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Dad didn't like using those grey walkers that only had wheels on the back, so he would use his cane which was no help at all. Then I bought Dad one of those Rollator walkers, one that has hand brakes, seat, and a basket. Oh my gosh, you'd think I had bought him a Shelby Mustang, he loved it, and used it all the time. That cut down on his falls when walking around :)
Moral of the story: there is no way to stop falls.
The end.
It's so obvious that we must remain strong, and we don't need a PT to do it FOR us. We can sit watching TV and exercise our arms with hand weights. We can do push-aways from door frames. We can do our own housework (I had a PCP who insisted that pushing a vacuum was aerobic exercise).
Start paying attention especially to upper body strength when you're younger. Be consistent. Be able to get to a phone and call for help when you fall. Teach your elders what my yoga teacher told her classes. A 90-year-old man in a wheelchair can lift light hand weights. A 90-year-old woman can get off the floor by herself.
Exercise to keep PT away .
Like an apple a day keeps the doctor away. 🍎
Also if there is significant cognitive decline they can no longer follow directions to do any PT exercises correctly .
Then of course there is muscle atrophy as we age that eventually wins and PT no longer is effective in maintaining or gaining any strength. Elders legs just buckle.
Falling is frequent for elderly and is a common way to die from hitting their head . My grandmother died this way of a subdural hematoma . Or a big fall ( ie …broken hip ) causes a significant immediate step down and acceleration in decline in general towards death .
I see that your Dad is in his 90’s has been falling a lot . I’m sorry . But we can’t fix old . Is he willing to sit in a wheelchair ? Is he able to self propel in a wheelchair using his feet and/or hands pulling on the large wheels ? A transport chair with small wheels is not appropriate to sit in for long periods and the person sitting in it can not wheel themselves around to get anywhere .
I think for the most part we all fall at some point in our lives, even when young and healthy. But you add in advanced age, vision and hearing problems, balance problems, neuropathy, loss of strength in hands and feet and legs, equilibrium and dizziness, and a lack of being able to safely catch themselves - the risk of falls increases exponentially.
As @way mentioned - if there is dementia involved, you are likely to see increased falls as well - as the ability to coordinate their minds and bodies together is lacking.
You can mitigate the risk by having them use wheelchairs or canes or walkers to help support. You can ensure that there are no tripping hazards (rugs or furniture or anything laying in their typical path. You can add grab bars where they need them most. You can make sure they aren't bathing or showering without assistance. There are a whole host of "fall proofing" things you can do.
But even if you do every single one of them, they are just going to fall. There is no way to eliminate it entirely. And the older they get, the more likely they will fall more often.
I would add one more thing; some elders, especially with dementia, may stubbornly refuse to use a walker or wheelchair. And yes, they will fall.
There is not much you can do.
Get the person one of those "Life Alert" pendants to wear around their neck, so at least if they fall and can't get up, or are hurt, they can call for help instead of laying there waiting for someone to find them.
I escort my 97 year old mother - with her walker - every step she takes, and there have been a couple of times that she has either taken her hands off of the walker and gone backward, or tripped over a threshold in the doorway between tile and hardwoods and gone forward. Both times I tried to catch her to ease the fall, but she still went down.
Outside of constant escorting, there are some simple things that can be done to minimize falls.
**Refer to Fawnby's Post - it's 100% accurate.
1. Widen the feet when standing or walking. The closer together the feet are, the more narrow your base, the less balance you have. Walking with a wider stance will provide more stability.
2. Hold handrails going down stairs. Most falls on stairs occur going down, so hold on and go one step at a time if necessary.
3. Don't walk one way and look the other way. I see this a lot.
4. Practice balance. Stand on one foot - work up to 1 minute. Stand heel-to-toe. Work up to 1 minute.
5. Practice simple exercises like getting up and down from the floor, standing to sitting on a chair, rising onto tiptoes to strengthen the calves.
6. Strength train. If you don't know how, then find a good trainer to teach you proper form to avoid injuries.
One thinks, often, that falls are due to weakened muscles, tendons and etc. but the sad truth is that it is a matter of balance, and balance goes with age.
Balance exercises are great if they are DONE regularly; they train the brain to keep calibrating as you move. You might ask the MD for at PT evaluation and a set of balance exercises.
This may help a bit but the sad truth is that the elderly are certain to fall, and sadly enough falls are often the beginning of the end. This was the case for my own mom in her 90s.
I, at 81, am acutely aware of my balance issues and do exercises, but I remain a feather in the winds on a moving bus, and I had better hang on, quite literally for dear life.
Good luck.
My Mom is 95. About 3 years ago she was bothered by how weak and painful her back had become (she has osteoarthritis in her spine). We were referred to a really good therapist who himself was older and also had a physical disability. She was doing great but then one session there was a sub who was very young and she had my Mom do inappropriate exercises and weights and it injured her, so my Mom never went back.
My Mom lives in a house next to mine. It has a full flight of stairs to go to the basement to get to the garage and also laundry room. Because she daily goes up and down these stairs she's probably in better condition than most seniors her age. Elders, especially ones with dementia, tend to shuffle when they walk rather than picking up their feet, and this contributes to falls.
Some things are accidents waiting to happen. Throw rugs, uneven flooring, poor lighting, ill fitting shoes, not using needed mobility aid, foregoing physical therapy when needed, rushing to the bathroom, eyeglasses that need attention, cataracts, deafness, medications that cause dizziness, untreated dizziness. Osteoporosis. Clutter in pathway, uneven ground, pets, slippery floors, tubs, casters on chairs, stairs, steps up or down, stepping backwards in order to look up, dehydration, lack of sleep, small children…these come to mind.
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