We’re coming to the end of our series on balance, falls and osteoporosis . We’ve covered a lot so far in this series. I want to do a quick recap of what we’ve covered so far. First we looked at what things could cause bad balance and what to do about it. We then looked at why it’s not normal to shrink. After that, the most common signs to look for when it comes to wobbly balance and increased risk of falls.
Next we looked at the sensation of spinning and vertigo. We then switched gears back to osteoporosis and how yoga can help to avoid people bending at the spine. Following that we looked at how we were able to help one of our clients improve her balance and mobility. Then last week we again looked at how yoga can help with osteoporosis, but in more detail.
Next we looked at the sensation of spinning and vertigo. We then switched gears back to osteoporosis and how yoga can help to avoid people bending at the spine. Following that we looked at how we were able to help one of our clients improve her balance and mobility. Last week we again looked at how yoga can help with osteoporosis, but in more detail.
That’s a lot to cover in 7 weeks! This week we’ll be switching back over to balance and falls as we approach the end of this series. I talk a lot about balance and fall prevention at workshops and other speaking events. I like to bring up the “downward spiral” that can happen after having a fall. It can often be an overlooked part of falls.
If you’ve had a fall before, you’ll be able to relate to this. A lot of the time, your friends and loved ones tend to view your fall as an isolated event. Hopefully you won’t have been hurt significantly by your fall in terms of physical harm. If you weren’t injured, most people expect you to be back to usual life pretty quickly. But they don’t always account for the fact that having a fall is scary.
Even if you didn’t get hurt, you’ll probably be pretty shaken up by the incident. Fear is only one emotion that accompanies a fall. Whenever I ask people about a fall they’ve had, they all experience a wide range of emotions. Anger, disappointment or embarrassment are all among those felt emotions. Combine these with a level of fear, you can see why people will do whatever they can to avoid falling.
Simple logic tells people to avoid any activities that might put them at risk of falling again. This is where the downward spiral comes in that I mentioned earlier. It looks like this: Fall -> Fear -> Decreased strength and balance -> Increased likelihood of another fall. Avoiding certain activities means you’ll gradually start to lose strength. Also, your balance tends to worsen since you’re no longer challenging it for fear of falling. This process happens slowly over time. Before you know it, you’re even more unsteady on your feet and even more likely to fall again. And the cycle continues…
There’s one last thing I left off, as you start to limit your activities, you miss out on a lot of things that you really enjoy. Including social activities like going out with friends, taking walks with your spouse and getting outside the home in general. When you start missing out on activities that you enjoy, you no longer have as many social interactions and it’s very common to develop depression. One seemingly isolated fall can have a significant impact on your quality of life and ability to enjoy doing the things you love most.
This might sound very doom and gloom, but I just wanted to explain why talking about balance and fall prevention is so important. And I want you to know that I understand where you’re coming from if you’re feeling angry, frustrated and depressed because having a fall has had such a negative impact on your life.
I hope this series on balance, fall prevention and osteoporosis has been helpful to you. I have two more articles left in this series before we switch up to something different, so be sure to stick around for the final installments in this series. In the meantime, if you have any questions, you can call or email using the information below. Have a great week!
