Fall prevention improves your lifespan, but also your healthspan
This year, the American Physical Therapy Association has made fall prevention its focus. Here are some thoughts and suggestions.
I can tell you from my personal experience before I was a physical therapist, my grandmother fell. She broke her hip, and afterward, she never walked again. There’s no doubt in my mind that led to her passing away. So, fall prevention is a hugely important issue.
This is why keeping somebody from falling is one of the best things physical therapists can do. Without a doubt, it can save somebody’s life and improve their lifespan.
But let’s also talk about fall prevention for healthspan.
Healthspan is how long you can live a life being able to do the things you enjoy doing. And for my middle-years patients, this is where we focus. Increasing the number of years you have in good health.
From a physical therapy perspective, there are some tests to help assess your risk of falling and there are also exercise you can do to improve your odds of NOT having a fall that injures you.
Simple assessments you can do yourself
Some of the simpler things that I look at regarding fall risk include your ability to stand up from a chair without having to use your hands. Conversely, I look at your ability to sit down in a controlled way and not flop into the seat without using your hands.
The other end of that scale is how long can you balance on one leg? There are a couple of different benchmarks that I like to use. The minimum would be 10 seconds. This would indicate a lower risk for falls, which is, of course, a good thing. I certainly see plenty of people who can do this, but where I really want to see people is 30-plus seconds.
Another interesting thing when it comes to balance is the input that our eyes have when we test your balance. What happens when you close your eyes is you lose the visual feedback that’s telling you you’re tipping over one way or the other. That sends you the signal to say, you need to go ahead and balance yourself more.
You can try these yourself. Don’t be discouraged if you have a little trouble. As with most physical therapy, you can improve with practice.
Improve fall prevention with exercise and practice
Improving your balance and being aware of where you are on the balance continuum, are two of the most important things you can do for fall prevention.
Continually testing your one-leg balance, you’ll probably see your times improve – from 10 seconds to 30 seconds and beyond.
Then, work on this with your eyes closed. Another mid-level exercise is feet together, heels and toes touching, and with eyes closed try to turn your head, keeping the eyes closed. Can you turn your head and body? No? Keep practicing. You’ll get better at it.
I’m also a fan of lunges as an exercise, like what you might do in yoga.
In general, the stronger somebody is, the better, for fall prevention and fall recovery. Bones respond to strength training, just like muscle does. The best drug for osteoporosis, and especially osteoporosis prevention, is weight bearing exercise.
Things that incorporate balance training with strength training are often the best ways to go. I’m not a big fan of Nautilus type machines for strengthening the legs, because when you’re doing something like that, you’re on a track, and there’s not any emphasis on motor control.
When you look at balance, there are two factors. One being having the strength to hold yourself upright the – that would be your motor output. But your sensory input also matters tremendously. You feel when your body is starting to tip over to the side a bit. And conversely, you can correct that and straighten yourself up? A Nautilus machine alleviates the sensory experience.
An investment in your healthspan
Falls, depending on their severity, can have devastating effects on anyone. And in my grandmother’s example they can be ultimately fatal. Preventive assessments backed with exercise while you have basically good motor skills is an excellent plan for improving anyone’s lifespan and health span.