Fighting the Fear of Falling: Keep Your Muscles Strong

 

So you’ve seen your physician and revamped your home. Finally, the most important step when it comes to fall prevention is to make sure you use it, don’t lose it.

Keeping your leg muscles strong and having good balance helps to prevent falls. As we age, our lives become less vigorous, and our muscles and bones begin to lose strength. When we don’t use our muscles for prolonged periods, they stop working the way we want them to. If for years you’ve been relatively inactive, with walking as your main form of activity, you won’t suddenly be able to rush across the street to avoid traffic. It’s been too long since your legs have been challenged, since they’ve been put under any pressure; they might not be there for you anymore and you could end up falling. Resistance exercises to strengthen your lower body are necessary to make sure your body will be there for you when you need it.
Additionally, poor balance contributes to the risk of falling, and there are plenty of simple exercises you can complete to help reduce that risk.

If you’re wondering what kind of shape you’re in, there are a couple of tests you can give yourself. To test the strength of your legs, sit down in a chair. If you can’t get up without using your hands, you are at a greater risk of falling. To test your balance, stand next to a counter you can easily grab onto. See how long you can stand on one foot without touching the counter for balance. If you can’t stand on one foot for 10 seconds, you have an increased risk of falling.

The good news is, there are plenty of exercises you can do to strengthen your lower body and improve your
balance. Weight training at the gym will strengthen your legs, and yoga and tai chi are great for balance. Here are some other exercises you can do from home; try to complete them every day for the best results.

 

Hamstring Curls

Hold on to a sturdy chair or grab bar. Stand up tall
with your eyes forward. Keeping your knees shoulder width apart, bend one knee
so that your heel comes up towards your back. If this is difficult, only lift
your foot up as high as you are comfortable with. Start with a few repetitions
and progress to 10 repetitions three times a day.

 

Step-ups

Stand facing a step or low bench. Lift one leg up
onto the step and, while holding that position, lift your other leg up until
you are standing on the step with your legs shoulder width apart. Lower your
legs back down to the floor, first with the leading leg, then with the second.
Start with a few repetitions and progress to ten repetitions three times per
day.

Heel-to-Toe Walking

While holding onto a counter or rail for balance,
walk while placing the heel of one foot directly in front of the toe of the
other. As you become more advanced, you can do this exercise while just gently
touching the counter.

 

Leg Extensions

While sitting up straight in a supportive chair,
slowly straighten out your leg and lower it back down. Work towards holding
your leg out for 10 seconds while breathing normally. Start with a few
repetitions and progress to 10 repetitions three times per day.

While a fear of falling is common among older adults, it’s doesn’t have to be debilitating. By keeping up with your doctor’s appointments, paying close attention to your environment and keeping your lower body strong, you can continue to have an active and fulfilling life well into your retirement years.

Fighting the Fear of Falling: Proofing Your Life

 

So you’ve visited the doctor and checked your eyes. You’re healthy as can be, or you’ve at least been diagnosed and begun to take steps to improve what’s been hindering your walking ease.

 

The next step is to take a look at your environment. Make sure your home is well-lit and free of clutter. Use bright bulbs throughout your home, night-lights in the bedroom, bathroom and hallways, and don’t keep clothes or books on the floor. Make sure electrical cords are safely tucked away, and remove throw rugs or use double-sided tape to make sure they won’t lift up off the floor. It’s also a good idea to always have easy access to your phone, so you’re never rushing to grab it when it rings. Keep a telephone next to your bed, and have a portable one you keep with you throughout the day.

Also, make sure all your stairwells have adequate handrails, and that you’re always holding on while going up and down stairs. You could also install grab rails next to your toilet and inside your shower, and place a non-slip mat on the bottom of your bathtub.

When outside of your home, take special care when stepping over a curb, walking through gravel or walking through crowds of quick-moving people. Remember it’s okay to take your time, and move at your own pace. You might feel more comfortable taking an elevator instead of the stairs or escalator, or shopping in the middle of the day, when there are fewer people rushing about. It’s also a good idea to carry a backpack or a fanny pack to keep your hands free. Finally, make sure you’re wearing proper footwear. Rubber, non-slip soles with good support are the best. Also, thin soles with no heel will help you maintain your balance. Try to find a pair or two you actually like the look of—that way, you’re more likely to want to wear them every time you go out.

When it comes to your health, it’s not worth it to take risks. Paying close attention to your surroundings and keeping your home as bright, clean and safe as possible will play a big part in reducing the risk of falls.

 

Fear Of Falling, Talk To Your Physician

 

Part One: Talking to Your Physician

When you’re young, a tiny trip over a rogue electrical cord or a stumble on the bottom stair is no big deal—a bit of dust on your knee, or a harmless bruise on your wrist. But for older adults, it’s a very real fear. Falling is the greatest cause of injury death among adults 65 and older; it’s estimated that one in every three people in this age group will experience a fall each year. While about half of these falls cause only minor injuries, about two per cent are fatal. Moreover, some have estimated that more than 50 per cent of older adults who break a hip from falling will die within one year.

But I’m not trying to scare you. In fact, the fear of falling in itself causes great distress and anxiety among many older adults. Elderly people who have fallen once often develop an intense fear of falling again, and limit their activity as a result. This not only lessens their quality of life, but the decrease in daily activities will actually make a fall more likely for these men and women. A fall, or the fear of a fall, often leads to inactivity, which leads to weakness, which in a cruel twist of irony leads to a greater risk of falling.

So what can be done? Is all hope lost for retirees? Of course not—there are plenty of ways to reduce the risk of falling, while still enjoying a high quality of life.

The first step is to get checked out. If you’re noticing you have trouble walking, it could be due to weak leg muscles or poor balance. But there may be other factors involved as well, and it’s important to make sure your physician is aware of any struggles you are dealing with. Difficulty walking could be a symptom of a specific medical issue, like arthritis or other joint diseases, dementia, stroke, anemia, Parkinson’s disease, or muscle and bone diseases, to name a few. If you are suffering from one of these conditions, it’s important your physician knows, so they are better equipped to deal with both your difficulty walking and the underlying medical issue.

You should also discuss any medications you take with your physician, even the ones that are available over the counter. Some medications have side effects, like dizziness, drowsiness or disorientation, which can increase the risk of falling. If halting these medications isn’t an option, taking them in the evening before bed can help reduce that risk.

Your eyes need regular care, too. If your vision is blurry, you’re more likely to misstep, trip, or accidentally run into an object. Seeing an optometrist every year will ensure your eyeglass prescriptions are up to date, and that any other visual restrictions, like glaucoma or cataracts, are treated.

The fear of falling is scary, and it’s not something you need to deal with on your own. Make sure you take advantage of your health care professionals, and remember that they’re there to help keep you safe and strong.

 

Don’t Wait To Fall Down

While falls are common at any age, the elderly are especially vulnerable to fractures, long-term reductions in quality of life, and even death, as a result of falling.

Falls account for 13 percent of injury-related deaths in Canada, according to a 2004 Statistics Canada report. Another Statistics Canada report, from 2005, shows that falls account for more deaths than poisonings, homicides, HIV, influenza or liver disease septicaemia and viral hepatitis.  The same organization reports that 49 percent of people aged 65 or older who have injurious falls sustain fractures—most likely to the arms or hands, then the legs or feet and followed by fractures to the hips.

There are several reasons we become more susceptible to devastating fall-related injuries as we age; we lose protective bone and muscle mass, we are commonly affected by mobility-limiting disease like arthritis, and we tend to adopt a more sedentary lifestyle that further reduces our balance and mobility.

For older adults, a fall is often a precipitating event that leads to a generalized decline in health and can result in death. Our bones take longer to heal when we are older; a fracture that would slow someone in their 20s or 30s for six weeks could leave someone in their 60s or 70s bedridden for even longer. Bedridden older adults are at risk of pneumonia and blood clots—among other problems—and hasten the process of muscle loss.

What can you do if you are worried about falls? Don’t wait for one; be proactive—and not reactive—about your health. If you haven’t done this, don’t write-off your health either—know that it is truly never too late to adopt an active lifestyle.

While all exercise helps us maintain mobility and prevent falls, there are also specific exercises we can perform, many from home, that target important muscles used for balance. Try the following:

Hamstring Curls: Stand up straight and hold onto the back of a chair, with your feet shoulder-width apart. Lift one foot by bending at the knee; bring your heel up as high as you can. Try three sets of 10 repetitions for each leg daily.

Chair Squats: Stand in front of a chair, ready to sit down. Slowly lower your body until you are seated—trying to avoid placing weight on the arms of the chair—and then slowly stand right away. Work up to three sets of 10 repetitions daily.

Leg Extensions: While seated in a chair with your back straight, slowly raise one leg at a time, making it parallel to the floor. Hold your leg out for up to 10 seconds (you’ll likely need to build endurance) before lowering it. Eventually, you should be able to do three sets of 10 repetitions for each leg daily.

Shaun Karp is a certified personal trainer.  For further information call 604-420-7800 or go to www.karpfitness.com.

Note To Seniors: Use It Or Lose It!

As we age, our bodies change: we experience loss of muscle and bone strength.  In many instances simple activities such as walking up a few stairs or getting out of a vehicle become difficult, getting in or out of a bathtub can have a disastrous outcome.

Our muscles and bones respond to the stresses that we put on them with our activities of daily living.  As our lives become less vigorous our muscles and bones lose strength. The best way to overcome this is to keep our leg muscles strong by performing some basic exercises each day.

If you are inactive for an extended period of time and then you challenge your muscles by trying to perform a task that you have not done regularly your muscles may not be there for you.  For example, if your main activity for years has been walking, then one day you need to move more quickly to avoid traffic, your legs may not have the power you need to speed up and you may end up falling.  This is where “Use it or Lose It” comes into play.  If you do not regularly put a baseline of demands on your body, especially your lower body, then you become weaker.  This is why falling is the biggest health risk for seniors. 
 
The good news is that keeping your leg muscles strong and having good balance helps to improve your mobility and prevent falls. Try to do these exercises everyday for best results.

Chair Squats:  Stand in front of a sturdy chair. In a controlled and steady motion sit into the chair, then stand up. Work towards not using the arms on the chair and standing back up without resting. Remember to breathe throughout. Start with a few repetitions and progress to 10 repetitions twice per day.

Leg Extensions: Sitting up straight in a supportive chair slowly straighten out your leg and lower it back down. Work towards holding your leg out for ten seconds while breathing normally.  Start with a few repetitions and progress to 10 repetitions three times a day.

Hamstring Curls:  Hold on to a sturdy chair back or grab bar. Stand up tall with your eyes forward. Keeping your knees shoulder width apart bend one knee so that your heel comes up toward your back. If this is difficult only lift your foot up as high as you are comfortable with.  Start with a few repetitions and progress to 10 repetitions three times a day.

These exercises are designed to keep your legs strong and to prevent falls.  It is important to stay active so also consider going for a walk with a friend, or joining an appropriate exercise program offered through a local seniors’ center, or a recreation center. 

Shaun Karp is a certified personal trainer.  For further information call 604-420-7800 or go to www.karpfitness.com.

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