Fear of Falling? Hospital Offers Tips for Fall Prevention

Although stumbling and falling can commonly occur as people get older, falls shouldn’t be considered a natural part of aging. That’s the advice of physical therapists at Washington Hospital Healthcare System (WHHS), who say that falls are preventable.

People shouldn’t think that they’re going to fall just because they’re getting older, according to WHHS Director of Rehabilitation Services Alisa Curry, PT, DPT. Or worse yet, that there is nothing they can do about it. Falls can, and should, be prevented.

People of any age can work on fall prevention by focusing on flexibility, strength, coordination, and balance exercises with their everyday activities,” she notes. Curry is raising awareness for fall prevention and reminding people to stay resilient in an online Health & Wellness community presentation, “Falls: Prevention and Recovery.” The presentation can be viewed Nov. 6 at 9 a.m., on Facebook.com/WashingtonHosp, or on YouTube at YouTube.com/whhsInHealth. Following the 9 a.m. release, this presentation will be added to the health-related videos on the Hospital’s YouTube channel.

Curry recommends that people do as much as they are able, whether it’s a little or a lot. The adage of “use it or lose it,” rings true when it comes to physical fitness. She urges people to think of everything as exercise—activities like hiking, biking, and golf, or everyday tasks like walking at a store, home improvement center or going out with friends. These activities are as important to fall prevention as going to the gym or participating in an exercise program.

“Start the process now—whatever age you are,” she emphasizes, adding that functionality can start diminishing in one’s 40s and 50s.

Fall Statistics Over the Age of 65

One-in-four people over the age of 65 can experience a fall each year, according to the National Council on Aging, and injuries from falls are among the top contributors to death. A fall is one of the top reasons that people go to the Emergency Department, needing care for broken wrists, head injuries from landing backwards, and hip fractures, among other traumas.

It’s not necessarily about age. It’s about loss of balance, which can be affected by diminishing vision, hearing and proprioception, or what is felt by the feet. These senses can be affected by diabetes, neuropathy, stiffness, medications, incontinence, and other health conditions, and can decline slowly without notice. When this happens, people can lose what Curry calls “life space,” and begin to live life in a smaller way. They stop going out or doing things because they don’t want to fall.

Curry suggests taking a life space, assessment by tracking the last time you left your house or town, or participated in an activity or get-together with friends. Lack of activity can cause confidence in one’s abilities to lessen, and caring for one’s well-being involves mind and body.

The pandemic, she adds, only exacerbated people’s fears of falling because they stayed in the house limiting activity, which decreased flexibility and movement.

“It’s time for us to return to going out in the community and taking care of our physical and mental health by doing things and being with others,” Curry says. Being social involves movement, and any movement is good. For example, people often fall at the holidays if they haven’t been active all year and suddenly go shopping, put up decorations and host house parties.

Combating a Fear of Falling

Just being concerned about falling can cause people to limit their activity, which becomes a vicious cycle of developing weakness and progressive immobility. One of the ways to combat a fear of falling is to spend time getting up and down off the floor. Curry advises, “Make being on the floor a voluntary action.” Getting up from the floor requires a full range of motion from the hips, shoulders, knees and arms. If someone has physical limitations or can’t get on the floor, she encourages lying on the bed and rolling from stomach to side, moving legs from side to side, and pulling knees to chest.

At her seminar, Curry will recommend a sit-to-stand practice, walking around your home with multiple seated stations. The average adult can decrease their risk of falling by performing more than 45 sit-to-stands daily, according to the Journal of Physical Therapy Science. When it comes to activity, Curry encourages patients to have SMART goals, an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-based. “We collaborate with patients to do things that are specific to what they do in their daily lives,” she explains. Curry also gives patients a timeline for measuring their progress.

Exercise for Flexibility and Balance

Yoga is good for flexibility, and classes and exercise programs can be found online and at senior centers. “I’m a huge proponent of maintaining flexibility, as it helps us maintain overall health,” notes Curry.

“Falls: Prevention and Recovery” will offer these and other insights from an expert in the field. Washington Hospital provides YouTube videos on many health-related topics, presented by medical experts. See YouTube.com/whhsInHealth for topics