Watch Your Step!
By Joanne A.
When we were young that phrase usually meant we were about to get into trouble. As an adult it has a more literal meaning. It means look where you put your feet because falls are one of the biggest causes of serious injuries in older adults. You’ve probably heard that a thousand times but do we really pay conscious attention to where we put our feet.
Whether we like it or not, we’re just not as physically fit as when we were young. Our bones are more brittle and our flexibility is a little stiffer. So when we fall we often break our bones and sometimes it is a hip that means an extended hospital stay and a lengthy recovery.
We forget that most of us over 50 wear glasses because we just don’t see as well. Medications too can be the root cause of many falls. Forty per cent of all seniors take at least five drugs a day. And the side effects can raise or lower your blood pressure or make you feel drowsy or dizzy.
As older adults we’re prone to developing chronic conditions such as Parkinson’s or arthritis that impede our mobility. Even those unlucky enough to suffer from Alzheimer’s are subject to difficulty with movement. Numbness in our feet is another culprit because often we can’t feel the ground.
Accidents are waiting to happen apart from what’s happening to our bodies. Poor lighting coupled with poorer vision increase the chance of falling. So turn the lights on. Make sure loose carpets have non-slip under padding. And add rails and grab bars on stairs and in bathrooms to give you balance and stability where falls are most common and often the most serious.
Those are some of the changes we can make to our surroundings but what personal cautionary steps can we take. Well, for one we can pick up our feet and do our best to stop shuffling. It can avoid a lot of missteps.
Have you ever turned suddenly to look at something while still moving forward and thrown yourself off balance. It’s a common habit because we used to it. Now we can’t if we want to avoid a fall. So stop. Turn your whole body around. And safely look at what you wanted to see.
Other activities we should avoid are walking backwards or talking to someone over your shoulder. We just have to be more aware and more deliberate in our movements.
Falls can be avoided by removing clutter from floors like shopping bags or shoes at the front door. Shower floors and bathtubs need proper mats or permanent non-slip treatment. Soap and shampoo can be as bad as banana peels. Even closets can prevent falls by being organized to minimize the need for bending down.
Speaking of bending down, when you’re in the garden weeding, planting or tidying up. Make sure you have a long handled tool to act as a staff to hang onto. If we reach too far without a support aid, we can find ourselves flat on our faces and no one around to help us up.
Laundry. If you have to carry it up or down stairs to get to the washing machine, think twice about bundling it up in your arms. Items can fall out of the bundle and trip you up especially on stairs. So put the laundry in a lightweight container to get it up and down to the laundry room. It’s just much safer. And you can fold it at its final destination.
Even as we have to be careful how we move, we still need to move.
Daily physical activity such as walking, swimming, and yoga all help with balance and stability.
Another thing we should all wear supportive, low-heeled shoes. Fluffy slippers comfortably worn down at the heels are an invitation for a fall.
Have your eyes checked. The right eyeglasses are important not just to prevent falls but also so you can read the labels on your prescriptions.
As they say, “pride goeth before a fall”, so we should modify our behavior, furnish our surroundings to meet our new needs, recognize we have those needs and just watch our step.
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