At what age?

[pineing]

Quick straw poll please!

At what age and under what circumstances do you think it is acceptable to start saying that a person 'had a fall' instead of saying they 'fell over'?

Any age I suppose

I'm getting a real sense of deja vu here.

It isn’t age so much as how it happened to my ears.

So, ‘had a fall’ suggests that someone wasn’t doing anything unusual beyond gentle walking and fell. Whereas ‘fell over’ suggests something happened (be it that they were running and tripped or tripped over an obstacle).

Any age
My ds is 3 an has epilepsy. Sometimes he does fall over as he has 2 left feet an doesn't look We're he is going but then if he has a mioclonic jerk an falls I note it in my book as "he had a fall"

My Nan on Xmas eve "fell over" well she slipped on black ice leaving my auntys house and broke her arm (she's 80) but the month before she had a fall in her kitchen and cut her head open!
X

The reason I'm asking is because I went to the doctor with a sore ankle the other week and she said 'Have you had a fall?'.

It made me feel like she thought I was frail and elderly, rather than an otherwise fit and healthy 50something. It made me annoyed that's all.
I'd only bashed my ankle on something in the loft, but it was still aching after about a month, so needed it checked over.

I'm getting a real sense of deja vu here

Why? @ChangeInTime Sorry, I don't know what you're on about...?

It's just semantics and your preferred phrase rather than implying you're elderly. Especially in medical terminology. Don't worry - you doc wasn't insulting you .

I get you. I always think of an old person having a fall.

Not that I think you are old though.

Just because it's an unusual question and I had a memory of someone being asked before. That was all. It just stuck in my mind.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/3503546-i-think-i-ve-just-had-a-fall-at-31

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/3688447-When-falling-over-becomes-having-a-fall

I don't think that your doctor was being insulting though. It's a pretty standard turn of phrase.

Someone asking it before that should say.

I just can't help being irritated by it.

I mean, I wouldn't describe an average adult who went arse over tip as having 'had a fall' would you? It's a term you use for someone frail and elderly, or someone with a medical condition causing a loss of balance.

@DelurkingAJ - thank you, that's exactly what I meant!

@MargotB7

It is a term doctors use whatever the age of the patient, honest. I've seen tons of medical records from babies to elderly patients with it on. 'Patient had / experienced a fall' rather than 'patient fell over'.

I don't think the doctor was being insulting, just that I was insulted!

It's like riders getting cross when people say they 'fell off' rather than being thrown off, or the horse falling and them going down with it.

My DP who is a paramedic, when he's being an arse says to me ' did you have a fall?' to wind me up so I get where you're coming from. I'm sure you just fell over.

I didn't fall over at all, that's the thing - I twisted my ankle getting it out from being jammed between two boxes in the loft when I was rummaging about in there looking for the Christmas tree.

You fell over or fell in between boxes, sounds like you needed to frame your injury around what actually happened.
Perfectly acceptable way for the dr to bring up the conversation.
A painful swollen ankle could be anything from a stress fracture, a spontaneous fracture from cancer, retained fluids; heart or kidney issues, gout...

'Had a fall' carries the insinuation that it is a regular occurrence.

Hence yes, it is a little inappropriate to use this phrase for a healthy 50yr old.

I get you, OP!

I didn't fall over at all, that's the thing - I twisted my ankle getting it out from being jammed between two boxes in the loft when I was rummaging about in there looking for the Christmas tree.

Ah, doc should have definitely asked 'did you injure yourself rummaging in your dark place for your seasonal sex foot erection' then

You fell over or fell in between boxes
No I didn't. I put my foot down in the gap between two heavy boxes. I then turned round, thinking I could get my foot out and the boxes would move. They didn't. So I had to yank it out. Coming down the loft ladder was fun.

The last time I FELL OVER was in the pub not telling you that story

'Had a fall' to me sounds like someone who fell and couldn't get up again (elderly person)

'Fell over' sounds like someone who was pissed and couldn't get up again (me)

I do remember doctors acronyms from years ago, pre Internet :

PFO - pissed, fell over
UBI - Unidentified Beer Injury

Mine was a TTWABSBMBTW.

I get you. My mum was about 68 when she first said she 'had a fall'.

Further investigation reveals she was on a chair changing a light bulb. No mum, you fell off a chair.

To me 'having a fall' implies it's because you're infirm and not because you were doing something daft or not being careful or the cat ran under your foot, sort of thing.