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Senior Falls
September 20, 2007
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According to the American Physical Therapy Association, falls are the leading cause of injury-related death in older adults. In today’s Health Matters John Biffar looks at how physical therapy can decrease the risk of falls.
Fear of falling is common in older adults and the fear can be more of a problem
than the actual fall. Physical therapists like Susan Gray say older people often
over-react to natural sways and motion that everyone experiences while standing.
“When they become hypersensitive to that they don’t realize it was a normal sway
they had and become fearful of it and they think that they’re almost falling
all the time when in actuality they’re not.
Susan says that one of her physical therapy patients, Lucy Sharp was having trouble
with elevation changes. This made things like getting in and out of her car and
stepping down stairs difficult and dangerous. “Both her falls were stepping off
curbs so right away I knew she had difficulty going from different elevations and
navigating that.
Lucy says, “I know now when I go to turn and I feel like I’m not having balance
I do have balance and that’s just shown up in the last week quite a bit and made
me feel more confident. “I’m hoping by the end of this I’ll really be able to do
what I used to do like go for walks without the fear of falling.”
Some of us don’t realize we may take everyday walks for granted, but for older adults
it can be a serious health risk-so find it in your heart to lend a helping hand
when you can.
Every hour there is one death and 183 ER visits for fall related injuries among
older adults.
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