Falls: Defined, Described & Treated
Working as a physical therapist in a variety of settings over the years, I’ve seen more people than I can count due to a loss of balance and/or falling. A major part of my job is to assess a person’s relative risk for falls and then work with them to reduce that risk. You might ask yourself, “What do I do if I haven’t fallen, but I feel like I could at any time?” There is no simple answer that covers all aspects of contributing factors so let’s look at what a fall is and then how we can potentially overcome some of those factors.
As I mentioned above, there are several factors that can cause someone to fall, but what is a fall…really?
A fall is typically defined (within the therapy realm) as an unintentional change in elevation. In more digestible terms, it is going from a higher point to a lower point uncontrolled unintentionally.
Most of the time we think of falls as someone walking down the street and they fall down to the sidewalk. Other definitions can also include:
Rolling out of bed
Sliding out of a chair, wheelchair, or other seated position to the ground
Losing balance and landing on a bed, couch, or chair
Trying to sit down and not being able to control the speed while sitting
This is by no means an exhaustive list, but if you find yourself saying, “I’ve had that happen,” then you’ve had a fall.
Now that we’ve defined a fall, what things contribute to a fall? There is a large number of factors that can contribute to fall risk, so I’ll focus mainly on the more common intrinsic factors:
Vestibular (inner ear)
Vision
Coordination
Strength
Use of a walking aid (cane, walker, etc.)
Reaction time
Incontinence
Cognition (specifically sequencing)
Underlying disease processes (Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis, etc.)
Again, this is not a comprehensive list. The good news is that we can almost always address one or all factors through therapy treatment. Your best solution is to have a therapist assess you and tailor a custom rehab program to your specific needs. If you’re not able to get in to be seen immediately, there are a few things you can do right away to start improving your balance and stability.
Keep areas well lit
Wear prescription eyeglasses or contacts
Avoid low-light or no-light areas
Get a vision screen if you have issues with your eyesight
KEEP MOVING – walk with someone assisting you if you need, but walking and moving and using our muscles is a key component to reducing your fall risk
Start an exercise strengthening program – this doesn’t need to include heavy weights or any sort of resistance at all. Many times, our body weight is enough to have measurable increases in strength.
Work on hand-eye and hand-foot coordination in a non-precarious environment
Keep your mind sharp – mental exercises, crossword puzzles, reading books, etc.
Most importantly, don’t expect immediate results! While some may see immediate improvements, generally speaking it takes several days and/or weeks to see improvements. Be patient and stick with it!
