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I am actually pondering trying to practice my falls.
Putting your arms out to catch your fall is a sure prescription for jamming your wrists or worse.
I have found that falling on my side and hitting shoulder first is the best way to fall. I am thinking maybe I can practicing from the stop step of a swimming pool or maybe putting down a couple of mattresses, to see if I can kind of get myself to turn sideways if I am falling forwards or backwards.
Probably a fool's errand but I have a lot of time on my hands...
Falling backwards sucks. You have no control.
3 years ago I took a full face plant. I was walking in snow and ice. I stopped to check my cell phone, so my head was face down with my arms tucked in. I guess I took a small step onto ice. I fell in an instant. So fast, I couldn't register it. I woke up and apparently my forehead hit smack into the icy frozen dirt, which knocked me out briefly, and sent my glasses flying.
There is no practicing that fall. It was immediate. I guess most are. It doesn't help that my reaction time is much slower than when I was young.
So I may practice falls just for grins and "why not", but really, avoidance is your best plan. It always gets you when you least expect it. Distracted. Rushed. Falling down drunk.
But drunks never get hurt!
Not true. My ex fell when drunk on Xmas Eve about 3 years ago and broke his hip, which had to be replaced. He was 64 at the time.
Location: Was Midvalley Oregon; Now Eastside Seattle area
13,078 posts, read 7,519,082 times
Reputation: 9803
Quote:
Originally Posted by moguldreamer
We’re Retired and Healthy. But How Do We Plan for Our Decline?
An accident on vacation was an unpleasant reminder that retirement won’t always be like this
...snip...
Food for thought.
Learn to shuffle your feet early, small shuffles.
I started to slow shuffle in my early 50's when statins and fenofibrate drugs caused muscle aches/degradation (unknown to me at the time and supposedly rare in medical studies).
Today, I do the shuffle when sciatica acts up, tired, dehydrated, and low blood glucose.
Spouse harps at me for looking down, and not keeping a more upright-front posture. I'm looking for dog poop and get vertigo if I look off in the distance for too long.
Only this year, I learned the true meaning of the youngster rhyme about stepping on cracks...
My main issue is not seeing 4" curbs on my bicycle (now Ebike) and not having wings when I fly over the handle bars.
I made a comment to my wrist rehab PT: Seems to me that there are a lot of PT outfits on the Eastside of Seattle.
His reply, We have a younger population that is takes advantage of the outdoor activities.
My previous residence in Oregon, the PT clientele was more senior aged.
YPMV
Good to know I am on the right track. Reaction time is my problem today. I am old.
I used to be the best "faller" on the block as a kid.
I would run and people would "shoot me" and I would collapse. I quickly learned to fall on my shoulder, not my outstretched arms. Maybe I can practice that technique once again.
Maybe practicing would take some of the "surprise freeze" out of it. Under stress, we tend to freeze up and do nothing. If you train a certain way, you program yourself. But at least practicing falling might overcome that "panic" feel that makes you freeze when you start to go down. Maybe there would be just a minute familiarity that makes the difference.
Falls happen so fast, I doubt practicing will be of any use, but what can it hurt? Well, I could hurt myself during practice.
I started to slow shuffle in my early 50's when statins and fenofibrate drugs caused muscle aches/degradation (unknown to me at the time and supposedly rare in medical studies).
Today, I do the shuffle when sciatica acts up, tired, dehydrated, and low blood glucose.
Spouse harps at me for looking down, and not keeping a more upright-front posture. I'm looking for dog poop and get vertigo if I look off in the distance for too long.
Only this year, I learned the true meaning of the youngster rhyme about stepping on cracks...
My main issue is not seeing 4" curbs on my bicycle (now Ebike) and not having wings when I fly over the handle bars.
I made a comment to my wrist rehab PT: Seems to me that there are a lot of PT outfits on the Eastside of Seattle.
His reply, We have a younger population that is takes advantage of the outdoor activities.
My previous residence in Oregon, the PT clientele was more senior aged.
YPMV
Ooooohh! don't get me started on statins. That is like a dog whistle to me. Read that and you will never see Statins in the same light again, unless you think he is lying.
Large-scale studies have proven that statins are not generating the benefits that were predicted, and new research shows that high cholesterol may actually prevent heart disease. Worse still, millions of people in the United States and worldwide are taking statins preventatively, at great cost to their health. A complete reevaluation of the real causes of heart disease is long overdue, not to mention an inquiry into why the pharmaceutical industry continues to overprescribe statins (and market them aggressively to consumers) despite this evidence.
Statin Nation offers a new understanding of heart disease, and Justin Smith forges an innovative path away from the outdated cholesterol myth with a viable alternative model to address the real causes of heart disease.
Well, for the first time ever we are taking walking sticks (fold up kind) to Europe on vacation. We recently tried them out on local mountain trails and I couldn’t believe the difference they made in my feeling of security, and I have no balance issues.
Cobblestones are especially my nemesis. I have learned to walk with my arm through DH’s on many rural or city walks as I get involved with looking around. One misstep off a curb or a trip on a raised sidewalk could really mean disaster. We always buy travel insurance now when we never thought to do so before.
IMO, the biggest thing you can is make sure any wishes are done correctly from a legal standpoint and that there is no ambiguity.
My family has been through hell with two late 80s demented grandparents who had no will, no one had financial or medical POA, nothing done but burial plots purchased. Tons of things have happened, but who knows if this was ever really according to their wishes. It doesn’t matter now because decisions had to be made, but they put their kids behind the eight ball big time by having nothing done.
For some reason, Doctors hate heart attacks. I figure that is the best way to go over dementia or a nursing home. I would eat a bad diet to push for one, but I am likely to have a stroke instead.
As far as when I go? God can have me any time my room reservation in Heaven comes due for check in time. If I died tomorrow, it just means I beat other people to it. That is fine with me.
I hear you! I am all in for the quick heart attack. I watched my dad die a slow painful cancer death. Ugh.
Location: Was Midvalley Oregon; Now Eastside Seattle area
13,078 posts, read 7,519,082 times
Reputation: 9803
Quote:
Originally Posted by shamrock4
Well, for the first time ever we are taking walking sticks (fold up kind) to Europe on vacation. We recently tried them out on local mountain trails and I couldn’t believe the difference they made in my feeling of security, and I have no balance issues.
Cobblestones are especially my nemesis. I have learned to walk with my arm through DH’s on many rural or city walks as I get involved with looking around. One misstep off a curb or a trip on a raised sidewalk could really mean disaster. We always buy travel insurance now when we never thought to do so before.
I can tolerate maybe a 100yds of spouse holding my arm but she is a slower walker and unbalances my gait, ultimately causing sciatica/leg joints pain.
I stay in good shape, I do a lot of stretching/yoga. I try not to do stupid things where the chance of injury is higher (ie: me skiing).
I don't really think there is much more I can do. Stuff happens.
/she says the week before white water rafting
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