My mom's circulation isn't great. She's also been having balance problems. What she has been doing is dumping herself into her recliner, reclining, and not coming out of it. She goes kind of into a stupor for hours and hours.
When she's not in the recliner, it's easier to get her to be active.
A couple thoughts I'm having:
1. I think that once she reclines that she mentally shuts-off. I notice her memory is worse, her balance is worse, everything is worse. For this, I'm not sure it's the recliner's "fault" but think that once she reclines that she kind of gives up on life. I think she is then unmotivated to come out of it and do things, again. When she sits upright, she might close her eyes for awhile and stop doing things, but she eventually starts her activities on her own.
2. I wonder if the recliner is bad for her circulation. Partly, it seems to discourage her from any movement. Partly, though, am not sure if reclining with her legs up and totally stationary for long periods of time is especially bad for her.
Anyone happen to know whether a recliner can actually be a bad thing?
My own personal experience: After a very bad health scare my mom was recovering in rehab. She had done very well and was discharged home. Once she got home I think the enormity of what she had been through hit her and she took to her bed. She just laid in bed all day and all night getting up only to use the bathroom and to drink an Ensure. She started falling almost everyday and my dad would call me to come and peel her up from the floor. I told her she had to get out of bed. I begged her. I threatened her. I yelled at her. Nothing worked. I knew she was going to die and she did. A few weeks of laying in bed had damaged her body and electrolytes so bad that she died. Granted, she had been ill but her illness had been cured by this time. It was the laying in bed day after day after day that killed her.
Another example: I had a patient who took to her recliner much like your mom. She got up to use the bathroom and that was it. She had ulcers on her bottom and could barely walk when she did get up. When she was up she complained about how weak she felt and I explained that she felt weak because she sat in that chair all day. But it's like a vicious cycle. Sitting around all day makes someone weak so when they do get up they feel very weak so they want to sit back down for long periods of time again.
My favorite motto is "use it or lose it" and that is the truth. Try to get your mom up and moving as often as you can or she will grow weaker and weaker with each passing day. Not only will she grow very weak but her body will actually start to change in appearance, it will take on the shape of the chair. She'll stoop over and her legs may not straighten out and she may begin to walk hunched over. She needs to be up!