Tips For Seniors To Avoid Falls

For Senior Citizens, falling down is a major concern.  Falls are the leading cause of death from injury for seniors 65 or over according to Colorado State University. More than 33% of seniors 65 or over will experience a fall during the year, and 70% of them will experience a fall the next year.
For seniors, a fall or the fear of falling often affects their lifestyle.  This fear of falling will cause many seniors to limit their physical activities.  This leads to reduced mobility and loss of physical fitness, and in turn increases their actual risk of falling according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
NEXUS Home Security 24 offers you some tips on how to prevent falls and the risk of injury:

1. No matter your age, everyone falls down sometime. Protect your body by maintaining the quality of your bones. Take appropriate supplements like calcium, to ensure you maintain the strongest bones possible and get regular exercise to give yourself needed balance, stability and flexibility.
2. Remember when you were younger and could run and stop on a dime? Well, choose nonslip footware like sneakers (rubber soled).
3. Avoid the temptation to “overreach” while you work and play. Buy the right equipment to avoid slips and falls, like extensions for dusters, handrails for stairs and tubs, and a “reaching” stick for hard-to-get items. Beware of foot stools and ladders, no matter the height.
4. Darkness can be deadly when you are walking around, alert or partially awake. Use night lights or motion-sensor activated lights in the bedroom, bathroom and hallway.
5. Keep your telephone (regular or wireless) near you where you spend the most amount of time – your couch and bed so that you can avoid rapid movement to answer it.
6. Keep your walkways clear of clutter to avoid surprises while you walk. If you have visitors (e.g., the grandkids) you should be especially aware of unexpected “stuff” in your walkways.
7. What you can see can´t hurt you. Check your vision regularly to ensure that you don’t have cataracts or glaucoma. Ensure that you can properly measure depth and see objects both close up and further away.
8. There may be slight changes in the height of door entrances and floors and uneven floorboards or tiles. Remove them, place colored tape or different paint to remind you of the change in elevation.
9. If climbing stairs becomes increasingly difficult, go up/down one stair at a time. Take it very slow, there is no hurry. Also you may need to consider installing ramps.
10. In winter weather, watch out for rain, ice and snow. Have it removed.
11. If you have floor rugs, they will slid when least expected. Be careful. Use nonskid stickers or tape on the bottoms of floor rugs.
12. Your bathroom, shower and tub are a major danger zone for falls. To reduce the danger of falls, lower the shower head so you don’t have to reach up for it, use a handheld shower head, add a wall-mounted soap dispenser in the shower (to avoid having to bend down), add a hand rail to get in and out and use non-skid products all over the floor and tub to avoid dangerous slippery-when-wet surfaces.

Prevention of falls is not difficult but it requires your planning and common sense.


For more information, please visit:  http://www.NexusHomeSecurity24.com