Having a fall…or falling

I fall over quite a lot, sometimes sĺowly other times with a hefty wallop, doesn't matter which as I can't get up due to my m.s. Reluctantly call the paramedics for help( live on my own) they are so kind snd soon get me up but always say " you've had a fall" NO I've fallen over. I will try the exercise of swinging opp arms to legs to see if this helps my balance. Merry Christmas and hopefully a peaceful 2026 for everyone.

Don’t Americans have a fall while we have an autumn?

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I am trying to think of better words instead of the Had a Fall which seems to incorrectly encompass too many things and smack of ageism.

A 5 year old trips or falls over his feet. Has a tumble. Never "Has a Fall".

Is it a medical understanding or shorthand for the type of crumpling fall due to dizziness or low blood pressure whivh is so different from tripping over the hoover or stumbling over a tree root or unevrn pavement. Not watching where you are going up or down the stairs. Carrying something so you dont see where your feet are going. In essence something which can happen to anyone of any age. But past 70 you "Had a Fzll" often whispered.

And sadly to say I have done a Norman Wisdom or even done a Norman only those over 70 will understand!

Completely agree. People say it about themselves without even thinking how patronising and ageist it is. Grrrr. 👿

Well I have suddenly become my lovely which might not be entirely accurate…..

I do not have words which make me cross - but I do notice with interest that no one calls a 20 year old 'sprightly'! It does seem to include the idea of age.

The descriptive expression I hate is "Boomer". I think it should be forbidden like the N word because I find it deeply offensive. Especially as I belong to the so-called "Silent" generation. I am anything BUT silent.

My walking has improved significantly since I started wearing walking boots for ankle support. I can speed up a bit too. Merrell lightweight boots are ideal.

I'm afraid there does come a point where you can fall for no explicable reason.

As I recently said in another thread, exercises to strengthen legs and ankles and making sure you can see well, especially the floor, will help. They will, however, only prevent trips and falls, but not falls due to frailty, dizziness, disorientation or weakness.

We have baby gates to stop the dog entering the kitchen (where the cat is fed) and bathroom (litter box- indoor cat). I was carrying an enormous bundle of dry clothes fresh from the dryer and tripped over the gate base. I went over sideways, still holding the clothes, landing against a sturdy bookcase, gate entangled in my legs.

The bruises were spectacular!

My DD now insists I use a long plastic-suckered bathmat when I shower or have a bath...!

KathrynP Thank you for sharing your technique for helping your DH get up whwn he falls.

My DH is frail, but, as yet, falling is not a problem but........ Your wizard wheezz, will be remembered in case it is ever necessary.

I don’t really mind what people call it if my husband is on the ground, I just need help getting him up. In our town, we are only allowed to fall over between 9-5 Mon - Fri as the Falls Team only operate then. I have found that my blow up electric airbed is a brilliant aid. I lay it out beside him and roll him onto it then switch it on. He does look rather like a hot dog in a roll for a few seconds but it brings him up to a level where he can sit up and stand. He has mobility problems due to dementia and I always check him for injuries first. Saves calling 999 and the long wait on a hard floor. He rarely hurts himself.

HelterSkelter1. It could be run by Frank Spencer maybe. I can still see in my mind the episode where he was in the loft and fell through the ceiling . No w that could be called having a fall🤣

I think that ‘having a fall’ can be a medical description for an older person falling due to a disability or medical condition, not just being clumsy, my OH is disabled due to a brain injury which has affected his balance so he can ‘have a fall’ which could in his case be very serious.
But medical staff should not apply this phrase to anyone over a certain age who may just have been clumsy is inaccurate and lazy.

What ever I did last Monday aged 79 resulted in a painful swollen knee , bruised iliac crest, broken glasses cuts from my teeth to the inside of my mouth , large cut on my upper lip and a nose bleed. Generally very shaken up. Resident drs on strike so steristrips to the cut applied and I plod on more carefully.

I tripped last year on holiday, caught the open tie on sandal on concrete stepping stone hidden in grass. I fell, was that having a fall? To me is was a full front slam dunk!

Yes I can see there's a subtle difference that Jo Brand could pick up on & make a bit of a gag out of, but tbh I wouldn't be bothered whether people said "she's fallen" or "she's had a fall". I can't get that the latter is inaccurate or obviously patronising.

In medical circles there is the "mechanical fall". Very common usage but in my experience there's not a little variation in what people think it means!

Jaxjacky

I slipped on wet leaves last week and broke my hip, the surgeon called me robust, I didn’t have a fall.

Sorry to hear about your hip, but delighted to hear that you were described as "robust", I'd rather like that myself....

I have long had a tenancy to either catch my toes on uneven street paving, or simply go over on my ankle, resulting in my staggering several yards down the road, trying to stay on my feet, and not always successfully.

It really doesn't bother me whether someone refers that as 'falling' or 'having a fall'.

My main concern is that a) I am OK, or b), if I am not OK (still hypothetical as this hasn't happened yet), I am given the help I need.

Honestly, with all the genuinely awful things that happen in life, I just can't get het up over this one.

Mind you, there are many equally trivial things that I am not so laid back about 😂

Riversidegirl

My DH was reading a doctor's notes in his NHS app. It said"speaks in full sentences". Goodness knows what she was expecting!

I love this!

labazs

due to a problem with my blood pressure i had several serious falls in the summer. more than anything i felt a right idiot afterwards! luckily I am a bigger lady so I bounced just a few bruises nothing too serious but I am clumsy at the best of times. if i can walk into it trip over it or fall over it then I will!

I'm a bit of a bouncer too labazs, I often fall over things that I just haven't seen, last month it was the dishwasher door late at night when I didn't have all the lights on. It refused to work afterwards and when the engineer came he laughed and unbent the front of the basket, apparently it happens all the time - the bent basket was simply stopping the door from closing properly. I felt a right idiot too!

My DH was reading a doctor's notes in his NHS app. It said"speaks in full sentences". Goodness knows what she was expecting!

I agree with Flutterby about this. I am very aware from the experience of my late DH that loss of balance at 87 was the beginning of the end.
My balance so far is all right, but I take more care than I used to. If I were to fall, I would say, I had a fall.

due to a problem with my blood pressure i had several serious falls in the summer. more than anything i felt a right idiot afterwards! luckily I am a bigger lady so I bounced just a few bruises nothing too serious but I am clumsy at the best of times. if i can walk into it trip over it or fall over it then I will!