Regrettably, your overall health and wellness have a tendency to deteriorate as you age. Eyesight and hearing often weaken over time, and you also become more susceptible to suffering serious injuries as your strength and muscle mass start to decline. In particular, your risk of suffering a serious injury after a slip or fall tends to spike as you age, with AgingCare.com reporting that one in three senior citizens takes a fall every year.
There are a number of factors that make you, as an older American, someone who is more prone to falling and injuring yourself as a result, and these factors can combine with one another and enhance your risk even further. Your chance of suffering a serious slip-and-fall accident tends to increase if you:
Take certain medications
Many seniors take medication on a daily basis, and certain prescription medicines, such as some antipsychotics and sedatives, can affect you in a way that is not entirely different than alcohol. In other words, they can cause blurred vision, dizziness and related symptoms that have the capacity to increase your risk of taking a fall.
Are recovering from surgery
Surgeries are also common among older generations, and you may find that your risk of falling increases during your recovery period. You may feel pain or stiffness as you recover from surgery that may lead you to favor one side of your body as opposed to the other, or you may be taking pain medications to ease the recovery process that also boost your chances of a fall.
Have certain diseases or ailments
Certain conditions that are common among older generations, such as Alzheimer’s disease and arthritis, can cause you to lose control over your muscles and lead to diminished strength. Some diseases cause cognitive issues, and these also contribute to your risk of falling down.
Are less active than you once were
If you are like most people, your level of physical activity tends to decrease as you age, and this, too, can boost your chance of falling and suffering a serious injury as a result. Not getting regular exercise causes weakness, bone loss and a reduction in flexibility, and these factors can make you less steady on your feet and more likely to take a tumble.
You are less likely to injure yourself in this manner if you take proper precautions around your home and anywhere you visit. If you suffer a fall-related injury because of someone else’s negligence, you may want to get in touch with a lawyer.
