The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

Worried about falling? Here are 5 tips to avoid dangerous tumbles, other injuries.

By
July 26, 2021 at 2:00 p.m. EDT
A woman practices tai chi. Besides building strength, the exercise helps with your dynamic balance — staying upright while moving. (iStock)

Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with any advertisers on this site.

Falls are the leading cause of fatal and nonfatal injuries among the elderly in the United States, leading to the deaths of at least 30,000 of them each year.

Weakness can increase fall risk, and many older adults may have lost muscle strength during the pandemic: some because of time spent in bed while sick with covid-19 and others because their activity level dropped while staying at home to avoid exposure to the coronavirus.

“People are coming back to clinics with huge deficits due to the stay-at-home orders, larger than we would expect due to aging alone,” says Jennifer Stevens-Lapsley, professor of physical therapy and director of the Rehabilitation Science PhD Program at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

Numerous other factors may also contribute to falls, including diminishing senses, certain medications and even inadequate hydration, which can trigger dizzying dips in blood pressure. “In my experience, many people who faint and fall are dehydrated,” says Barbara White, executive director of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at California State University at Long Beach.

Being afraid of falling — ­especially if you have previously tumbled — can hike your fall risk, prompting you to change your gait in ways that worsen balance. Plus, “the fear of falling decreases your willingness to move and be active and independent,” Stevens-Lapsley says. The following steps can help you be more balanced.

Attend to your environment

Throw rugs, poor lighting and small animals who like to be underfoot can all increase the risk of falls at home. Reducing and managing such risks is a must. (A pet may need retraining to respond better to voice commands.) In addition, wear well-fitting, low-heeled, supportive shoes with nonslip soles, indoors as well as outside. One study, published in 2010 in the journal Footwear Science, found that wearing slippers or being shoeless more than doubled the risk of being seriously injured in a fall. (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s STEADI initiative has more on DIY fall-proofing.)

Work on your strength

“The leg and hip (gluteal) muscles are some of the more important muscles to strengthen, as well as the calves,” Stevens-Lapsley says. “Those are the muscles that will help you catch yourself if you start to fall.”

If you need help, you might want to enroll in a strength program for older adults. (SilverSneakers, for instance, has online and in-person classes.) Or work with a physical therapist or trainer with experience with older adults.

For those who are at high risk of falls, a fall-prevention program may be useful. (The National Council on Aging has a list of programs.) At the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus’ Multidisciplinary Center on Aging’s fall-prevention clinic, benefits include exercise recommendations, a medication review (see “Watch your meds,” below) and advice on modifications to make to increase home safety.

Better your balance

When it comes to strength and balance, consider the mind-body exercises of tai chi. A systematic review and meta-analysis of 18 studies, published in 2017 in the British Medical Journal, found that tai chi significantly reduced fall risks in older adults. Besides building strength, tai chi helps with dynamic balance — your ability to stay upright while you’re moving. “With tai chi, you’re not just standing statically, you’re moving your legs through space and bending and twisting and turning,” Stevens-Lapsley says.

You can also improve dynamic balance with non-tai-chi moves, such as walking in a serpentine or grapevine (crossing one leg in front of the other) pattern, changing directions suddenly (turning around or to the right or left) and walking backward, Stevens-Lapsley says.

Watch your meds

More than half of seniors take four or more prescription medications, according to a 2019 Kaiser Family Foundation poll. This can increase the risk of drug interactions and side effects such as dizziness, foggy thinking and low blood pressure. A study published in 2020 in the journal BMC Public Health found that people who took more than four prescription drugs accounted for roughly 23 percent of falls that led to hospitalization. So ask your doctor whether you need to be on all the medicines you use.

For instance, some high blood pressure medications (often diuretics) and over-the-counter antihistamines (such as diphenhydramine, a.k.a. Benadryl) can cause symptoms that alter balance. The use of antidepressants, antipsychotics, benzodiazepines for anxiety, and sedatives should also be limited to reduce fall risk, according to guidance from the American Academy of Family Physicians. (Benzodiazepines for anxiety include Ativan, Valium and Xanax.)

Check your eyes and ears

With vision, “we experience changes in depth perception and color discrimination with age, and those affect what we see and don’t see in our environment,” White says.

Poor hearing may also pose a problem. A study published in 2012 in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that middle-aged people with only mild hearing loss had a threefold higher risk of falling. So keep up with the vision and hearing screenings that your doctor recommends, and wear glasses and hearing aids as prescribed.

What to do if you fall

If you fall, the National Institute on Aging (NIA) recommends that you take several deep breaths and remain still for a few moments. Once you’re over the initial shock of falling, take inventory: Do you feel pain? Did you hit your head?

If you’re not in pain and don’t think you’ve hit your head, roll over onto your side and rest a bit — this lets your body and blood pressure adjust, according to the NIA. Then slowly get up on your hands and knees, and crawl to a stable chair, table or counter. You may need to hold on to one of these objects to pull yourself up, White says. Sit, and once you feel calm, call your doctor. They may want you to come in for an evaluation.

If you’re in pain, have hit your head, or feel dizzy, nauseous or otherwise sick, don’t move — getting up too fast or in the wrong manner could worsen any injury. Call for help if you can. If you’re alone and can’t alert anyone or contact 911, you may have to crawl to a phone or door to summon assistance.

 Copyright 2021, Consumer Reports Inc.

Lifestyle strategies to keep brains healthy, which also might push back the onset of dementia

What you need to know about the side effects of drugs

Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization that works side by side with consumers to create a fairer, safer, and healthier world. CR does not endorse products or services, and does not accept advertising. Read more at ConsumerReports.org.