Falls Prevention At Home in Sutton Coldfield

Hello and welcome back again to the ThreeSpires Physiotherapy blog where we take a look at all things physiotherapy related. As mobile physiotherapists seeing patients in their homes in Sutton Coldfield, we regularly see people who have been having falls or have had a fall that has caused them an injury. So, I thought it could be good in this article to have a look at how our falls prevention service works in Sutton Coldfield and how our mobile physios help people with falls in Sutton Coldfield.

What are falls?

Before we begin examining why our patients in Sutton Coldfield often fall and how our physiotherapists are able to help with this, we should really examine what a fall is. Clearly, this sounds like it should be blatantly obvious and not need defining as everyone knows what a fall is. However, as physiotherapists that visit our patients at home in Sutton Coldfield often, we will hear that the patient has not fallen despite a large amount of evidence that they have fallen over many times. Personally, I cannot count the number of times that I have seen a patient in Sutton Coldfield who I know for certain has had many falls and they will repetitively say that they haven’t actually fallen. Instead, they will say that they “tripped” or “stumbled” and then went to the floor but they won’t consider these to be falls.  So what is a fall and what is a commonly accepted definition of a fall?

“Coming to rest on the ground or another lower level”

 As physios this definition of a fall works well for us because it is clear and any patient or relative can immediately understand that if they end up (involuntarily) on the floor or at a lower level such as sitting on a low couch then they have had a fall.

Which Kind of People Have Falls in Sutton Coldfield?

Having defined clearly what a fall exactly is we should now discuss which kind of people have falls and who is at most risk of falling in Sutton Coldfield:

Despite there being a range of reasons why people fall over in Sutton Coldfield, it is fair to say that falling is very much associated with old age and our experience as community physios in Sutton Coldfield certainly shows this. There is a large amount of research that shows as people age they become much more likely to have a fall and as a physiotherapist seeing patients at home in Sutton Coldfield my own experience would strongly support this and I would go so far as to say that almost all of my elderly patients have at some point in the last 12 months had a fall.

Finally, it should be noted that any elderly patient who has had a fall in Sutton Coldfield is highly likely to have another one. As a physiotherapist visiting patients at home in Sutton Coldfield to help with falls prevention I regularly have to explain to patients that once they have had a fall they should be aware that they are likely to fall again as most of the time this is a symptom of an underlying balance or strength problem.

Is Having A Fall A Problem?

Okay, now we’ve looked at who tends to have falls in Sutton Coldfield, we should examine why falls are actually a problem. For anyone young and strong reading this article and living in Sutton Coldfield you could be forgiven for thinking about all the times you fell over doing sport and it wasn’t an issue and wonder why it is a problem for older people. Well, to put it simply, when you are young your body is very resilient to injury and will recover very quickly. However, as people get older their ability to recover from injuries declines and falling slowly becomes more problematic and at some point the risk of a serious injury increases dramatically.

For older patients a fall will often result in a serious injury such as a hip fracture which usually requires major surgery such as a hip replacement. The older and more frail a person is the more difficult it is to recover well from such a major operation and often making a full recovery is impossible. Furthermore, if your mobility is impaired in the first place then if you have a fall and end up having time off your feet this is likely to worsen your mobility even further.

Why Do People Fall in Sutton Coldfield?

Next we need to look at some of the factors that cause patients in Sutton Coldfield to have a fall.

Environment

In our experience as physios visiting patients in Sutton Coldfield, the place that they live in is usually a key part of why they fell.  The large family home with multiple levels and steps in Sutton Coldfield that was great when they were younger and had a large family is often not the right place to be when they have become old and frail. There are a number of factors within the home that we as home visit physiotherapists in Sutton Coldfield see and believe are crucial for having (or avoiding) falls:

Trip Hazards

The first thing as physios that we often identify in a patient’s home in Sutton Coldfield as being a key factor in their falling are trip hazards. Often the elderly patient has multiple rugs, leads and other items that are sticking out in their home in Sutton Coldfield and which used to not be a problem but now they are catching their feet on them and this has caused falls.

Doorways and Steps

Many of the homes that we visit in Sutton Coldfield do not have flat access throughout the property and this often makes it much more likely that an elderly patient will have a fall. Steps into and out of the kitchen or sills at internal doorways are issues that we commonly see. In general flat access throughout a property is the ideal solution.

Poor Lighting

One of the main and most obvious factors that we as community physios in Sutton Coldfield encounter is very poor lighting in the home. If you are elderly with poor balance, not having the home well lit may save you money but it is a certain way of increasing your risk of falling.

Poor Footwear

Often our patients in Sutton Coldfield are wearing worn out slippers that provide no support and are falling off their feet. A regular part of our role as community physiotherapists in Sutton Coldfield is to address the footwear.

Lack of Appropriate Walking Aids

A common problem that we see as physios visiting patients in Sutton Coldfield is a lack of a suitable walking aid. Many of our patients have instead been using the furniture in their house for support and instead of getting a stick have stopped going outside. When discussing having a walking aid with them there is often a fair amount of resistance and it is usually apparent that they are in denial about their balance and strength.

Non-Environmental Factors

As well as issues about the place that many of our patients live in, in Sutton Coldfield, there are also a number of other factors that affect whether someone is likely to fall or not. Some of these are difficult to make changes to but as a physio it is good to be aware of them:

Eyesight

Clearly your eyes are essential for maintaining balance and enabling you to see objects and avoid tripping over them. Many of our elderly patients in Sutton Coldfield have very poor vision and some of these can be helped very by having appropriate or at least clean glasses. Many of our patients in Sutton Coldfield do not realise that their eyesight has changed and become poor as it has happened slowly over time and as physiotherapists we would always recommend that patients have regular eye tests.

Toilet Urgency

As people get older there is often an increased need for the toilet a bit more often in the night and stumbling to the toilet in the dark and then having a fall is very common.  Some of our elderly patients find that because they are slower than they used to be they find it difficult to get to the toilet quick enough even in the day time and then have a fall because they are rushing.

Postural Hypotension

Sometimes our elderly patients in Sutton Coldfield when they get up from sitting to standing experience a drop in blood pressure which makes them feel faint and can cause a fall.

Medication Issues

As many of our patients are very elderly they tend to be taking many different types of medication. Occasionally, as physios during our assessment we will discover that the patient’s medications have not been checked and there are issues with how they interact which may be causing their blood pressure to drop.

Poor Balance     

One of the key factors that we see as physios in Sutton Coldfield, is poor balance. In general as people get older there balance tends to worsen and one of the key things that we work on with our patients in Sutton Coldfield is balance.                                        

Muscle Weakness

As people age a general weakening of their strength tends to occur, this happens slowly over a number of years and is sometimes quite hard to spot for family members who see their relative each day. This is due to a process called “sarcopaenia” which simply means a loss of muscles mass and at some point if you lose enough muscle mass you will lose the strength to stop yourself falling.

A Neurological Condition

This article has tried to look at why people in Sutton Coldfield with no obvious illnesses or pathologies have falls. However, there are also many neurological conditions such as a stroke, or Parkinson’s Disease that make falling more likely. For more information regarding neurological conditions have a read of the appropriate section in our website.

So, although very briefly, I think we have now taken a look at most of the reasons that we as physios have seen cause falls in Sutton Coldfield. Now, we need to look at how you can prevent and reduce the risk of falls at your or your relative’s home in Sutton Coldfield.                           

Falls Prevention in Sutton Coldfield:

So, I suspect the main thing that anyone reading this article will want to know is what to do about a person who is having falls in Sutton Coldfield and can they be helped?

Generally, as I explain to many of my patients in Sutton Coldfield, you should be able to reduce the risk of falling but depending on circumstances it may not be possible to eliminate it. Below are our top recommendations as physiotherapists in order to quickly reduce the risk of you or your relative having a fall:

Please be aware that these do not replace the need for a thorough assessment and if you live in Sutton Coldfield and are worried about falls, we would always recommend an assessment by one of our physiotherapists.

1. Get rid of trip hazards: in my opinion as a physio who regularly visits people at home in Sutton Coldfield, this is the quickest and easiest way to reduce the risk of falling. Simply going around the home, de-cluttering and ensuring there are no obvious things sticking out or up that anyone could trip over is very easy and quick to do and will make a difference.
2. Get a medication review: if you or your relative are taking an array of medication then get in contact with your pharmacist who will be very happy to arrange this. This is especially important if you have been feeling faint or unwell.
3. Good footwear: If you notice your elderly relative shuffling around in worn out, collapsing slippers then have a chat with them and convince them to accept better footwear.
4. Have your eyes checked: fairly obviously it is important to be able to see any things that you might trip over. Having a yearly eye test becomes more important as we age.
5. Get your blood pressure checked: blood pressure monitors are cheap and easy to purchase these days. Checking blood pressure is easy to do and is especially important if someone has been reporting that they are feeling light headed. Disclaimer: this advice does not replace seeking medical advice if you think that you or your relative is having low blood pressure causing them to feel faint.
6. Have good lighting in your home: again, another pretty obvious way of making it easy to see anything you might fall over and you might think that all houses would be well lit. However, as a physio that visits patients at home in Sutton Coldfield I can assure you that this is not the case and many homes are very dim and dark inside, especially in the Winter time.
7. Get a walking aid: many patients have been refusing having a stick or frame for years and it is only when we as physios visit or they have had a bad fall that they accept the need for a walking aid. If you see your relative using the furniture to navigate their property in Sutton Coldfield then they most likely need a stick or frame. To decide which is best probably requires an assessment from a physio at their home.
8. Have an assessment by a physiotherapist: having an assessment by a physiotherapist at your home in Sutton Coldfield is probably the most effective way in which you can lower the risk of falling. Our physios have a large amount of experience of assessing patients who have fallen and our physios can look at all the factors that are causing a person to fall and come up with a clear plan to reduce this risk.
9. Do some strengthening exercises: as discussed above getting weaker can lead to having falls and as such doing some basic strengthening exercises can really help. These can quite easily be done at home and we have a whole article about this.
10. Do some balance exercises: as with strength, falls are highly linked to reduced balance and even if you think that you are never going to be a tight rope walker improving your balance even just a little bit can often make a big difference to the likelihood of falling. Check out our article here for ideas on how to improve your balance.

Okay, I think we have covered a large amount about how our mobile physiotherapy service for falls prevention in Sutton Coldfield works. I hope that you have found this article about falls prevention in Sutton Coldfield helpful. Should anyone you know have had a fall and need help with physiotherapy at home in Sutton Coldfield please get in touch and one of our mobile physios would be happy to visit them at home. Just to remind you we are a home visit physiotherapy service in Sutton Coldfield and our physios are mobile and will come out to you at home.