What constitutes a "fall"?

grandtanteJE65 Sorry to diabuse you, but it if you are over 65 and trip or fall, the medical people will talk of you 'having a fall'. A friend in his 60s broke his ankle when he politely stepped out of someone's way and ended half on and off a high kerb.

He was incensed because not only did they consistently describe it as 'having a fall' but encouraged him to attend a 'fall clinic' and gave him a help sheet advising him not to wear worn out slippers round the house, tidy away cables etc and remove all trip hazards. - good advice, but not needed.

I tripped on the stairs the other week, luckily i was able to stop myself actually falling but i did run down the last few steps pretty quickly, catching my hand on the banister on the way down. I now have a cresent shaped scar on my hand to remind me constantly to hold both the bannister and the rail!!!!

I thought when "having a fall" was said of the elder generation, it meant that there was no real or discernable reason for it.

If you trip, stumble etc. it is usually over something.

If you have a fall, you lose your balance and fall and don't know why.

Am I barking up the wrong tree?

I recently fell because I stood on a piece of broken brick that I hadn't seen. It wobble under me and I followed suit.
If I had wobbled on nothing, then I suppose you could say I had had a fall.

It's a clumsy expression, surely "I fell" is all we need to say?

Yeah right!

Those tears are for your pain, btw, not laughter.
Honest

I think I'd be astonished too ???
Especially as there's a drop of several feet between us and next door and we have blackberries on our side!

Callistemon The worst part of landing flat on a fence panel was having my fingers trapped over the top of it and my not inconsiderable weight holding them in place until I was hauled back up! The worst bit was seeing the look of astonishment on the faces of house holders!

Chewbacca

Is it a fall if you're holding onto a high fence, whilst peering nosying into a neighbour's garden, and the fence just falls flat, into that garden, whilst you're still clinging to it?

It's called karma!

She 'had a fall' when making her bed.
I managed that without blood pressure medication!
Leg in plaster for 7 weeks.

Mind was ahead of movement.

Hetty58

It absolutely is a fall when it's due to medication. In fact, certain medications, including BP meds, increase the risk for falls.

I always thought a stumble was when you nearly fell to the ground and a fall was when you actually hit the ground.
Either way i do both on a regular bacis.

Chewbacca that made me laugh

Is it a fall if you're holding onto a high fence, whilst peering nosying into a neighbour's garden, and the fence just falls flat, into that garden, whilst you're still clinging to it?

Is a fall still a fall when due to medication?

My friend was put on blood pressure pills. They always tend to start with the cheapest ones, in her case Amlodipine.

They made her quite dizzy so she was advised to stand up slowly after sitting. I thought she should change to a different type, but, unlike me, she trusts doctors and tends not to argue with them.

She 'had a fall' when making her bed. Having tucked in the sheets, she stood up (from squatting) too quickly.

' I stood up and just kept going backwards!' she said. Her head hit the corner of a dressing table and she needed stitches!

My most spectacular fall was late one Christmas night, when I went out to lock the garage to protect the booze.
I didn't realise there had been a flash freeze, slipped on the icy steps, bounced down them and ended up partially under DH's car.
My husband was oblivious to my screams and the fact that I hadn't come back into the house.
A neighbour heard me screaming and came to help.
I walked about and worked as a teacher for 6 months in agony, not realising I had two fractured vertebrae. ? I ended up having cement injected into my spine. I was very fortunate that my RA consultant realised something was very wrong.

So basically I slipped and also fell!

I hope you feel better soon grumppa, it does shake you up.

I have tried to slow up as things just seem to appear from nowhere and trip me up.

Presumably I'm not allowed to use my usual term on GN now, ie "I went fl***g"!
I'll have to use "arse over tip" instead, not at all ladylike!

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I wouldn’t think I had had a fall unless there was no physical explanation (uneven kerb, crooked paving stone, step I hadn’t noticed) for my going a over t. My most recent three - over about five years, I hasten to add- were caused by the French windowsill at home, and by not looking where I was going in two Essex estuary towns, neither of which was remotely to blame. I am currently nursing a swollen elbow, a sore hip, and a tender wrist. But I have never had a fall!

It can happen any time although falling over is usually not something I do too often. The last time it happened was when my car was parked near a grass verge, it had been raining heavily and the grass area was heavily wet. I was wearing trainers and both feet were splogging in the area. I lifted one foot to try to get in the car and the other foot/ shoe filled up with muddy water, the next thing I knew I fell back and landed on my bottom into muddy grass area there was nobody around so i got myself up got in the car and drove home.

I had a trip/slip/fall back in spring. I had gone to a neighbour to tell her that a roof tile had come off her roof. We didn't know each other at this point.

Stood in the front garden of her house passing the time of day. I turned to leave and failed to notice the very small wooden edging to her flower bed. In a patchj of mud my foot slipped.I caught the bedging with my heel as I was turnin round. in slow motion, I stumbled sideways, feet gone from under me and arms spinning like a windmill. I thought, as I fell, I can stop this, its not too late. At exactly that moment, my twisted knee gave way and I crashed to the floor.

My neighbour was horrified. I jumped up (that's a slight exaggeration but hey) brushed myself off saying “I'm fine, I'm fine” over and over. I limped off to the car where my OH was waiting, folded over with laughter, tearing running down his face.

So I think I had all three on that occasion, trip,slip and fall.

Grandad1943 ??

Interesting question and thread Phoenix

I don’t think I have ever had ‘a fall’ or have I ?

From a very young age I have ‘gone flying ‘ numerous times ..
? Launching forwards with my hands out ready to break ‘the fall’
I somehow manage to drip over thin air and always have done .
Falling upstairs is one of my specialities . I have very flat feet and the reason was put down to this , poor balance ?

I have never really hurt myself , other than feeling ridiculous in public of course .

My walk-in shower doesn’t have a door or shower curtain so I would fly out through the opening I walked in through I guess?

After three trips and a slip, leaving me with a broken shoulder, a gashed eyebrow and one bruised and one cracked rib, I was referred to the falls clinic at our local hospital. It was very reassuring when the consultant determined that there was nothing wrong with my balance, my eyesight or my age (then 78). I am just careless!

I like your thinking Grandad !