Falls are the leading cause of fatal and non-fatal injuries across the world. Falls are the second leading cause of mortality worldwide. Falling is an unintentional injury, especially among senior citizens. Due to the fear of falls, elderly people tend to compromise social interactions, and quality of life by limiting mobility, and hence there is a diminished sense of well-being.
As we age, often we tend to lose muscle mass and strength. Our lifestyle dictates our diet and many elders end up deficient in multiple vitamins and minerals. This causes weakness and in turn, may result in fall. There are many other factors contributing to the increased risk 0f falling amongst the elderly, eg diminished vision, gait problems, fluctuations in blood pressure, neurological disorders, dehydration, stress, etc. Ask any elder if they ever had a fall, chances are they are afraid of falling again and have drastically altered their living habits, prompting them to change their gait in ways not to worsen the balance. The following steps can help in avoiding that fall:
1 Attend to your environment– Try and make your immediate environment, that is your home to fall free place. Remove/throw rugs, improve lighting, and watch out for pets if you have any at home. Wear well-fitting shoes with nonslip soles, indoor as well outdoor.
2 Better your balance– There are also a few simple exercises that you can do from the comfort of your own home, that will end in improving your balance. Your doctor can help you in this matter.
3 Work on your hip strength- The hip muscle are some of the more important muscles to strengthen. Given below is a simple exercise for doing this, which is known as Clamshells.
-Lie on one side with your knees bent over one another.
-Keeping your lower knee on the ground, push the other knee out to the side.
-Hold for three seconds, then bring your knees together.
-Repeat this 10 times.
-Rest, then change sides and repeat for another set of 10 repetitions.
4 Check your eyes and ears– with vision, we experience changes in in-depth perception and colour discrimination with the age, and this affects what we see and don’t see in our environment. The poor hearing has a direct relation to losing body balance and this may pose a problem. So ensure that you are regularly consulting your physician and getting your vision and hearing checked.
5 Watch your medicines- The majority of seniors take some form of medication. This can increase the risk of drug interactions and side effects such as dizziness, foggy thinking, and low blood pressure. For instance, some high BP medications can cause symptoms that can alter balance. The use of antidepressants, antipsychotics, and sedatives in older people should be controlled to reduce the risk of falls.
6 Important factors to know about falls–
- Falls and fractures are very common in elderly people.
- Falls due to intrinsic causes and recurrent falls are more common in +70 age.
- The elders who are sedentary, experience a fall more frequently than the elders who exercise regularly.
- The major causes of falls in seniors are due to musculoskeletal problems, visual defects, neurological illness, hypertension, dementia, etc.
- Seniors can significantly reduce incidences of falls if they take Vitamin D and calcium supplements under the expert guidance
7 What to do if you fall- Even after taking precautions, in case you have a fall, then do the following:
- Take several deep breaths and remain still for a few moments. Do not try to get up immediately.
- Once you are over the initial shock of falling, take inventory: Do you feel pain? Did you hit your head? If you are not in pain and do not think you have hot your head, roll over onto your side and rest a bit-this lets your body and blood pressure adjust. Slowly count to 30.
- If anyone is at home then call for help, and assistance in getting up.
- If you are by yourself then get up on your knees, and crawl to a stable chair, table, or counter. You may need to hold on to one of these objects to pull yourself up. Sit, and once you feel calm, call your doctor. He/she may want you to come in for evaluation of damage if any.
- If you’re in pain, have hit your head, or are feeling dizzy, nauseous, or otherwise sick, do not move-getting up too fast or in the wrong manner could worsen any injury. If you are alone and can not alert anyone then you may have to crawl to a phone or door to summon assistance. Above all, do not panic.
Although the above article is meant for seniors, even for normal adults the advice is given is holds true.
Waiting for your views on this blog.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
29th June 2022.
THIS BLOG IS No. 1101 BLOG AFTER I STARTED WRITING BLOGS IN MID 2017.