Why Do People Fall?

Some of the reasons people fall are:

  • Tripping or slipping due to loss of footing or traction
  • Safety hazards in the home
  • Slow reflexes, which make it hard to keep your balance or move out of the way of a hazard
  • Balance problems
  • Reduced muscle strength
  • Poor vision
  • Illness
  • Taking medicines
  • Drinking alcohol.

 

Illness and some medicines can make you feel dizzy, confused, or slow. Medicines that may increase the risk of falls are:

  • Blood pressure pills
  • Heart medicines
  • Diuretics (water pills)
  • Muscle relaxants
  • Sleeping pills.

 

Drinking alcohol can lead to a fall because it can:

  • Slow your reflexes
  • Cause you to feel dizzy or sleepy
  • Alter your balance
  • Cause you to take risks that can lead to falls.

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Jim Closs

Jim Closs

I graduated in the early nineties during a recession and without much of a plan as to what to do next. Kinesiology was a fairly new concept to the working world (at least based on the reactions I got during the four years I was attending school by those who asked what I was studying?). Those classmates who took the degree to the next level; PT, OT, Medicine, Chiropractic Medicine or teaching ended up pretty successful…or so it seems on LinkedIn. I didn’t take it to the next level. I wanted to work. I had always worked at something. I loved those summer jobs of farming, landscaping, house painting, masonry…those physically demanding jobs that had a means to an end. You saw the results at the end of day. I guess I wanted to see that in a newfound professional career. I just really didn’t plan for it.