Easier Ways For the Elderly to Clean Themselves After Toileting

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🔔 Disclaimer: The recommendations and opinions expressed here are my own and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always consult with your doctor for health-related concerns. Some products featured may have been provided at no cost for review purposes. Please note that I use affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission from purchases made through these links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

[martaaltheide]

Retired nurse of 40 years. Worked in nursing homes 4 years. Skin on elderly is thin and prone to chafing or bleeding from wiping to remove feces. And the concentrated urine in the dehydrated is very difficult to remove the odor from diaper area. We used a non rinse spray cleanser
and I insisted on warm water ( in bath basin) with soft washcloths ( oh, how much resistance from nurse assistants!) but this technique was the best way ( and of course clean clothes and sheets/ protective pads under patient, every time. Long term care facilities are known for unpleasant odors. But, a great nurse manager or Director of facility won’t tolerate poor care. His/ Her pay depends on it

[artandacarter]

This is an embarrassing subject for a lot of people at any age. As a nurse, I've seen this over & over. Thank you for sharing this information! 😊

[rae]

Right across from the toilet is my bathtub which has a wide sill and a vertical grab bar attached to it.
This enables me to use the tub as a bidet. I place a washcloth on the wide sill (for comfort) then sit on the cloth with my "exit" hanging into the tub area.
I use the handheld shower device to clean the area. I pat myself dry then rinse the tub thoroughly.
This arrangement works well for me, takes only a minute... and costs nothing.
PS - another plus is that I can use WARM water if I wish.

[rubenlenger]

An interesting and instructive video for elderly people. But why the background noise? Many old folks have hearing loss and the "music" makes understanding difficult.

[oldegoatee]

As an 80+ year old, I can attest that this advice is solid! I would also suggest getting a higher toilet which is much easier on hips and knees. They are not expensive, but need to be installed by a plumber. But SO worth it!

[valerief]

Very helpful information for anyone that has a sudden on set of disability. Some of these options can benefit women during pregnancy. I am a care giver, and one of my clients is morbidly obese and struggled with cleaning himself after a bowl movement. We opted for the shower wand. Had grab bars mounted in his shower, and purchased a bariatric shower chair. Hi uses the chair to stabilize himself while rinsing off. As to the first comment about ‘water alone isn’t good enough’ there is some truth to it, but not to that degree. The difficulty in removing feces because it’s stuck to their skin, comes not with people that defecate in the toilet, then use water alone, but this pertains mostly to patients that are wearing adult diapers. If the feces is stuck to the skin, it’s because it’s been there, most likely while the patient is in bed, laying on it, or sitting in it. If it’s there for a little while, just like a baby, it’s going to take wiping and cleansers.
I am grateful videos like this exist. Sometimes when trying to convince a patient to try something different, and they are skeptical, I validate the idea by sharing YouTube videos, this one will be very helpful. I find it helps them realize that this isn’t weird, they aren’t the only one experiencing this issue, it’s normal, and nothing to be embarrassed about.

[tevaz]

I think softer is harder to clean than harder! Anyway I’m so glad I have a bidet.

[ahill]

This is a really informative and caring video to put out. Nice.

[naomichannon]

Install a Bidet - you will thank yourself. Best thing as you age for helping you stay clean and fresh. It has been a major blessing for me as I take care of my 94 year old FIL.

[marygillette]

Seven years ago I fell down some stairs and broke both ankles. I remembered back when I had a caesarean section and the hospital sent me home with a " Personal Spray Bottle", and was thankful to have one, and a donated commode. Since my home was built in 1927 and doorway to the bathroom was to narrow for my wheelchair. I'm healed now and still use a personal spray bottle

[susananderson]

Im 65, have severe full body osteoarthritis.. I had moved in with a friend a couple years ago and discovered she had a simple budet attachment on the toilet. Thats when O discovered the utter joy if bidetsand the cleansing ability. I eventually moved out a couple years later . I bought a portable bidet. I niw live in my mini van and depend on wet wipes, that bidet, And fast food bathrooms for alot of my hygiene.

[Questor-kyfv]

Bidets and shower heads don't wipe, so some mess will still be left behind. They are also hard to aim accurately, more so if you have health issues. They will also get you and your immediate surroundings wet. I've tried the toilet paper wands, and the paper comes out before you can do a good job of wiping yourself. They also didn't reduce the strain on my bad back and bad knees. I use baby wipes, which work great! Although I haven't tried it, a moistened washcloth with just a little bit of very mild soap will also work. Baby soap or a natural type of adult soap would be best. The washcloths will need a container for dirty ones until they can be washed, and it will take a couple of minutes to prep it for use. Baby wipes can be used right out of the pack, and can be thrown away when you are done using them. Just remember, never flush them, even if the package says you can. Those ones don't really fall apart well enough in the toilet to avoid clogging the plumbing., so better safe than sorry.

[marilynmonroe]

I keep a bottle of witch hazel next to the toilet to moisten folded toilet paper before wiping. Clean, cool, soft, flushable.

[lili]

Spent time in Japan in 1999 and the Toto with all the bells and whistles was for me Love at first use. I bought a wand to hold the TP but it didn’t let the paper drop into the toilet so they haven’t perfected that yet. During the pandemic I carried 90% alcohol in a spray bottle to wipe off the toilet seat and would spray water on the TP to clean my lady parts. I am 71 now and utilize adult wipes which I dispose of in a small covered waste basket next to my toilet. Still fondly remember that Toto toilet that was a dream come true for a lady with hemorrhoids.

[lulumoon]

Accident or debilitating illness can make this you, too. Thank you. 🙏

[wmgthilgen]

I'm a couple of month past the age of 75, and have had converstation with other slightly older and slightly younger. Whom have the same issue most elder have when it comes to cleaning themselves after going potty, which mean's more directly, going number two. Going number two, envolve's muscle's in which the elderly and sometime considerably younger have less control over. Even when their own body and not their mind is in control of the muscle. Such as the sphinter muscel's and there more than one envolved in the release of waste other than urine.

After getting ones self as clean as possible while sitting on the John. An elderly sphinter doesn't operate as sufficent as a considerably younger person or as it did when I was younger. Thus after a few minutes of standing and going about one's other bussiness they may get or be envolved in. The sphinter not operating as it did when one was younger, cause what is referred to as skid mark's in one's underwear; Sometime more than other's.

The only remedy was taught to me by one who had been doing it for more than a decade. I started doing as he instructed me, and to this day, which is some 5 year's since the first time. Have no more issue's with skid marks in my underware. Unlike when I was young, were as I could simply sit, get it done, wipe sufficently and get back up and carry on as if nothing happened in just a few minute's. It generally take a elderly person a bit to several bit's longer. Thus in the additional time I have now when using the John for the purpose of releasing number two. I simply take two sheet's of toilet paper still stuck together thus making one longer piece, fold it at the crease in two. Take the bottom 1/4 and fold it upward's towards the middle, and then the top 1/4 and folding it down to the middle, basically touching the other 1/4 in the center; Than folding at the center both in half again ending up with basicall what would appear to be that simular to a tampon, without the string. Placeing it directly over my annus while my butt cheek's are slightly apart, allow;s it to stay as long as I need it to. Sometime hour's go by before I rememeber it's ok now to remove it. And after such, need to wipe the area again of any residual's and there will alway's be residual's. that happened to leak from my old antiquatied sphinter muscle, which then cause's no more skid mark's.

Though I do think of when the time come's and I'm declared dead, there are going to be those that wonder, what the hell is that covering his rectum. But then I'll be dead, and thus no way to be embarassed as do the skid mark's do if and when not doing what I've been doing to avoid them.

[TheSuzberry]

I bought a bidet for $100 and installed it myself. BTW, I’m a 76 yo female.

[pauladrennan]

My bidet was only about $60, and i installed it myself with a broken thumb. It fits right on the rim, under the seat. It has temperature control and cleans the "undercarriage' so thoroughly! I dry with baby washcloths, which go into their own dedicated waste bin for weekly washing.

[CatFromFL]

We have 2 bidets. They spray warm water-and temperature is adjustable. We spray soap water in a plastic bottle . They are awesome.

[JM-vhoc]

I use a makeshift portable bidet by using squeeze bottles from Dollar Tree that look like what restaurants have for ketchup / mustard. Works great - and only $1.25