occur while being inactive as well. Symptoms can vary from men to women and even based on the age of the onset of angina.
Typical angina symptoms include:
- Chest pain that may feel like burning, squeezing, crushing, or pressing. It usually is located under the breastbone.
- Pain that radiates to the back, neck, and arms
- Dizziness
- Shortness of breath
- Feeling nauseous
- Breaking out into a sweat
- Fatigue
For women, their symptoms may present differently:
- A stabbing pain in the chest instead of pain brought on by feelings of pressure or squeezing.
- Discomfort in the jaw, teeth, head, or back
- Pain in the stomach
- Shortness of breath
- Nausea
Five Steps to Take to Manage Angina
Since coronary disease is often linked to lifestyle choices, making changes to those areas of your loved one’s life will be one of the steps your loved one’s doctors will recommend for her to manage her condition and lower the risk of a heart attack.
- Take all medications. If the angina is caused by coronary heart disease, your loved one’s doctor will prescribe medications to help reduce the risk of a possible heart attack. She may be prescribed a blood-thinning drug like aspirin, which will make it more difficult for clots to form. Another possible medication, nitroglycerin, may be prescribed to dilate the arteries so blood can flow more easily through them.
- Reduce or eliminate bad health habits like smoking or drinking excessive alcohol, both of which damage blood vessels.
- Enjoy a healthy diet full of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and lean proteins.
- Keep weight at a healthy level. This may mean incorporating more exercise into your loved one’s routine as well as adjusting her diet.
- Get plenty of sleep.
Make Lifestyle Changes Easier with Personal Care at Home
Having a home care professional who provides personal care at home can help make lifestyle changes easier for your loved one. If your loved one’s doctor has recommended some of the above steps to manage her heart disease and the angina it causes, but those changes seem overwhelming, a personal care at home provider can help.
A personal care at home provider can step in and help your loved one make needed adjustments to her diet, her exercise routine, and even her stress levels, reducing the amount of stress put on the heart. There’s nothing wrong with getting a little help if that helps lead your loved one to a healthier lifestyle and increases her ability to remain independent and healthy for a long time.
If you or an aging loved one needs Personal Care at Home in Lincoln, CA, contact A Better Living Home Care today (916) 514-7006
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