Common Types of Senior Falls and Prevention

Younger adults may recover easily from injuries due to minor accidents such as a bump or a scratch. But for seniors, injuries they incur from these accidents can take longer to heal or even leave them permanently disabled.

The body inevitably degenerates when it ages and the body’s degeneration can speed up due to lack of exercise, poor nutrition, and poor health. The risk of being incapacitated by bodily injury as a result of a mishap increases for seniors, more so if they get injured from falls.

In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 3 million older people get emergency treatment for fall injuries each year. And senior fall-related injuries usually happen at home.

Below are some of the types of falls that can incapacitate a senior at home:

• Slipping, tripping, or stumbling
• Hitting an object like a chair or stair

The good news is that falls of any type can be prevented in the first place. A general assessment of the senior’s residence and his/her state of health followed by implementation of possible remedies or corrections would greatly help fall-prevention.

With regards to home safety, the following tips below can help make your senior’s home fall-proof:

Stairs with railings on both sides

• Make sure that railings are installed on both sides of the stairs
• Grab bars should be present both outside and inside the tub or shower next to the toilet
• Make sure that the residence has enough light by installing brighter light bulbs
• Put away things that can cause him/her to trip or fall

In terms of health, you would never know if your senior possibly may have vision problems, lower body weakness, walking difficulties, and balance, etc. which is why your senior’s condition should also be checked and corrected if possible by a healthcare professional to lessen their chances of falling and injuring themselves due to any impairment they may have.

You can also hire a caregiver for your senior to help them avoid any fall-related injuries. A reputable home care company will provide trained caregivers who will help continuously monitor your senior’s condition and make sure that they are always safe.

Sources: cdc.gov, healthinaging.org, sciencedaily.com, sciencefocus.com, medlineplus.gov, merckmanuals.com, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Disclaimer: 1Heart Caregiver Services Blog may contain articles about health care and medical related topics. However, no warranty is made that any of the articles are accurate. There is absolutely no assurance that any statement contained or cited in any or our articles touching on health care or medical related matters is correct, true, up-to-date or, precise, If any of the statements we mentioned about healthcare or medicine is accurate, it may or may not apply to you or your symptoms.

The health care or medical information provided on 1Heart Caregiver Services is, at best, of a general nature and cannot replace the advise of a health care/medical professional. 1Heart Caregiver Services will not take responsibility for the results or consequences in attempting to use or adopt any information presented in its blog articles.