Falls Prevention and how Physiotherapy can help

Anyone can, and does fall at some point throughout their lives, for most of us it is multiple times. Unfortunately, the older you get the more impact these falls can have. As we get older we need to take further precautions in order to stay safe. We can do this by putting in place some falls prevention techniques.

Here are some falls prevention quick tips for either at home or in the community.

  • Stay active and participate in group activities such as Tai Chi, Yoga or Walking.
  • Making sure you have good fitting shoes with good gripping soles, and avoid wearing loose fitting shoes (slippers) or socks, especially when walking on a slippery surface.
  • Make sure there is enough light for you to see well, especially when walking at night. This does include turning on the lights when getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom.
  • Using a walking aid, such as walking stick or frame, when you need to.
  • At your house, you can consider putting grip tape on the edge of your stairs.

Physiotherapy’s role in falls prevention can be somewhat underestimated, so how do we help?

Well firstly we are able to fully assess not only your body, but your balance to help determine the level of risk you have to fall. Then once we have determined this, we are able to come up with individualised programs to help decrease this risk. These programs are things that will work on your muscle strength (not necessarily lifting heavy weights), and your balance. For example, standing on one leg in a yoga pose can go a long way to correcting and ensuring good balance.

Falls Prevention

Along with coming up with this program, we are also experts in the adjustment and maintenance or your walking sticks or frames, making sure they are as safe for you as possible. This may mean that we either adjust a frame or stick that you already have, or we may suggest to you that you get one, in order to help prevent any future falls.

We hope you’ve found these tips, tricks for Falls Prevention helpful. We’d love to hear from you if you have further ideas on how to prevent a fall.

If you feel you would love some help from us, you can give us a call, or book on-line for an appointment today!

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