How to prevent falls

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The subject of falls is on-topic for METAR because of the high incidence and cost of falls.

Globally, about one-third of people over age 60 fall each year. The rate increases with age and frailty:

  • For adults over 65, about 30–40% fall each year.
  • For adults over 80, that rate can rise to 50% or more.
  • In the United States, the CDC estimates that over 36 million falls are reported each year among older adults (age 65+), leading to:
    • 3 million emergency room visits
    • Over 32,000 deaths annually
    • Approximately 10% of falls result in serious injuries, including fracture of the hip, other fractures, traumatic brain injury, or subdural hematoma

I personally knew two people who lived alone, fell and were left helpless on the floor for over a day before someone coincidentally found them. I’m glad that @intercst is getting a Life Alert button to wear at all times.

I fell when I tripped over my dog about 15 years ago. I was able to get up but I chipped a tooth and got a small scar on my face. Even fit people can fall. My risk of falls was dramatically higher after my open-heart surgery last November because I was extremely weak – so weak that I had trouble getting up from a chair and had to use a chair in the shower because I was too weak to stand. That’s why I worked so hard to regain my strength and stamina. I also have a Fitbit watch. I do Zumba dancing to retain my agility in moving my feet.

Here is a detailed article about falls.

Here is a short questionnaire about risk of falling.

https://www.wsj.com/health/wellness/fall-prevention-injuries-safety-tech-19fb8638?mod=wknd_pos1

Seven Ways to Track Your Risk of Falling—and Prevent an Injury

Without proper monitoring, even the healthy and active ‘younger old’ can suffer a bad spill, experts say

By Julie Jargon, The Wall Street Journal, Aug. 2, 2025

  • Falls are a leading cause of injury for those 65 and older, with risk doubling for each additional related issue.

  • Technology such as fitness trackers, vital-sign monitors and smart pill dispensers can help reduce the risk of falls.

  • Experts recommend home modifications like motion-activated lights and doorbell cameras to help prevent falls.

…
Remove tripping hazards … AARP HomeFit Guide (Download Page)

Fitness trackers.. [snip a list of fitness trackers with various capabilities]

Exercise is one of the most important ways to prevent falls because building core and lower-body strength can help keep you upright…

Vital-sign monitors

Low blood pressure, fluctuations in blood pressure or low blood oxygen levels can increase the risk of falling because they can cause dizziness… Standard blood pressure cuffs and pulse oximeters—little devices that fit over your fingertip—are available online and in drugstores…

Gait sensors

Phones and wearable devices can provide granular data about your fall risk over time…

Proper lighting
Install motion-activated lights throughout their house and at entry points outside, as well as plug-in emergency nightlights that turn on automatically if the power shuts off. Those can even be unplugged and used as flashlights. …

Doorbell cameras

Water-leak sensors… The AARP suggests these leak detectors.

Smart pill dispensers… The AARP describes three brands of pill dispensers…

Experts also recommend having a medical-alert system in place in case you do fall. The National Council on Aging tested more than 50 options and recommends five. Apple Watch wearers can also enable Fall Detection in their watch settings. That will alert emergency services and notify emergency contacts if the watch detects a hard-enough fall. [end quote]

Many METARs are over age 60 so this applies to all of us.
Wendy

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My grandmother, in her 90s, was so short that her falls never hurt her.

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Something about “The bigger they are, the harder they fall.”

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You got a key logger on my machine? I got the “rec” notification almost the second I hit “send”.

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Anything for my Grandmothers.

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Three people in three different generations of my life have been affected by falls.

  1. My grandmother was in her early 90s and living in an independent living facility when she fell and spent the better part of two days on the floor of her apartment. That was the beginning of her final decline. Within a couple of months, she moved to assisted living for a couple of years and then to nursing home care. In hindsight, I’m not entirely sure that the fall caused the decline or if it was an early symptom of the decline. Either way, it marked a permanent change in her lifestyle.

  2. My mother took a fall a few months ago at age 89. The house my parents have lived in for 60+ years has a sunken living room, and she tripped going up the step. She hit her head on a piece of furniture and required about 18 stitches to close the tear in her scalp. On the good side, she still does an aerobic exercise class twice a week, so she is in remarkably good shape for her age. She did strain an ankle in the incident and used a cane for a few weeks, but she seems to have recovered well and is back to her usual activities.

  3. The most dramatic fall was the one my wife had at age 62. She had severe balance problems and fell getting off the toilet. She also hit her head, breaking a bone in her skull. That allowed an infection to take hold, from which she never recovered. She passed away a week after the fall.

Falls are serious business, my friends.

—Peter

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Biggest thing about fall prevention, don’t loose muscle mass. That is, keep working out.

One morbid statistic I recall from residency training, elderly fall and break your hip you have about a 50% mortality rate at one year. Don’t know if that still holds but doubt hit has changed much.

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Add to that some info I just found out.

Running shoes with plenty of foam do not build muscle or balance. You can lose some ankle control. The foam will allow people to move faster with less energy.

I just bought some Adidas Spezial. The Spezial runs wider. Other wise leather Adidas run narrow. Love these flat hard sneakers.

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For that real barefoot feeling, try Vibram Five Finger Shoes. (Plus the Japanese socks that go into them.)

I used to wear them to do Zumba. I loved the barefoot feeling. Until I tore my Posterior Tibial Tendon because they don’t support the arch.

Wendy

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Google tells us that 87 thousand falls are caused each year in the US by pets, mostly dogs. For some reason, women were twice as likely as men to fall.

DB2

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For the reason mentioned upstream…the greater frailty that comes from an overall lower muscle mass. Women naturally tend to have lower muscle mass to begin with and lose it at a faster rate than men. Especially the fast twitch fibers which means a slower reaction time also.

Greater chance of more serious injury too on account of higher incidence of osteoporosis.

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In addition to what @VeeEnn wrote…

Women are more likely to feed the dogs so the critters tend to get underfoot around meal times. I tripped and fell over Tyree (the dog on the right) on a walk.

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Wendy

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I have fallen allot less now that I have an eBike that is step thru, no clip-in pedals, and no drop bars. 3 less things to focus on.

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My in-laws, actually our daughter’s in-laws, but we adopted them, anyway they got a small dog last year, little fuzzball, but she tripped over it, twice now, cracked ribs, and it’s taken a toll, for sure… No critters here, had some ages ago, when the kids were home, but the heartaches of losing them were tough, and we wanted to travel, so none since…

In m our 80s now, first question we get at Dr visits, is whether we’ve fallen… No, but it’s also on my mind, I carry a hiking stick when out walking, in fact just today, I was going to have to cross a field to see a grand-nieces new home, even with the hiking stick, I opted out, can’t be too careful…

We both wear Apple Watches, and it has tripped the Fall Alert at times, but maybe more sensitive, but it will call our spouse or 911 if no response… The health monitoring is better and better with each generation… It caught my wife’s fib a couple years ago…

Stay safe! Good articles!

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Nice puppers, @WendyBG…but you have one advantage. These guys aren’t quite so well camouflaged as Sir Fur is against my bedroom carpet…

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Particularly risky at night when it’s dark. He usually stays on his bed but I don’t take chances…an old lady shuffle seems appropriate for avoiding a trip and fall.

In fairness he and my daughter’s dogs tend to lie in quiet corners and out of the way of foot traffic. This little miss is a different story…

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She likes to weave in and out of your legs. Since I’m not used to such small critter behaviour on a routine basis, I’ve had a few close calls when pet sitting.

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I dunno. I see it as a balancing act between taking proper precautions and the need to keep actively challenging yourself as long as you can. Mom definitely had brain damage in her late 80’s as a result of a combination of heart disease and hard faceplants precipitated by tripping, slipping or standing up too fast and fainting because she forgot about her low blood pressure. And my blood pressure is already on the low end of normal.

And I could almost be an emergency tech for athletic older hiking women with broken wrists - three so far. Athletic, fit. but match sticks for wrists.

At 69 I am still hiking rocky, sometimes steep, trails at a solid pace usually without my hiking sticks even though I talk a little funny due to a face plant which resulted in oral surgery on my lower lip.

I will be cautious as warranted by time and age but some risks and challenges need to be taken in order to slow down the aging process.

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There are plenty of lower-risk ways to challenge your physique than hiking steep trails…though you might find them boring or unappealing.

Try Zumba toning for a start. Can the masculine ego and realize that challenging your brain and nervous system with unfamiliar movements will help maintain your agility and balance.

I use 2 or 3 pound weights but if that isn’t enough to challenge you try using 5 pound. But start low because your body isn’t used to the movements and you don’t want to tear any tendons.

Wendy (age 71 – strong wrists from years of weights)

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I luv ya Wendy but masculine ego has nothing to do with it. Exercising in a confined space excites me just as much as a day hiking in the forest would excite you. Different strokes.

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Actually, DH and I used to hike regularly in the Olympic forests. Unfortunately, I’m not able to anymore due to my torn ankle tendons.

I understand that you may hate the thought of exercising indoors. But you may have to adapt in order to prevent injury. And you can get a decent workout even if you don’t enjoy it as much.
Wendy

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Puppy photos! We got this diablita back in September - She’s big and getting bigger. Her menacing blue eye is the only thing that trips me up.

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