Preventing falls is imperative for people of all ages but is especially important for seniors. A fall can lead to serious injury, a loss of independence, long recovery, and other aspects that can negatively affect daily life.
The good news is that there are proactive approaches to prevent falls and decrease their prevalence. These tips will help you or your loved ones reduce the risk of falling and promote a safe, active lifestyle. Florence Rehabilitation Center, centrally located in Florence, Mississippi, offers physical rehabilitation for those who have experienced a fall and we also offer prevention courses and tips for avoiding falls in the first place.
How to Prevent Falls for Seniors
- Exercise: Engaging in regular physical activity ensures that your strength, balance, and coordination will remain at Peak performance. This reduces the risk of Falls and allows you to live a normal healthy life. Walking, yoga, water aerobics, light weight-bearing exercises, Zumba classes, and the likes are all excellent choices for maintaining your fitness as you age .
- Safe home: Your living space needs to be free of hazards, such as clutter, loose rugs, stairways, lack of lighting and so forth. Go through your home and make sure that non-slip surfaces, bright lighting, grab bars, and other precautions are integrated into your home to provide a secure environment and reduce the risk of falling.
- Medications: Some medications can cause drowsiness and make you dizzy. It’s important to explore all your prescriptions with your doctor or pharmacist and ensure that any medications are not increasing your fall risk.
- Vision and hearing checks: Poor vision and hearing impairments can contribute to the likelihood of a fall. Follow through on regular checkups and update prescriptions for glasses and hearing aids to reduce the likelihood of this occurring.
- Proper footwear: Shoes with non-slip soles and which provide good support are imperative for avoiding falls.
- Assistive devices: As you age, your mobility changes, and as such, you have to change your mentality about utilizing assistive devices. Using a cane, walker, or other assistive device can help you maintain your mobility and reduce the likelihood that you may fall.
- Caution: Approach everything with caution. Uneven or slick surfaces can pose considerable risk and cause a fall even in the best of circumstances. Reduce those risks and take extra caution when walking in questionable conditions. It’s better to avoid a situation and thus a fall then forging forward and facing disastrous consequences.
Best Physical Therapists for Seniors Near Me
One of the benefits of working with Florence Rehabilitation Center is that we support seniors in life as you adjust to life at an older age. Changes in mobility can be challenging and we recognize that remaining independent and confident is an important part of staying active as a senior. We offer specialized senior care that’s designed specifically for the needs of older adults. We know that seniors face unique challenges, whether it is managing an injury, adjusting to chronic conditions, or proactively preventing falls. We provide the education and physical therapy necessary to keep the elderly safe and active. If the worst does occur and there is a fall or injury, our full spectrum physical therapy services provide for every situation. You can rest assured that when you work with our skilled physical therapists for the elderly, you will be receiving the best care possible. Balance training, strength training, gait training, flexibility, mobility, and pain management are all part of our regularly provided services for seniors. Our supportive environment and friendly staff apply a deep knowledge of the aging process into our physical therapy approach for seniors.
For the best physical therapy for the elderly, visit Florence Rehabilitation Center in Florence, Mississippi. We are standing by, ready to equip you with knowledge to avoid dangerous falls or to provide the physical therapy and rehabilitation you require after such a fall. In either case, Florence Rehabilitation Center offers the supportive and compassionate care you deserve!