When I was younger, I appreciated comics like Chaplin, Lloyd, the Three Stooges, and Chevy Chase for their ability to pratfall on command and not get injured. As I age and learn more about the dangers of falling, it isn’t quite as humorous, anymore.
Falling down can lead to numerous devastating repercussions, such as severe bruises, bumps, and breaks that may require surgery and/or rehab.
The following information is data that I found from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention:
Treating fall injuries is very costly. In 2013, direct medical costs for falls—what patients and insurance companies pay—totaled $34 billion. Because the U.S. population is aging, both the number of falls and the costs to treat fall injuries are likely to rise.
Each year, millions of people 65 and older are treated in emergency departments because of falls.
Over 700,000 patients a year are hospitalized because of a fall injury, most often because of a broken hip or head injury.
Fall injuries are among the 20 most expensive medical conditions.
The average hospital cost for a fall injury is $35,000.
The costs of treating fall injuries goes up with age.
Medicare pays for about 78% of the costs of falls.
Think of the lives that could be improved, the money that we could save, and the reduction in costs to the medical and insurance industries if patients could learn better balance control, increase strength and flexibility exercises, learn how to fall correctly, and create a more a cushioned environment within their living space.
Here are three resources/exercise programs you may want to consider:
Parkinson’s Disease and the Art of Moving: www.parkinsonsexercise.com
Functional Fitness for everyone living with Parkinson’s/Delay the Disease: www.delaythedisease.com
PWR!Moves Make FUNction Exercise!: www.pwr4life.org
Prevention and awareness can lead to avoiding falls. Just something to consider and ponder.
