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When working in a psych hospital, a giant patient threw me across a hallway and it was pure reflex to roll rather than to try and stop the momentum. Didn't break anything but twisted my back (again) and needed chiropractic (again). I don't know where the reflex came from, maybe from breathing out when expecting pain like from an injection or something.
Somehow I doubt that at my current age of 66, it might work as well to breath out and roll.
I think it could be argued that rolling with a fall is even more important as we age since it's easier to break a bone as we age. I think it's like riding a bicycle... you don't ever forget how, but you might be just a bit rusty at it. That's all the more reason to practice it occasionally. Get down on a well padded floor and practice dropping and rolling if you're able to do so.
Broke my wrist several years ago when falling forward and sticking out my arm to break the fall. The orthopedic surgeon told me it’s the most common break there is because instinct has you breaking the fall with the arm outstretched with the flat hand landing so as to exert the most pressure on the wrist. He also said what another poster said, that it’s a great instinct because better the wrist than the head.
I’m sure the tuck and roll people describe is a better alternative but I’m awkward and clumsy and even if I could think of it in time, I’d probably hurt myself worse by trying something like that.
One of my senior neighbors, rather overweight, tripped on a paver stone, fell backwards and broke both his wrists. His wife: What a bad time for him to fall, he hadn't been drinking!
I was involved with a couple alcoholics, some time ago, and sometimes they were fall-down drunks, but never injured. One of my partners even rolled his car over 3X and no injuries. You've heard the stories of drunks falling down stairs and? Well, when you're completely relaxed...…..
I took care of a senior couple in a LTC/Rehab facility that were rear-ended by a runaway gravel truck which had lost its brakes. They were sitting at a stoplight, from an exit ramp off the freeway. Their Dr. told them if they had seen it coming, from their rear-view mirrors, they could have endured even more injuries, as they would have tensed up, perhaps propped their arms up against the dashboard, and 2 broken arms?
But at the same time, when you think you're going to fall, how can you get your mind to say Relax! Relax! And given our automatic reflexes!
I'll stay pretty relaxed as long as I'm not one of your associates!!
I'm pretty quick on my feet and have saved myself from falling all the way down many times, resulting in only a turned ankle. The last time...I broke my ankle, but I didn't fall down, which was fortunate as I was walking through the screen porch and it was about 40 degrees out. Way too cold to lay out there for long. Can't remember the last time I actually fell down, and hopefully it will stay that way.
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