Common but ignored danger to seniors

BOSTON, Mass. (WWLP) - Falling down is a common but sometimes ignored danger. Falls send more than 60,000 people to Massachusetts emergency rooms every year.  And nearly 400 of them die from their falls.   More than one third of seniors fall down every year in the country, injuring one third of those older fall victims.

“Certainly there’s hip fractures, bone fractures, but we’re seeing increasingly traumatic brain injuries as being a concern that we have to pay attention to,” said Public Health Commissioner John Auerbach.

Carol Chapman, a volunteer at the Council on Aging in Duxbury, says one common myth that some folks 65-years-old and older believe is that it won’t happen to them.  But she says, it’s happened to her, and seniors need to know it can happen to them anytime.

“We’re a society in a hurry, and being in a hurry is one of the ways we fall,” said Chapman.

Chapman suggests one way to prevent yourself from falling is to exercise and strengthen yourself.  You can do this right at home.  For example, one exercise is to take your palms, put them on your shoulders and push your elbows in.  You can do other exercises siting down by circling your ankles or standing part way up and down on your chair. 

Another recommendation is to get your eyes checked annually, as people with vision problems are more than twice as likely to fall.

“It’s very important for people to have an annual vision screening, certainly after the age of 40,” said Fran Weisse of the Massachusetts Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired.  “Because you don’t see a step, you don’t see an electrical cord, or a stool, something that you would fall over and have an accident in.”

Another tip is if you have a walker or cane, make sure you use them all the times.  Also make sure you understand all the potential side effects of any medications you may be taking.