Fall related injury's occur often in America without warning. Over one million elderly and adult individuals fall each and every year. losing your independence is only one of the results that can happen when you fall. Other serious injury's and even death can occur from sustaining a fall at home. It is important to prepare our living space for fall safety. You can begin to do this by eliminating potential dangerous obstacles from your home. A clear path from your bed to your bathroom can help with a number of dangers that often cause falling. So what else can we do to prevent ourselves from falling or prevent a loved one from being injured because of falls? We will spend today going over some things you can start doing today.
Now that you are ready to begin making changes at home to prevent future falls or even your first fall lets get started with bathroom safety. Making your bathroom more safe can greatly reduce the chance of injury when you are using it. Slippery flooring such as tile may look nice but can cause an elderly person to easily slip, especially when the tile is wet. A floor mat can help, but can not always prevent slips. It is important to make certain that the floor mat you use will not move when pressure is applied to it. And of course if you do not own a floor mat consider investing in one. You may be able to find a no slip floor mat at a specialty health equipment store so consider taking the time to visit one and inquire about it.
A bed rail at bedside can help users get up and out of there bed. This is extremely helpful for elderly individuals who need to get into a wheelchair at night and would normally need assistance to do so. This seemingly simple task can be nearly impossible for someone who has sever balancing issues and no assistant. When an individuals needs to use the bathroom at night and does not have any assistance to do so they will try to get to the bathroom anyway they can. This leads to a number of falls. It can be nearly impossible to monitor your loved one twenty four seven so with bed rails they can help themselves. Of course this is not for all patents as some are not in metal shape to handle things on there own. Also there are some who are too weak to use bed rails, but for the majority of people with small to moderate balancing issues bed rails can be the difference in having independence at bedside or not.
It is important also to make sure you tell a loved one if you have experienced a fall. Some individuals hide the fact that they have fallen and this can lead to more falls down the road. After all if your caretaker is unaware of the fact you have fallen then how can they begin to prevent it from happening again in the future? Also falling can be a sign of a medical condition that you doctor can help identify for you. Such conditions can cause falls without a user knowing it include diabetes, hypertension, eye problems, or certain types of medication that effect balance.
