Wellness

[RinaRina]

On 5/30/2014 Puppy Lips said:

The second I read the OP, I remembered the smell in my Grandmother's house. I have no idea where the smell came from, but it was a distinct and not particularly good smell. Funny how you remember those things.

Speaking of .. "Funny how you remember those things."

I remember when I was a kid (1950's), all the kids in the neighborhood used to go to my neighbor's house (2 "old" ladies) for milk and cookies. It was fun. The house had that smell. A few years later, (after we moved) all the kids used to go to another "old" lady's house to see her kittens. She always had a lot of cats. Her house had that smell too. It's definitely an "old people's" smell .. especially the breath.

[LilacTree]

Enter the new sector of the population subjected to bigotry. "Old folks." Watch out, baby boomers!!

[BooBoo2]

On 5/29/2014 Harpa said:

I'm afraid my "prejudicial" use of the term, old folks smell, is going to stay. The only places I've ever smelled that is in nursing homes w/ older folks, with whom I have a deep heart for!

Thanks for the ideas! I did have to open a window. Hopefully, I can get down to do a thorough spring cleaning, but I know she'll be yelling at me every step of the way.

Harpa, I totally agree with you! I know exactly the smell you are talking about. My elderly grandfather, yes he was an "old folk", had that smell in his house. It was awful. He was 95 when he passed and was mobile until about a year prior to his death. While still mobile, he got up on his own, dressed himself etc., we had to get him 24 hour nurses for monitoring his oxygen machine and he was a fall risk and didn't take his meds right. We wanted him to be able to stay in his own home so the nurses came about 4 years ago. He would not bathe or let them help him get in and out of the tub. He would stand at the sink and wash with a wash clothe (my great grandmother called that a "spit bath"). Not sure if his hair (he had a short crew cut) ever got washed.

Anyway, one day one of the nurses called and said she finally talked him into letting her help him get in and out of the tub for a shower. And while he didn't let that happen often we felt like at least he got one once a week or two! The smell lingered. It is a smell that hits you in the face and it is NOT a dirty smell at all. It is exactly what you call it; an OLD FOLK SMELL!!

He became bed ridden almost 2 years ago and after that, the nurses were able to bathe him in his hospital bed in the living room with no issues. He had clean clothes and bed clothes every day. And after that the smell went away!! I also think washing his hair regularly helped. He had that waxy scalp look probably from build up that he wasn't getting rid of on his own. The nurses used baby shampoo and worked on removing it.

Hope this helps. Oh, and don't you just love how no matter what the subject, or what terms people use, someone out there will tell you how "wrong" you are. Good grief.

[NYC Susan]

On 5/31/2014 rina33 said:

On 5/30/2014 Puppy Lips said:

The second I read the OP, I remembered the smell in my Grandmother's house. I have no idea where the smell came from, but it was a distinct and not particularly good smell. Funny how you remember those things.

Speaking of .. "Funny how you remember those things."

I remember when I was a kid (1950's), all the kids in the neighborhood used to go to my neighbor's house (2 "old" ladies) for milk and cookies. It was fun. The house had that smell. A few years later, (after we moved) all the kids used to go to another "old" lady's house to see her kittens. She always had a lot of cats. Her house had that smell too. It's definitely an "old people's" smell .. especially the breath.

But not all "old people" have that smell. I think that's the point some of us are trying to make. Poor health, poor hygiene, poor household cleaning, and many other factors come into play.

In my experience ALL old people most definitely do not smell and neither do their homes.

[mom of 7]

Both of my parents (both in their 90's) have never smelled old & neither does their house. They have a clean house and they bathe daily.

[NYC Susan]

On 5/31/2014 mom of 7 said:

Both of my parents (both in their 90's) have never smelled old & neither does their house. They have a clean house and they bathe daily.

That's my experience also. My grandparents lived into their 80's and 90's, and I saw them all the time. My parents are currently in their 80's, and I see them frequently too. As well as my aunt & uncle (ages 89 & 90). I've never noticed a smell at all on any of them, or in their homes either.

I think I understand the kind of smell that's being discussed here, but I think it has to do more with health, medication, cleanliness, and other things. Not all old people smell. (And a whole lot of young ones do!)

mom of 7 - You are blessed!

[151949]

Often elderly people have poor circulation and have wounds that won't heal and become infected. I think that may be what some of you are calling old folks smell. It has nothing to do with not being clean - but more to do with inadequate circulation.

[LilacTree]

Two of my daughters come here several times a week. Last night I asked both of them if either my apartment or me had "old folks smell." They both asked me what the H I was talking about and said emphatically, "no!"

One of them suggested I stop participating in this forum, LOL!

[Lacey1]

On 5/31/2014 happy housewife said:

Often elderly people have poor circulation and have wounds that won't heal and become infected. I think that may be what some of you are calling old folks smell. It has nothing to do with not being clean - but more to do with inadequate circulation.

After all the posts here, identifying the many, possible causes of 'old folks' smell. The resident medical expert has pin-pointed it. Old people always have infected wounds! Didn't you all know that???

[Danky]

OP...there is absolutely nothing offensive about your post..we live in a society of emotionally fragile (defective) people, usually women, who take personal offensive at everything. The senior smell absolutely exists....my kids will walk into some place that has a different odor and immediately state "it smells like grammy's ".