1. Understand Why Falls Happen
Falls can happen for many reasons. As we age, there are changes to the eyes and ears that decrease the amount of information the brain receives about our body placement. Falls may be the result of a medical condition that effects balance, side effects of medications, rushing through or day and making unsafe choices, or from weak and deconditioned muscles that are no longer strong enough to stabilize you.
While everyone occasionally slips and falls, this should not be a common occurrence. If you are falling once per week or more, you need to take steps to correct this before you break a bone or have some other serious injury. Falls are the number one reason many people end up in nursing homes, become unable to care for themselves and live independently in their own homes. Therefore, prevention is the key and there are many steps that can be taken to reduce your risk for a fall.
If you are taking medication, be aware of its side effects and when it bothers you the most. At those times, take extra precautions to make safe choices and not put yourself at risk.
2. Scan Your House for Hazards
Periodically, check around to see if there are hazards around your home that could cause you to trip and fall. Remove scatter rugs that are not secured and can slide when stepped on. Reposition or tape down electrical wires that can be tripped over. Make sure all stairways have secure handrails that you can lean your weight on and remove any items stored on stairways. Check that there is adequate lighting throughout the house. Since your eyes provide information to your brain about where your body is in space, a lack of vision will hinder your ability to make safe decisions.
3. Make Safer Choices Where Falls Happen
The most common place for falls to occur is the bathroom. Make sure you have at least two professionally installed grab bars around the shower. There should be one inside and one outside the shower within easy grasp. Do not rely on soap dishes or towel racks as these are not secure enough to hold you body weight should you start to fall. Have skid proof mats in the shower and on the bathroom floor. Remove throw rugs that could slide out from underneath you. Have a grab bar near the toilet--and again do not rely on the toilet paper holder to lean on. If you tire easily use a shower chair you can sit on when bathing and use long handled sponges to get hard to reach places.
Falls also happen in the kitchen due to overreaching for cookware. Reorganize your kitchen so that items that you use on a regular basis are between shoulder and knee height. Avoid getting on step stools to lift heavy pots and pans down from high counters. Limit the amount of times you have to bend and reach into low cabinets. Many people continue these activities thinking that they are doing "exercise" by reaching and bending. Exercise should be done with awareness and control while aiming to utilize specific muscles. Therefore, your exercise session should be separate from your household chores to prevent injury. Overreaching and stretching when rushing around and doing daily activities is when most people fall, and those activities should be kept to a minimum.
4. Exercise Regularly
Regular exercise goes along way in helping to prevent falls. Stronger muscles are more stable and able to both prevent you from falling and to help you catch yourself when starting to fall. If your muscles have become weak and deconditioned, you are less likely to be able to stabilize yourself when you start to lose your balance.
Regular stretching also helps to maintain range of motion which makes everyday tasks easier and less stressful on the body. If the muscles are tight, you will have trouble when reaching and bending, again placing yourself at more risk for a fall.
5. Practice Yoga or Tai Chi
Yoga and Tai chi are gentle forms of movement that can help you to improve balance at any age and make you more aware of how you are using your body. As you develop a greater body awareness in your class, this information can then be used when making choices during daily activities. These forms of movement also help to improve your reflexes and develop a strong center of gravity.
