Fall Prevention: What you can do to Defy Gravity and Remain Independent as you Age
By Kelly McGrath, MD
Almost every day that I work in the Emergency Department, I witness the life-altering impact of falls in the home. Sometimes, patients who have fallen suffer minimal injury and can return home. All too often, however, these patients suffer devastating impacts that will prevent them from returning home to live. Even those who fall with no injury are more likely to return in the next 6 months to year with a more serious injury. It is easy for all of us to brush off these events. After all, the patients usually just feel a few feet.
How bad could it be? The answer, unfortunately, often is “really bad.” Even relatively minor injuries can have a cumulative impact. I saw this in my own mother who, in the last year of her life, had 4 major falls. Although she managed to recover from her injuries each time, she never emerged quite as strong as she was before she fell. Each fall took her independence down one more notch until she lost the ability to live independently. Also, because she struck her head in each fall, she lost a bit of her cognitive skills as well.
It is fair to say that we all want to live the fullest lives that we can and, ideally, to maintain our independence while we age. That is why, regardless of what age you are, you should think about what you can do to avoid falls as you age. Below, I break down
the steps you can take to stack the deck in your favor to prevent falls. Action to take today: First, if you are older or have some impairment of your physical abilities, you can take steps immediately to reduce your risk of falling today. Fortunately, those are probably the quickest and easiest things you can do to reduce your risk. Start by looking at your home with new eyes. You probably have become accustomed to the hazards that exist around you and, with a new perspective, can see those hazards and reduce their impact. Look through your house and ask some simple questions. Are there any tripping hazards such as loose rugs, cords or clutter? If so, remove them today to be safer tonight. Also, ask yourself if the areas you will be in at night are well lit so that you can see obstacles if you get up in the night. If not, you can place some low-cost motion-activated night lights in strategic areas. Also, if you can, have the items you need close to you. This could include your phone, a glass of water, glasses, cane or a walker. Also, make sure that any footwear you use has a solid non-slip sole to help keep your traction.
Action to be taken this week: To impact your risk of falls this week, take your home survey findings a little further. Install safety bars/rails in any high-risk areas such as steps, the bathroom and the shower. With help, re-arrange any furniture that might not be in a safe or ideal position.
If you are at risk and are uncertain of your ability to get up without assistance, consider getting a medical alert system in your home and always keeping it within reach.
Action to take over the next few months: To reduce your risk of falls over the next several months, consider starting or maintaining an exercise program to keep your muscles strong enough to resist falls. This may be as simple as just doing some basic exercises in your home or as detailed as getting a formal consultation with a physical or occupational therapist. You also want to work on balance. You can do this safely by building in some basic actions into each day. An example of this is to practice lifting one leg at a time while standing and holding onto something secure like a counter or a grab bar. It may seem small, but over time, this can improve your stability. Also, if you have not done so recently, get your vision checked to make sure you can see things as well as possible. This will help you from tripping over things and helps with your balance since good vision helps us keep our footing.
Action to impact your long-term risk of falls: Finally, the best way to prevent falls in the future is to pay attention to your health now. By maintaining your health or managing any medical conditions as best as you can, you will help prevent falls in the future. This may include screening for thin bones (osteoporosis) and then working to build strong bones. This reduces your risk of broken bones; in case you do fall. Common conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure, if not properly managed, can contribute to your future risk of falls. Also, just building muscle and working on flexibility will help you in the future.
Falls can be devastating and remove your independence. The good news is that you can act as soon as today to reduce the risk of falls and their impact on the quality of your life.