Fall Prevention
March 15th, 2009
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by Mark Nutting · Filed Under: Fitness and Weight Loss
Historically, as we get older, balance starts to be a little less sure and, unless we work to correct this, a spiral of declining function begins. Fear is often the culprit that accelerates this decline.
The chances of decreasing bone mineral density, osteopenia or osteoporosis, is more likely as we age. This increases the chances of breaking bones when falls take place and that makes it scarier. Many people give in to that fear and develop what I call “the old man shuffle”. The following are compensations that, while we may think they keep us safe, actually begin to limit our ability to move fluidly and with confidence.
1) Body weight is forward so if you fall, it’s forward where you have more control and might be able to catch yourself.
2) Center of gravity never quite gets out onto the standing leg. If your center of gravity gets outside of your base of support, there’s a greater chance of falling and of not being able to save yourself. Strides become shorter and the feet tend to slide forward barely leaving the ground.
3) Finally, they start looking down at their feet as they walk. This makes sense doesn’t it? You want to see where you’re stepping. Well here’s a real interesting bit of brain research that I discovered. We’ve all heard that if we lose one sense the others are heightened. In fact, something similar takes place when all your focus is placed on watching where you are stepping. Because you rely so much on the visual, you don’t allow yourself to feel where your body is and you start to lose your sense of body position and balance.
The good news is that these are reversible conditions. Through strength and balance training, not only are your abilities improved, but so is your confidence. You can walk without fear of falling and be more self assured.
If you face these challanges, your next step (pun intended) should be to work with a Personal Trainer to create a fall prevention program for you.
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As always, well done Mark. The caveat though is that some people, especially those with neuropathy ( diabetics are at risk for this ) and stroke suffer from significant and RELATIVELY permanent ( though, the brain is more plastic then first envisioned at any age, thus improvement is indeed the goal ) decreased proprioception. Meds can improve neuropathy, but rarely normalize it. Gait training helps people cope with their deficiency. Normal aging may produce habits that can definitely be helped with balance, strength and neuromuscular training programs, but if there is a relatively permanent damage, then these coping ( cheating mechanisms ) may be neccessary to compensate for the proprioceptive loss. The key is to train these more severely impaired people, see what can be improved upon, and then more effectively teach them to cheat when neccessary.