Falls don’t “just happen” and people don’t fall because they are getting old. Falls happen because of reasons such as muscle weakness, underlying illnesses and safety hazards.
It is found that the incidences of falling increases with age, making it important for people to work on strengthening their core muscles to maintain proper balance. Good body balance can help tremendously and save one from potentially disabling falls.
Simple exercises to work towards maintaining proper body balance can help avoid falls. For all this, good body coordination has to be achieved where physical, psychological, visual and sensory organs are trained over a period of time to maintain proper body balance.
‘Strengthen your core body muscles’
Balance is the ability to maintain upright the body’s central mass (region of abdomen) with that of the base support (joints, hips and legs). Proper balance allows a person to see clearly while moving, identify orientation with respect to gravity, determine direction and speed of movement and also make postural adjustments to maintain stability in various conditions.
This kind of balance is achieved with the help of sight, touch, motion and the right integration of body muscles. It, thus, becomes important to strengthen the core muscles like abdomen, stomach and the muscles around the body joints. Also, those who have low bone mineral density and poor stability need to ensure that high fat mass does not compromise the body’s balance. Hence the individual has to work on achieving lean body mass as it is found to have direct effect on bone mineral density and bone mineral content.
Dr Shashi Kant G., senior orthopaedic surgeon at Care Hospitals, explains, “Emphasis must be on improving the lean body mass with regular exercise. A low volume-and-high intensity exercise regime improves overall fitness and bone health. Also, it strengthens core muscles and back as well as tones your abdomen.”
‘One-tenth of falls result in serious injuries’
A fall could be a sign of a new medical problem, such as an infection or a cardiovascular disorder, or an underlying chronic ailment like Parkinson’s disease or dementia. Frequent falls tend to affect a person’s mental well-being. One-tenth of falls recorded in the journals have shown that they result in serious injury to soft tissues or bones.
Fractures caused by falls could lead to disability and could also prevent a person from getting around, doing daily tasks or socialising. Most often, fall-related fractures are in the person’s hip, pelvis, spine, arm, hand or ankle.
Dr Sanjay Tapadia, consultant orthopaedic and joint replacement surgeon at Mediciti Hospitals, explains, “Muscle weakness, especially in the legs, is one of the most important risk factors as your balance and the manner in which you walk tend to make you fall. Postural hypotension also makes one person feel dizzy as the blood pressure drops when you get up. Foot problems like painful feet, wearing unsafe footwear and sensory problems cause this.”
The best method is to stay fit by walking, doing water workouts and wearing proper fitting, sturdy and non-skid shoes. A few measures that can be taken to avoid hazards in your surroundings are: Non-slip mats in bathtubs, grease-free floors, no food or spilled liquids on the floor and proper lighting.
Do it Yourself
* Stand with one foot on the ground while the other foot is resting on a stool in front of the other foot. This is the primary skill in working towards balancing on one foot. If this is too easy, replace the stool with a ball. Then, progress to standing on just one leg.
* Stand on a balance board. A balance board is a flat surface made of wood or hard plastic that has a rounded or curved underside.
* Have a stand-on-one-foot contest.
* Play hopscotch only while jumping on one foot.
* Stand on a trampoline with just one leg on the surface.
