I hear this said to me often. There are tons of things to do to help prevent you from falling. It depends on what the cause or causes of your fall were. Balance is complicated.

Hello! My name is Dr. Karen Ceraso. I am a physical therapist, and today I am going to chat about fall prevention.

Funny, that athletes never tell me that they fell. They say they crashed or did not see something coming their way, or twisted awkwardly. LOL. Older people tend to tell me they never fall as the furniture or wall caught them – so that is not a fall. All of us are embarrassed to say they fell. It is very grounding to fall, no pun intended.

What if that furniture was not there? Would you be able to catch yourself? What if a defensive player tackled you, would you have the agility to maneuver away and not crash?

Balance is complicated. It needs to be addressed with all levels of activity, in standing, walking, running, and sometimes in sitting and transferring, and with multitasking.

Why does everyone trip or lose their balance every once in a while? It could be from your inner ear. Maybe your leg or hip muscles are not strong enough. It could be blamed for how your body is positioned in space or how it moves in space. Is your reaction time fast or effective enough? Are unable to feel your feet or legs. Do you have a central nervous system disease? And so on and so on. There is no one exercise that will fix everyone. The best way to help you to prevent falling. Do not wait until you fall once or several times to see a physical therapist. Get to the source of why you are not as steady as you once were. Sometimes it is a simple fix you can incorporate into your daily life. Change your verbiage from ‘fear’ of falling to being “aware” that you may fall. Consider how to prevent falling. Easy.

 

CONTACT KAREN L. CERASO