Preventing falls is a priority for anyone at any age. Falls can range from a very simple loss in balance resulting in the need to grab a wall before hitting the ground or they can be severe by making complete contact with the ground resulting in a blow to the head or broken limb. Either way, falls can be prevented.
At Pisgah Valley we take precautions with every resident to prevent falling. In order to put the proper prevention steps in place, we must understand the balance challenges humans encounter due to our adapted body structure, brain structure and other outside environmental factors.
Our ancestors, for one reason or another, made a change from walking on four legs to two. Bipedalism changed the structure of the human body millions of years ago and consequentially caused balance problems especially in toddler aged children and the elderly. There is evidence that shows when humans began walking on two feet, the human brain began to adapt and become larger. So we’ve taken a structure (the human body) that was low to the ground on four bases of support and turned it upright with a very large bowling ball shape (the head) at the top resting on a thin skeleton with only two bases of support. One could see why health professionals focus on maintaining balance throughout the aging process.
Not only does the challenge of maintaining balance present itself in regards to holding the upright structure of the human body but other factors affecting balance come into play as well. Factors such as cognitive health, experiencing dizziness or vertigo, hearing or vision impairment and medication side effects to say the least. “Balance is achieved and maintained by a complex set of sensorimotor control systems that include sensory input from vision (sight), proprioception (touch), and the vestibular system (motion, equilibrium, spatial orientation); integration of that sensory input; and motor output to the eye and body muscles.” In other words, maintaining balance takes multiple body systems and senses working together and if one of these systems is negatively affected then that person could be at a greater risk for falling.
Here are major contributors that increase risk for falling in seniors
If you or someone you know is experiencing any of the above symptoms, be proactive and address the situation with before the fall occurs because it could be only a matter of time. By understanding why falls happen and specifically what factor(s) made someone fall, you can prevent injury or even death by tackling balance challenges head on.
Source:https://vestibular.org/understanding-vestibular-disorder/human-balance-system
Preventing falls is a priority for anyone at any age. Falls can range from a very simple loss in balance resulting in the need to grab a wall before hitting the ground or they can be severe by making complete contact with the ground resulting in a blow to the head or broken limb. Either . . . Read More
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