Preventing Falls

There comes a time in your life when your muscles may begin to weaken, often because of inactivity. As a result, you're more likely to fall. Exercise will help you maintain healthy muscles and joints, and can greatly decrease your risk of falling.

Some important steps you can take to help prevent falls:

• Improve your balance. Gentle exercise, even simply walking a little bit each day, can help prevent balance trouble. Low impact sports such as yoga, tai chi, and water aerobics also can enhance your balance by improving strength and posture. If you need assistance during balance exercises, consider using a walker, cane, or the back of a chair to steady yourself.
• Strengthen your body. Stronger muscles help support your joints and keep your body upright. Done with proper form to prevent injury, any and all exercise you do will help improve your strength. Exercise smartly—don't push your body harder than it can handle and risk injury. Start slowly and increase the intensity of your routine as you build strength.
• Be active. When you are sedentary for any period, you lose the muscle strength that you had built up. Doing some form of daily activity may help prevent this.
• Make your home safe. For more information on improving home safety, go to Housing Adaptations.
• Be prepared. Know what to do in case of a fall. For example, wearing a wireless medical alert device will enable you to call for help if you fall while alone. If you have a cell phone, it's a good idea to always have it with you when leaving home or working around the house.