Staying Steady at Home: Falls Prevention in Kent

About one in three people over 65 has a fall each year. Many falls cause no serious injury, but they knock confidence. People go out less, move less and get weaker, which makes another fall more likely. The good news is that the right exercise can break that circle, and it can all be done at home.

Why do falls happen?

A fall is rarely down to one thing. Usually several small things add up:

• Weaker legs, the most common cause and the most fixable
• Slower balance reactions, so a trip turns into a fall
• Some medicines, such as blood pressure tablets and sleeping tablets. Ask your GP or pharmacist for a review; never stop a medicine on your own.
• Feeling dizzy when standing up, from a drop in blood pressure
• Eyesight, and varifocal glasses that blur the edge of a step
• Feet and footwear, especially loose slippers
• The home itself: rugs, clutter, poor lighting and stairs with one rail
• Fear of falling, which makes people walk stiffly and less steadily

Kent homes bring their own challenges

Many Kent towns have older terraces and converted seafront flats with steep, narrow stairs, from Margate and Ramsgate to Folkestone and Deal. Hilly streets in places like Rochester and Sevenoaks, and slippery front paths in the wet, add to the risk outside. In the villages, the nearest shop or bus stop can be a long walk. A falls plan should take all of this into account.

What really reduces falls?

Exercise is the best-proven way to cut falls, but it has to be the right kind:

• Balance practice that is a real challenge, such as standing with your feet closer together, stepping in different directions and turning
• Leg strengthening that gets harder over time, such as standing up from a chair without using your hands
• Done regularly, at least two or three times a week, and kept going for several months

Walking is good for health and mood, but on its own it does not build enough strength or balance to cut falls. Gentle seated exercises have the same problem.

What does a home falls check involve?

A first visit looks at three things.

You: simple tests such as how many times you can stand up from a chair in thirty seconds, how long you can balance with one foot in front of the other, and how you walk and turn.

Your home: the stairs and rails, lighting, rugs, the bathroom, the height of your bed and chair, and the route to the toilet at night.

Your goals: what you have stopped doing and would like to do again, such as getting to the shops, the seafront or the bus stop on your own.

You are then given a short routine, usually done in the kitchen holding the worktop, that gets harder as you get stronger.

If you have already fallen

Tell your GP, even if you were not hurt. If you could not get up by yourself, practising how to get up from the floor safely is an important part of the plan. The NHS has falls services in Kent, and your GP can refer you. Private home physiotherapy can help if you would rather not wait, or if you want more visits.

Home visits across Kent

Falls checks and strength and balance programmes are available at home in Maidstone, Canterbury, Tunbridge Wells, Ashford, Chatham, Dartford, Margate, Folkestone, Dover and across Kent.

About Srikanth Kalaga

Srikanth Kalaga is an HCPC registered physiotherapist (PH75406), a member of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy and the founder of Axis Physiotherapy. He holds an MSc in neurological physiotherapy, spent 17 years in the NHS, and with the Axis team provides home visit physiotherapy in Maidstone, Canterbury, Tunbridge Wells, Ashford, Chatham, Dartford, Margate, Folkestone, Dover and across Kent.

Read Srikanth's profile or call 020 8090 4979.

Please mention Mobile Physiotherapist.co.uk when you call.