Balance and recent falls

[sootywooltime]

Last December 23 I was on a trip with the U3A to Rochester, Kent with friends, and I was standing outside a shop and suddenly my balance 'went' and I fell heavily sideways and broke my wrist, dislocated both my elbow and my shoulder and then, after hospital treatment, spent the next 8 weeks indoors on my own untiI I could get out again.

And then in July this year I went to reach a doorhandle to get up a step into a conservatory and missed the doorhandle and fell heavily again onto the concrete doorstep. And fractured my right hip, went to hospital as could not walk for the pain. Was told that thefracture was on the edge of the hip at the bottom of m y hip and top of my right leg, so painful but nothing could be done, so have spent the last 9 weeks again indoors on my own, and yesterday I drove again for the first time but my legs are still very painful and my balance has gone completely, and very frightened of falling again and very unstable on my feet.. I am doing leg exercises but any helpful suggestions are very welcome please.

I have Osteoporosis and have had one injection so far of the Denosunab treatment. I am 85 and doing my best to improve things but any suggestions very welcome.

[Meuslialways]

So very sorry to hear about all your falls. Have you thought of using 2 walking sticks even in the house. When outdoors I use a 3 wheel walker and when walking a bit further a 4 wheel walker which has a seat that I can rest on for a few minutes. They are definitely very good and makes life much safer. Good luck.

[Fruitandnutcase]

Gosh, really sorry to hear about all that. It sounds horrible and you must be feeling very vulnerable. A very good idea to get walkers like Meuslialways has suggested. You should be using a stick at the very least.

Did the hospital do any checks to find out what is affecting your balance? For a start could it be an inner ear problem making you fall over.

Could it be something that you are taking already - perhaps medicine for your blood pressure? Your doctor needs to look into that and see if that could be making you so fall over

Also how is your vision? Do you feel dizzy as well as your balance being affected?

Make sure you get your Prolia injections when they are due - if you are late in getting them or decide to stop them you need to take a relay drug which is usually a bisphosphonate otherwise you will leave yourself open to getting rebound fractures.

Maybe you would benefit from seeing a physio and or occupational therapist for advice and last of all I hate to say it but - are you really safe to drive?

[Jumpey]

I'm so sorry you are suffering. I think you need professional help.A physiotherapist? Or you could speak to a ROS nurse on their helpline.Good luck.

[Mavary]

Hi sootywooltime. You’ve joined my club. I’ve had four falls recently. Two were explainable but the other two I’m not really sure why it happened. I keep thinking I ought to see my Dr but keep putting it off. I think we need to do some balancing exercises but like Mueslialways said maybe you need to be using a walker when you are walking anywhere.

[ABwn]

I have had balance problems for a number of years and use a walking stick, apart from when I'm at home. I also need to concentrate when outside and walk slowly. When I'm out with a friends they are now used to me and walk at my speed. Dare not go out without the support. Like you I have osteoporosis and have had my 1st injection of Prolia last June, having had a fall and fractured my spine.Have you referred yourself to your local physiotherapy unit? I have found them invaluable. I'm 75, age doesn't appear to affect whether they see you or not.

Good luck and please get a walking stick. They now make them adjustable and can be folded up.

[ROSModerator Partner]

Welcome to our community  sootywooltime , thank you for joining us here There's been some great ideas shared already from our wonderful members, and it sounds like you've been working extremely hard to improve things. You mentioned you've started doing some exercises, so we just wanted to let you know that we have exercises to improve balance on our website: theros.org.uk/information-a...

youtu.be/dGCo3jX8PNs?si=L1h...(Not working as expected?)

We appreciate how much this has affected your life, so if you wanted to talk things through further, we'd welcome you to reach out to our helpline and chat with one of our friendly specialist nurses: theros.org.uk/information-a...

Wishing you all the best,

Lulu

ROS Moderator

[Cosmur]

activator walking poles recommended by Canadian health