I\u2019ve backpacked up and down and across the Sierra many times. I\u2019ve climbed a couple of 14,000-foot peaks. I\u2019ve cycled thousands of miles on my road bike, mountain bike and, now, my class 1 e-bike. That\u2019s my brag (knowing that many people have accomplished far more than that).<\/p>\n
The hubris is in thinking at 74, I can still do everything I used to. A couple of weeks ago, I was hiking with my sister and hit a steep trail strewn with dry dirt and dusty leaves. Yep. I literally hit the trail \u2013 a hard header with a double bounce. My \u201csmart\u201d watch called 911 and my husband immediately. He was able to get me to a hospital emergency department, where experts determined no brain bleed, but confirmed a concussion, strained neck, sprained wrist and a soon-to-be-colorful black eye that I had to explain wasn\u2019t my makeup running.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m lucky I didn\u2019t break anything, but after a fall like that, years of hiking confidence flies out the window and the fear of falling again comes flying back in. It made me feel older and more vulnerable in a flash, especially since healing takes longer than it used to at my age.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve learned lessons I should have known the hard way: check the treads on my shoes; make sure they haven\u2019t worn away even a little bit. A hiking pole or two helps reduce strain on the joints, improves balance and turns a hike into a full-body workout, which is pretty great.<\/p>\n
At a Vivalon \u201cfall prevention\u201d presentation recently, I also learned that my fall was far from unusual. Note: Vivalon also offers some great fall prevention classes.<\/p>\n
There are an average of 6.5 fall-related 911 calls per day in Marin. Most are for ground- or low-level falls.<\/p>\n
Of accidental injury deaths for those 60 and older, 75% involve head and hip injuries.\u00a0 Those who are 80 and older face even grimmer statistics. They represent 59% of the falls and 78% of fall-related deaths. The majority of falls (70%) happen in private homes.<\/p>\n
We are all experiencing aging for the first time and everything that comes with it.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s up to us to learn how to avoid joining these scary statistics.<\/p>\n
Stay active. But get out of bed slowly, so you don\u2019t get light-headed and keel over. Add strength and balance work to your daily routine. Make sure your home environment is safe. That might mean moving the beloved rug purchased on a memorable vacation out of the hallway or making sure the dog\u2019s favorite toy isn\u2019t going to trip you on the way to bed.<\/p>\n
Bathrooms, stairs and hallways should be well lit. Darkness is not your old friend, but headlamps can be. They\u2019re easy to use and keep your hands free. Indoor motion-controlled lights are also convenient, especially if you have to get up in the middle of the night. Handrails on both sides of the stairs and grab bars add confidence and safety. Your family and\/or caregivers need to know what medications you take in case they cause dizziness or instability. That information also helps a first responder assess a situation if they are called to your home for a \u201clift assist\u201d or anything else after a fall.<\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t signal weakness to wear a \u201cfall alert\u201d device or watch. It could get you out of a bad predicament or even save your life \u2013 especially if you are alone.<\/p>\n
We get older. We fall more. And some of those falls can be pretty nasty. I\u2019m grateful I have those tools to use so I can still hike, even if it\u2019s not at 14,000 feet. I\u2019m looking forward to getting back on my bike, even if it\u2019s just running some errands in town and not a 100-mile expedition.<\/p>\n
Check out Vivalon\u2019s fall prevention classes and\u00a0 join Live Well Mill Valley\u2019s \u201cMove Better\/Live Better\u201d fall prevention event at the Depot on Oct. 15 from 10 a.m. to noon.<\/p>\n
Kristi Denton Cohen is a former chair of the Marin County Commission on Aging. She is currently the chair of Live Well Mill Valley, an Age Friendly group.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I\u2019ve backpacked up and down and across the Sierra many times. I\u2019ve climbed a couple of 14,000-foot peaks.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":364527,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[5425,2136,18281,2953,107760,135189,9,24,55,54,370,29883,29884,56,299,2956,135190],"class_list":["post-364526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-aging","tag-california","tag-commentary","tag-health","tag-marin-county","tag-marin-voice","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-newsletter","tag-north-bay","tag-northern-california","tag-ny","tag-opinion","tag-senior-citizens","tag-vivalon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=364526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364526\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/364527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}