By Carol A. Cates, MSN, MBA, RN, NEAs
Chief Nursing Officer
Odessa Regional Medical Center
When it comes to accidental injuries in older adults, few things scare me more than falling. I have seen it myself as a nurse, and in the statistics on falls, falls cause very serious injuries and even cause death. I think most people when they think about falls, they assume falls from height, and yes, they do happen, but the reality is that any fall in older adults can cause serious injury or death. In fact, in older adults, falls are one of the leading causes of accidental death. The reason falls scare me so much is because when older adults start falling, they tend to fall repeatedly. Repeated falls are a bit like Russian Roulette, eventually the person who has those repeated falls will have a fall that causes serious injury or kills them.
The winter months are no help when it comes to falls either and the statistics prove it. More falls occur in the winter months than in other months of the year. One of those reasons is quite obvious, snow and ice can cause slippery surfaces, which in turn lead to falls. But other issues are not so obvious. it’s not just snow and ice that cause more falls in the winter months. Because the days are shorter, and even during daylight is less intense, poor visibility can lead to falls from encountering invisible obstacles. Age-related changes don’t help either, because as we age, we lose muscle mass and older adults can have balance issues related to inner ear changes, vision changes, and medications that make that accidental misstep on an icy surface or an obstacle in the dark much more difficult to recover from without falling. Our reflexes are also slow and many people have degenerative changes in the joints, neuropathies, and/or chronic pain that all make it difficult to react quickly to realize oneself after a wrong step.
Missteps aren’t just limited to the outdoors, indoors also have dangers, like throw rugs and unwanted echoes, and if your house is like mine, we rearrange the furniture a bit to make room for holiday decorations which means there are additional obstacles in living spaces and “normal” ones can block well-known paths.
There are many things you can do to prevent falls and limit your risk of serious injury if you fall. First talk to your primary health care provider about falls about your risk of falls and review your medications with them to see if any medications or combination of medications that may increase your risk of falling can be modified to reduce that risk. Also talk to your doctor about getting screened for osteoporosis. There are many treatment regimens available to reduce the risk of osteoporosis-related falls.
Next, make sure you are doing balance and strengthening exercises. Honestly I will admit, this is one that I nag my dad constantly, I go out and walk, go to his gym and take balance classes. Those things make a big difference! Be sure to get your eyes checked every year, and use any vision correction recommended by your eye doctor. Also talk to your eye doctor about getting a pair of glasses without progressive lenses if you use them. Sometimes they make walking, especially outdoors, more difficult because objects low in the field of view of your glasses (meaning things on the ground that cause you to trip or slip) are harder to see.
At home, get rid of distraction hazards such as throw rugs, make sure you have grab bars in the shower and by the toilet. If you have stairs, make sure there are railings to grab onto on both sides, and make sure you have plenty of light to see by using brighter bulbs or adding lighting fixtures (not ones you can trip over) in dark areas.
Please take every precaution you can against falls as you age, and if you are the loved one of an older person, talk to them about their fall risk. Falls are mostly preventable, and even when not, there are ways to help reduce injuries as well. Be sure to include your primary health care provider in those conversations as well, they are a fantastic resource for making you and your loved ones safer when it comes to falls.
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