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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!
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'm not sure if that's such a great idea. Falling face forward and not bracing yourself can result in serious face, eye and head injuries and fractures when you hit the ground. I think I'd rather break a wrist. There's maybe a good reason our instinct is to brace ourselves when falling. A car accident is probably very different with airbags.
I watched a senior lady do it. She just sort of collapsed.She said she learned how.
Thinking over a couple of times, I've fallen I find it hard to imagine that split second decision overriding instinct.
I have a lot of years experience breaking horses and re-schooling really sour horses that were ruined by stupid people.
Meaning, if I didn’t go off a horse once a week, I must have been on my own horse- I learned how to fall.
Tuck and roll, and bend my arms in front of my face. Of course having and maintaining BTA reaction time is key- unless one really is falling down drunk
There are always exceptions- going over backward is one. I have gone over backward twice in my life while I was standing on the ground. One landed me in the hospital with a concussion. 12 years later, I got lucky and landed in a dip in the dirt, only snapping my neck out of place.
Both incidents happened in milliseconds. There was zero time to try and regain myself to twist sideways and roll. Falling backward, on the ground, is not near as easy to prepare for as getting tossed forward or sideways from a horse. The best one can do is wear non-slip shoes and pay attention to what we are doing at all times.
Many of us may think age is just a number but try telling that to the vital organs and the bones that have been hauling our hind ends around for decades - pay attention
Over the years I’ve learned how to fall. A relaxed style really makes a difference. With skiing or on ice the Raggedy Ann style of falling works very well. No injuries. The only ice injury I had was when I slipped and went from ice to dry pavement with lousy snow boots. Broke my leg when the boot stopped and I didn’t.
My wife just fractured her pelvis in a fall. However, she was PULLED down by two large dogs she was walking. My point is each incident has different variables contributing to whether you get injured or not. I have a left leg disability so I'm basically one legged and I've fallen 6-7 times and I've taught myself to tuck and roll. As marino760 pointed out, your head is VERY hard to protect in a fall. Even in a tuck and roll, my head will snap the ground and give me a lump.
At 76 I don't think my balance and stability is as good as many the same age. I do exercises that are suppose to strengthen my legs ( a good part of the problem) but they don't make any noticeable difference.
I take a walk daily also for health and with my very aggressive Border Collie who was the cause of at least a half dozen falls, a couple of minor injuries.
Over the years I've learned how to fall in relaxed fashion with no serious injuries. I've heard it talked about on TV and whenever I've been in an exercise group. The above-mentioned Raggedy Ann type fall is what I try for. Maybe have a bruise or two, but nothing broken.
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!
This happened to me once. As a teenager, at a concert at the Spectrum in Philly, back in the good old days when you could walk in with a joint behind your ear and people passed drugs up and down the aisles ('77 or so). I don't even remember what I was doing, maybe Quaaludes because I was pretty out of it. I fell down a full flight of concrete stairs going to the bathroom. I didn't get hurt at all. When I landed at the bottom, 2 ladies ran up to see if I was okay (funny in my memory they were older ladies, when they were probably 20-something) and I think I said something charming like FU and got up and went back to the concert. I think it was Bad Company.
I don't think you can do it when sober. The reason I was so relaxed is that my processing was so slow it didn't register that I was falling down the stairs until it was already over. As soon as you realize it, you're going to tense up.
At 76 I don't think my balance and stability is as good as many the same age. I do exercises that are suppose to strengthen my legs ( a good part of the problem) but they don't make any noticeable difference.
I take a walk daily also for health and with my very aggressive Border Collie who was the cause of at least a half dozen falls, a couple of minor injuries.
Yes, I always hold onto the railing up and down stairs because I never know when a cat is going to dash between my feet.
I do balance exercises during regular daily living activities, for instance I'll stand on one foot while I brush my teeth or when I'm waiting for something in the microwave. I also like to practice standing from the floor without using my hands.
My problem is I'm very clumsy, part of ADHD.
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