The Importance of a Good Fall Prevention Plan

Did you know that falls are among the biggest risks to older adults? As we age, we go through several physical, cognitive, and sensory changes that can significantly impact our balance. An impaired balance means a higher chance of falling–and a higher chance of falling makes it more likely that you might suffer a severe injury.

Fortunately, there are several things you can do to improve your balance, no matter your age. At Pelham Physical Medicine Diagnostic & Treatment Center, we offer dedicated fall prevention plans to address your fall-related risk factors. We’ll help you improve your strength, balance, and stability to stay healthy and active throughout your golden years!

To illustrate just how important a good fall prevention plan is, we want to share the stories of two patients, whom we’ll call Janice and Carol. Janice underwent a dedicated fall prevention plan; Carol didn’t.

You can also call us if you’d like more personalized information!

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Patient Success Story

“I came in for 10 sessions to treat my vertigo which causes dizziness and imbalance. The therapist helped me with maintaining my condition and showed me how to manage my episodes. I now know what I need to do to improve my vertigo. I really appreciate all the support from the staff. They were really helpful. I highly recommend them to everyone who needs any kind of therapy.”

– Kim

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Carol’s Story:

Shaken Confidence and One Bad Injury

Carol was 68 when she first visited us. Although she’d been fairly active when she was younger, she developed knee osteoarthritis in her early 60s, which led to her becoming much more sedentary. Her pain and restricted mobility caused her to fall and break her hip, and she worked with us on her rehabilitation.

We were understandably concerned about Carol’s fall risk, as she met several of the criteria:

• A history of falls (falling once doubles the likelihood that you’ll fall again)
• Weak legs and core
• Knee pain and impaired gait from osteoarthritis

Unfortunately, Carol’s insurance limited how frequently she could see a physical therapist, and rehabilitating her hip injury was her primary concern. While we did work with her to restore her strength and balance to where it was before her injury, she ran out of sessions before we could develop it further.

However, perhaps the biggest issue for Carol was that her fall and subsequent injury really shook her confidence. While she felt safe performing exercises in our clinic, she worried about performing them at home, fretting that she would injure herself–or worse, fall again. As a result, she sank back into her sedentary lifestyle, which only worsened her arthritis symptoms and made it more likely that she would fall again.

If we’d been able to continue working with Carol, we could have improved her physical balance and helped build her confidence, too. How do we know this? Because it’s what happened with Janice.

Janice’s Story:

Dedicated Fall Prevention to the Rescue

Janice’s background is strikingly similar to Carol’s. She was a little older when she developed osteoarthritis (late 60s), and she suffered her big fall when she was 73. Again, she initially visited us so we could help rehabilitate her after her injury.

Like Carol, Janice’s confidence was shattered by her fall. However, she noticed that working with us made her feel more confident in exercising and being generally active. After she finished her rehabilitation, she indicated she would like to continue with physical therapy. We were delighted to oblige!

We immediately suggested that Janice focus on a dedicated fall prevention plan, and we created a customized program that addressed her specific needs:

• Pain management helped control her osteoarthritis pain so she could work through her exercises.
• We continued the strength training program we had developed for her rehabilitation to restore strength throughout her lower body and core–crucial muscles in controlling balance.
• Focused balance training targeted the skills she needed most. We started her off with exercises that challenged her balance without putting her at risk, then increased the intensity as she improved (and Janice loved seeing her progress).
• Through gait training, we helped Janice improve her walking pattern, which had become impaired due to her OA pain. An improved gait helped her increase her overall mobility.

By the end of her program, Janice no longer feared falling the way she had before. In fact, she even enrolled in a local Tai Chi class to continue working on her strength and balance in a fun, supportive environment.

Not Seeing Results?

Don’t Get Discouraged!

The Pelham Physical Medicine Diagnostic & Treatment Center team loves sharing our patients’ success stories. However, we also realize that for every success, other patients are struggling with their program–patients who feel like they aren’t progressing quickly enough or who think that even their best effort isn’t good enough.

In short, patients who become discouraged.

As much as we don’t want any of our patients to feel discouraged, we know that it sometimes does happen. That’s why we wanted to share a few of our favorite tips for staying positive as you work through physical therapy.

Three Techniques to Help Avoid Feeling Discouraged

Ready to write your own success story? Call us to schedule an appointment today!

Recipe of the Month: Homemade Hot Apple Cider

Ingredients:

• 6 cups apple cider
• ¼ cup real maple syrup
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 6 whole cloves
• 6 whole allspice berries
• 1 orange peel, cut into strips
• 1 lemon peel, cut into strips

Instructions:

1. Gather the ingredients. Pour apple cider and maple syrup into a large stainless steel saucepan.
2. Place cinnamon sticks, cloves, allspice berries, orange peel, and lemon peel in the center of a square of washed cheesecloth; fold up the sides of the cheesecloth to enclose the bundle, then tie it up with a length of kitchen string. Drop the spice bundle into the cider mixture.
3. Place the saucepan over moderate heat and cook until cider is very hot but not boiling, about 5 to 10 minutes. Remove cider from the heat. Discard the spice bundle.
4. Ladle cider into big cups or mugs, adding a fresh cinnamon stick to each serving if desired.