How to Reduce Your Risk of Falling - Bullet Point Summary

For elderly folks, falling can be a major, life-changing event. I remember when I was a kid, my grandmother, Lillian, lived with her friend, my 'Aunt' Bessie. When my dad hadn't heard from Grandma in a couple of days, we drove over to Aunt Bessie's house. Both women were lying on the basement floor at the foot of the stairs. They were dehydrated, disoriented, and each had broken a hip. It turns out that Bessie had fallen and when Lillian tried to help, she fell, too. They lay on the floor for more than a day before we showed up. Both endured long recoveries in nursing homes, and I don't remember if my grandmother ever came home. And now that I'm in my fifties, I feel like I'm a lot less nimble than I used to be.

So here, in short form, are the best ways to reduce your risk of falling and becoming seriously injured:

• study tai chi
  
• exercise - the better your physical condition, the less likely you are to fall; and if you do fall, people in better shape have a better prognosis for recovery
  
• eliminate sleeping pills and use other ways to fall asleep
• take vitamin D
• drink water, especially on hot days (to reduce dizziness)
• eliminate hypertension drugs, if you can
• eliminate anti-depressant drugs, if you can
• reduce the number of tripping hazards at home:
• get rid of scatter rugs
• check your living space and eliminate tripping hazards
• have eyes checked once per year
• wear single-vision lenses (rather than bifocals) in your eyeglasses while out on walks

You can read more about avoiding falls by clicking here.

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