What No One Tells You about Falling Down

elderly couple looking at each other

Falls are dangerous among the elderly. It can bring about tremendous consequences which could affect the individual, as well as his or her family. Oftentimes, people, and even the older adults themselves take falling lightly. What they do not know is that falling can cause fracture, and even lead to death.

Buckeye Home Health Care, provider of home healthcare services in Ohio, is going to run to you some facts about the causes, as well as the consequences of falling. So without any further ado, here are things no one tells you about falling down:

  • Women are more prone to falling than men.A higher number of women in their 50s fall than men in the same age bracket. This may be because these female individuals have poor health, compared to their male counterpart. The number may also be attributed to a woman’s poor physical fitness.Another fact that contributes to this is that females loose more calcium in their bodies during their menopause. This is because women’s estrogen levels decrease drastically causing bone loss. Such bone loss could lead to osteoporosis, and this disease would eventually lead to the inability to balance oneself.
  • People aged 80 and above are more susceptible to fallingThis may come as a no-brainer and it is obvious that the more you age, the more you will increase your chances of falling. Various diseases and conditions affect people ages 65 and above. This is all the more possible in people belonging to a higher age bracket.
  • Various places of the elder’s abode can trigger high incidents of falls.We always thought that one’s home is safe for the elder to live. Turns out, it is one place we should be skeptical about. Although not all places inside one’s home are considered dangerous, there are places they need to watch out for.Studies show that quite a number of older adults fall in their bathrooms. This relates to the fact that the bathroom is indeed slippery, even to an average man. Plus, bath soaps, shampoos, and other products in the lavatory can be slick, thus increasing the chances of falling.The first runner up of the most dangerous place at home for the elderly is the garden. Because of the uneven terrain, many older adults fall down on their garden. The statistics is hobby-related. There are quite a number of male older adults who fall on their garden, while female older adults fall in the kitchen.The second runner up and probably the most dangerous among all the places at home is the stairs. Stairs can be dimly lit, causing accidents for our beloved seniors. Aside from that, the possibility of stepping on the wrong stair, missing a step, and failing to grab the handrails add up to the hazard.
  • Many individuals acquire injury from falling.When a fall happens, some of the patients are still as good as they were before they fell. Others are so unlucky that they acquire injury after the accident. Injuries sustained from a fall are common among older adults. There are statistics on the type of injuries these victims suffer.The most frequent kind of injury is excoriations. Excoriations, according to the medical dictionary, are scratch marks. It involves a linear break on the skin surface of the patient. Oftentimes, blood comes out of these scratch marks. It can bring harm to the patient, depending how deep the wound is or if there has been an infection.On to the second place are fractures. You will be lucky if you have only sustained an excoriation from a fall. Other older individuals, however, receive a fracture in their bones right after an accident. We all know how unpleasant a fracture feels for an average adult, let alone for an older adult.

Falling down is scary. But we can all prevent such incident from happening among our seniors. With proper knowledge, as well as proper medical assistance, an older adult could avoid falls and the dangers that accompany the incident.


Disclaimer

Blogs, content and other media uploaded online are for informational purposes only. Contents on this website should not be considered medical advice. Readers are strongly encouraged to visit their physician for health-related issues.


This entry was posted in Homecare, Senior Care and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *