In the United States, every 16 seconds someone dies due to a fall. Every 13 seconds someone is admitted to the emergency room due to a fall. The statistics are startling. The cost ramifications are exorbitant. In 2015 Medicare costs for fall-related injuries totaled $31 Billion. The average cost of a fall is $30,000. Falls are withing the 20 most expensive health care related costs. What is scary is 10,000 people turn 65 every day in the US, and 1/3 of people 65 or over will have a fall, thus doing the math the costs are projected to skyrocket.
Prevention is key. Physical activity and prevention of sedentary behaviors are paramount to fall prevention. Starting around age 20 most American begin to slow their physical activity. Activity tends to be only in a forward plane of motion - sitting to standing, walking forward, bending and lifting in the forward plane. Rarely do people engage in rotational or lateral movements. This also weakens the vestibular system - our inner ear controls for balance.
These two videos attached are to help with fall prevention, but if you are concerned about falling either for yourself or for a loved one find a good fall prevention program within a physical therapy department to help. Balance comes from 3 systems, our vision, our vestibular system and our proprioception systems. Often there is a combination of issues causing falls. Even if you have a central nervous system disorder such as MS or Parkinson's it is important to work on balance exercises. These improve quality of life and slow disease progression.
Here are some helpful resources:
https://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/falls/adultfalls.html
