Pick Up Your Feet!

According to Lively.com, 60% of falls occur in the home. Several external factors contribute to falls.  The layout of a room, stairs, throw rugs, furniture, pets, kids/grandkids, doorway thresholds, flooring, and many more can be confounding factors.

If you've ever worked with a physical therapist to improve gait (walking) or lessen the risk of falls, you may have heard the phrase "pick up your feet."  So why do therapists say this, and what does it mean?

Let's cover a brief and simplified overview of walking mechanics before directly addressing the question.  Someone with a normal gait cycle will clear the floor with their foot by a quarter-inch or less as it swings past their opposite foot.  If we have poor gait mechanics or compromised balance, we naturally widen our stance, shorten our steps, or shuffle. We cannot adequately raise our feet high enough off the ground to step over or onto obstacles.  Throw rugs, doorway thresholds, and flooring transitions of 1/4" or higher now become significant obstacles that our toe or heel can catch and cause us to fall.  This brings us back to the therapist's comment, "pick up your feet."

Increasing the clearance of our foot by even a 1/8" can often be the differentiator of safely navigating an obstacle.  Over my years as a therapist, I found that people often struggle with the concept of picking up their feet because they think they are and aren't able to see a difference.  Over time, I realized that "pick up your knee" was more manageable for patients to see and work on independently. 

If you have fallen or are at risk for falls, working on sitting knee raises, marching in place while solidly supported, and removing things such as throw rugs and adjusting flooring transitions and doorway thresholds can reduce your fall risk at home.  Evaluation by a licensed physical therapist can more accurately pinpoint your unique circumstances and customize a program to fit your specific needs.  

Be safe at home!