It's such a shock when you fall

MarkD said:
I've noticed my balance isn't everything it used to be. It seemingly used to operate on automatic, so much so that I came to count on it and didn't worry about good traction on a hill. That's no longer there.

But my wife is the one who took another tumble just yesterday. She went to kick a plastic bottle on the ground and lost her balance. In December she tried to step off a too-tall curb and fell. Before that she tripped on some uneven concrete in her studio and face planted. I can see where this is going. Falling really is the enemy as Atul Gawande says in the book On Being Mortal.
Click to expand...
Maybe she needs eyeglasses? Stronger lenses?
 
I walk very fast.. always have. half my problem is because I walk so fast...I'm very nimble.. and light on my feet... but because I'm always walking or moving fast, I get into trouble, and trip....

People say slwo down, but in all honesty I often feel that slowing down is the start of a slippery slope ( no pun intended).. because once you start to slow down, you're always going to be slow and afraid..

I'm still in my 60's.. albeit Just... but even despite the OA in my knees.. I still can climb the stairs in my house easily.sometimes run up the stairs .( aside from when it's a very painful flair)... and I do about 30 times a day, every day ...( my office room is upstairs)... ..however I am more careful about going downstairs... and have 2 handrails either side.. just in case..
 
Last edited:
MarkD said:
I've noticed my balance isn't everything it used to be. It seemingly used to operate on automatic, so much so that I came to count on it and didn't worry about good traction on a hill. That's no longer there.

But my wife is the one who took another tumble just yesterday. She went to kick a plastic bottle on the ground and lost her balance. In December she tried to step off a too-tall curb and fell. Before that she tripped on some uneven concrete in her studio and face planted. I can see where this is going. Falling really is the enemy as Atul Gawande says in the book On Being Mortal.
Click to expand...
Why would she kick trash?
 
3 times I tripped over some electric cord, (uninjured from the falls). One time, while walking towards my living room couch/sofa, my left foot slipper jammed into my carpet and as I fell forward my right foot hit the carpet and I immediately pushed it down hard on the carpet and propelled myself face first into the couch uninjured. Ha

Had a “nightmare” experience trip and fall when listening to a television show through T V headphones, and wearing very flimsy shorty P Js and was headed towards the bathroom. I tripped on a computer electric cord and as I fell, I said, “God help me!” Well I didn’t know I’d said it loud enough for the young woman upstairs to hear me. She ran down the stairs, pounded on my apt. door, but I did not hear her.

She then phoned the landlord (I had gotten myself up my then with only a few bruises on my left leg and was in the bathroom.) Well, as I was sitting on the ‘throne’, barely covered by my P J top, a man (in his forties I guess) landlord) suddenly showed up in the open bathroom doorway and stood there asking me several times if I was alright.

Well I, VERY embarrassed kept telling him I was fine! He didn’t act apologetic at all, just kept talking. He finally accepted that I was fine and left. Weird!!! I didn’t realize I could have told him to get the ---- out of my apartment. I just recently learned he gave this apartment house over to his partner. Yay!
 
Rose65 said:
I felt so foolish each time.
I wondered which ways anyone else here has hurt themselves recently? Why do we do it?
Click to expand...
As we age we look for things that are associated with aging, perhaps to gauge our own travel down this line in life.

Small accidents, like falling - sliding down the stairs or missing a step, bumping my head on a cabinet door, or scalding my hand has happened all my life. Some of us, like my DH are just more clumsy all our lives and don't have the proprioception gene.

I fell down one time in my 50s on a darn tie down loop stake in the yard for the dog. I had a bowl of Cheerios with milk in my hand at the time...the dog loved the Cheerios and was madly gobbling wet Cheerios sticking to my clothes and body as well as licking milk off my arms, legs, and neck!

BUT, I felt like an idiot for trying to do two things at once: eat my Cheerios before they got soggy and let the dog back in the house at the same time.

What I find fascinating is that if ANY of us fall in public we get up as fast as we can and look around....to see if anyone saw it. :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO:
 
I recently changed the Patio from East 7' apart railings to N / S 36" apart railings.
I head for the Sun room to get my comfy easy seat to add to the Office chair in my office.

I usually sit on office swivel chairs, like the height and easy of getting off them. There the CAt
has upchucked on the floor, so I clean it, on my hands and knees with wet rag and soap.

So I get it cleaned up, stand up, go to sink and clean rag out. Go back for my Comfy easy seat again.
 
Just last week BF did some grocery shopping for us. He uses one of those carriages seniors use to transport groceries from the car to the house. He's a strong guy and could have just carried them y their handles the way I always do but he used the carriage and I didn't know. When I got home from work the carriage was left where it should not have been. I crashed into it then it feel on top of me.

I had to take Thurs. and Friday off from work. I'm still bruised and rubbing arnica all over my knees. No serious damage done.
 
chic said:
Just last week BF did some grocery shopping for us. He uses one of those carriages seniors use to transport groceries from the car to the house. He's a strong guy and could have just carried them y their handles the way I always do but he used the carriage and I didn't know. When I got home from work the carriage was left where it should not have been. I crashed into it then it feel on top of me.

I had to take Thurs. and Friday off from work. I'm still bruised and rubbing arnica all over my knees. No serious damage done.
Click to expand...
BF needs to be taught a serious lesson. We could have fun thinking what & how :ROFLMAO:
 
hollydolly said:
I hope you feel better today Rose, it's often the shock which gets you the most. I've fallen downstairs several times... not funny at all... and I grab for the bannister, and it almost pulls my shoulder out of it's socket

I tripped last summer as I stepped out of the back door and fell onto the gravel while holding a hot drink.. ...I really hurt myself, damaged my shoulder, and my legs... not to mention the shock of it... we just don't bounce like we used to.. I seemed to fall like a stone...just missed the edge of the concret path with my face...

leg.jpg
IMG-6514.jpg
Click to expand...
It's easy to forget how powerful gravity is until one looses their balance and in a split- second on the path we go..
bruises, scrapes and burns, ouch! My last fall was blowing leaves on a hillside in November 2023. I tripped over a
small limb on the ground covered with leaves and stuff. Luckily I fell mostly facing up hill, not so hard but startled.
 
The weirdest thing happened after my husband died. I was only in my late 50's, in good shape and had good balance but I developed an almost-crippling fear of falling. I couldn't bring myself to stand on a footstool to reach anything in an upper cabinet, getting out of the shower involved clutching anything I could find and inching out.

There was about a 4" step-down into my garage where the washer and dryer were. To go down that step, I had to hold onto the corner and carefully step down sideways like I was going down Mt. Everest.

I knew it was irrational and I knew it was ridiculous but I just couldn't get over it for the longest time. Slowly, slowly, it got better and then went away totally. I'm still careful stepping down from curbs and climbing ladders but it's because I'm a clumsy klutz, not because I'm afraid.
 
I have a mancave office in the basement, go down there a couple of times a week but usually not daily.
It would seem I have grown out of the use of stairs constantly. The home has vaulted ceilings and I
enjoy it immensely on one level too. I grew up on a Farm with the old 3 story farm home + my private
Attic Kid Cave hideout.
 
CooCooforCoCoPuffs said:
Small accidents, like falling - sliding down the stairs or missing a step, bumping my head on a cabinet door, or scalding my hand has happened all my life.
Click to expand...
True... all true. My worst fall was... probably in my late 30s and left a whole side of me bright purple and black/blue from shoulder to ankle. Worst burn was with boiling water (man, it still hurts thinking about it!) and I was 23-24. Third degree burn on my hand. Had to walk about 8 blocks to the ER. I hope if those things would have happened now, I wouldn't have blamed my age... but who knows. 🤷‍♀️
 
MarkD said:
Falling really is the enemy as Atul Gawande says in the book On Being Mortal.
Click to expand...
An excellent book.

Other than an occasional broken toe, I've never been seriously hurt in a fall. I tend to fall or walk into things because I don't always look where I'm going.

With advanced age the stakes get higher. Living in a multi-story home is out of the question for me. Even with just a couple of steps in my house it sometimes gets dicey.
 
I was cleaning the top of the refrigerator and started to get down on a little stool and to keep from falling, I took a hold of the freezer door and it flew open causing me to lose my balance and fall to the floor. I couldn't get up even with my husband trying to help. Finally, I managed to set up enough to grab a hold of a kitchen chair and got up. I was sore later but the freezer door was banged up due to grabbing it. I now watch climbing on anything to reach something too high.
 
Elsie said:
3 times I tripped over some electric cord, (uninjured from the falls). One time, while walking towards my living room couch/sofa, my left foot slipper jammed into my carpet and as I fell forward my right foot hit the carpet and I immediately pushed it down hard on the carpet and propelled myself face first into the couch uninjured. Ha

Had a “nightmare” experience trip and fall when listening to a television show through T V headphones, and wearing very flimsy shorty P Js and was headed towards the bathroom. I tripped on a computer electric cord and as I fell, I said, “God help me!” Well I didn’t know I’d said it loud enough for the young woman upstairs to hear me. She ran down the stairs, pounded on my apt. door, but I did not hear her.

She then phoned the landlord (I had gotten myself up my then with only a few bruises on my left leg and was in the bathroom.) Well, as I was sitting on the ‘throne’, barely covered by my P J top, a man (in his forties I guess) landlord) suddenly showed up in the open bathroom doorway and stood there asking me several times if I was alright.

Well I, VERY embarrassed kept telling him I was fine! He didn’t act apologetic at all, just kept talking. He finally accepted that I was fine and left. Weird!!! I didn’t realize I could have told him to get the ---- out of my apartment. I just recently learned he gave this apartment house over to his partner. Yay!
Click to expand...
Neighbor and landlord care enough to check on you and you were annoyed. Maybe the partner will not be so kind.
 
Rose65 said:
I slid downstairs this morning. I think the damage is minimal as it was only half way down. No doubt I shall pay over the next few days. Mainly carpet burns!
Recently I scalded my hand and bumped my head on a cupboard door - which I had left open and stood up into. That did hurt.
I felt so foolish each time.
I wondered which ways anyone else here has hurt themselves recently? Why do we do it?
Click to expand...
Be careful Rose! 🤗
 
Axel Slingerland said:
Ouch... Been there, done that! I'm glad you were not seriously hurt.

When I fall, I need this thing to get up...


Maidesite-Heavy-Duty-Floor-Lift-Chair-2.png


I was happy I found one used. Best $100 in ages... :)
Click to expand...
I've seen this advertised recently. Have you used it? Do you like it? I have fallen a couple of times and had to crawl to my bed and throw myself over the mattress until I could get my feet in the right position to push my self up. Knees can really pay for it.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top