It's happened. I've 'had a fall'.

[Strawbag]

I haven't fallen over in years. I think the last time was holding baby ds and I tried to step over the baby gate, but being young and agile I managed to save ds and most of myself.

Today I was coming back in from the garden and I'm not sure if I missed the step or my foot slid off but I came crashing down like a felled tree, taking the bin with me and almost crushing ddog to death. Most of my weight went on my knee that is very stiff and sore now, as well as a bruised foot and dented pride. It was quite a while before I could get back up again.

I feel a bit weird now and almost, vulnerable? Like I can no longer just spring back up and shake it off. Oh, the joys of getting older 🙄

I have problems with my foot & leg that make falls more common nowadays. The last one was a couple of weeks ago in the garden, where I ended up smashing my face into the flagstones. My knees are still massively swollen & bruised and my face hasn't healed yet either.

Falls can leave you feeling very vulnerable. I keep reliving it in my head and this ine has left me feeling very down.

Oh my goodness, I had my first “fall” about two years ago, & I’m 39!!!

See - i fell down the steps coming out of Laura Ashley in town when i was mid 30s (and an old lady helped me up 🙄) but, as pp said, it was funny so i didn't feel it wasn't 'a fall'. The bruise to my ego felt worse than the ones on my shins.

It's awful isn't it, getting scared of falling as you get older, balance going to shit, not daring to walk up steep banks or step off a high kerb

Does it count as having a fall if it's out of bed , landed fully on the floor slightly banged my head on the bedside cabinet and just missed squashing the dog.
If not then I have fallen twice once going up the driveway and once coming down.

In the business this is known as a mechanical fall.

It’s not a signifier of impending frailty OP, fear not.

This is why we should all do functional fitness!

So that if we fall over we can get back up!

I was doing really well with until I had an accident & spent 5 weeks on the sofa with my leg elevated!

At 56 I'm finding it really hard to get going again! 😕

I'm clumsy so I've fallen spectacularly for many years, but never hurt myself. Including a full backward roll out of a car onto tarmac.

I felt the same way as you last year when one winter's morning I was sauntering down the garden path in the dark on my way to work and the next minute I was lying down in the wet, cold flower bed unable to get a breath or stand back up. I'd knocked my glasses off and handbag had gone flying (how - it's a crossbody?). I had to crawl around rooting in the vegetation for my phone and glasses and ring my husband to come and both see my humiliation and assist with the lifting operation.

I had just recovered my confidence slowly and I went down like a sack of spuds over two months ago in broad daylight wearing trainers on a busy Saturday lunchtime in the city centre. My knee still hurts now, not as much as my pride did then when a lady who must have been in her seventies, slim, we'll dressed and gracious tried to help my undignified clumsy clod self up.

Mortified.

I was in the under stairs cupboard last week and was trying to get out my metal filing box, which I managed, but as I tried to stand up I fell backwards on my bum cheek still holding the metal filing box. I was shouting to my husband who thankfully came running to help but I felt so silly. My bum cheek is still sore! I'm pretty fit and healthy but yes, I agree, its getting harder to get back up these days!

Your poor face!
and
Yes i agree.

At my age I should not need a week's thinking time to to get down onto the floor and get back up again!

I have been doing some floor exercises twice a day over the last few weeks (to build tummy muscles up a bit) and this morning i noticed i'm getting up off the floor with a bit more grace than when i started.

I’m 36 and fell last weekend . Really bad sprained ankle . Still very swollen and bruised . Definitely feel vulnerable too . I’ve not been to minor injuries as assume it’s a sprain as I can weight bare . I’ve got a disabled son with high care needs and it’s made me realise had I broken it we would both be in serious trouble as he’s 2:1 so family cannot care for him

Oh, sorry it was MaidOfSteel who hit her face!

But to everyone who's hurt themselves.

Oooh I feel ya.

I'd tell you my last 'fall' but I forget what it was right now. But yes the funny feeling you get for weeks after.

I've never been all that great at staying upright, but the older I get, the more it hurts and the harder to get back up.
Just a slight aside, back at the beginning of menopause I had to clamber down to my knees to pick up a broken bowl. Managed that but getting back up I had to slide towards a worktop and haul myself back up. My entire weight on one hand (cos the other was broken) I remember thinking 2 things, one I may still be here next week and two if this is menopause, you can shove it. I went on HRT and it did definitely help a bit, not as much as I hoped but on HRT I could actually move.

I nearly fell on holiday last year, I turned round to look behind on a spiral staircase, fortunately jumped down 2 steps and managed to regain my balance.

You're lucky @Countmeout, no way would I have been able to jump down two steps, my knees are properly knackered and one big step can result in hideous stabbing pain. I think I would have toppled gracelessly. I'm only 52 and fortunately don't fall much (although I can't judge distances and bang bits of myself against bits of the house all the time!)

Yep, sorry OP, but that’s a fall. Welcome to the bit-less-fun side of the hill.

‘Falling over’ is completely different - you feel a bit of a twat but it’s basically funny and you just have to get over your injured pride.

‘Having a fall’ is fucking awful - still funny in retrospect (and in the telling, obvs, especially to all of your girlfriends of a similar age), but totally shocking in the moment, and makes you a little bit nervous of doing the same again, so no matter how strong and fit you are, you start to question yourself. The fear of injury is so much greater, even in your 40s, than it would have been a few years earlier.

As a veteran of 2 pretty spectacular running wipeouts (one of which left me with shredded leggings, a dislocated jaw, a black eye and broken ribs), I can still see the funny side, but the terror of my failing eyesight causing me to do it a third time (and potentially giving myself a broken hip or some other fucking pensioner injury) has led to me stopping running completely in my mid 50s. So yeah, ‘having a fall’ - funny, but also a bit shit.

My SIL just phoned me-she went out, turned to lock the door, and fell over. She's broken her left arm, near the wrist. She has been suffering vertigo, so that might have something to do with it.

When in my 50s I tripped over the kerb right outside an old people's home breaking my glasses and grazing my knees ; two sweet old ladies who looked to be in their 80s came to my aid. The shame....

Oh, I so sympathise. I have problems with my spine that make it hard to lift my feet properly or balance well, so I trip easily & can’t recover myself if I start to go down.
Fallen really badly three times in the last year. Last time was on the flagstones in the garden, went flat on my face, result two black eyes & a fractured nose & a scan to see if I had bleeding on my brain, luckily not but took three months for my face to look normal again.
It’s really shaken my confidence & made me so wary of falling again

Yes it is rape but your comment will be lost on here as the thread is about something else . I’d advise starting your own thread . Take care of yourself and seek support from trusted sources such as Samaritans 116123 or rape crisis

Aged 20 I fell down half a flight of stairs, wedge heels on council linoleum treads. Six weeks before my wedding was on crutches torn ligaments that ankle took an age to recover. Aged 30 on an icy pavement wrenched knee I limped until a holiday abroad with lots of swimming.

I've had a few trips since then down a couple of steps onto my knees but I was tiddly so relaxed. 😂

Since having BPV my balance is impaired so I'm very cautious add in low BP when I stand up quickly I'm really careful

I fell and broke my arm and dislocated my shoulder, I was only 33 but it really made me view the world differently. Up until then I'd never worried about falling over, learned to iceskate in my late 20s and fell loads of times but suddenly I realised I could break.

It really does shake you up doesn't it.

I had my fall a month ago. Slipped off the bloody pavement and broke my foot. Didn't realise it at first I had bruised hands and knees, drove home and next morning my foot was black and blue and swollen. Nice break. I'm still hobbling about. Next fracture clinic appointment next week.
So how old make it a fall compared to falling over.

I fell down my drive about 16 years ago I was about 49 and broke a toe. Soft tissue damage to my upper arm which still niggles occasionally and a spectacular black eye. DH took me to a & e and when we were coming home he said he felt as if people were looking at him in an accusing way 😂😂. Poor bloke walking with a woman in plaster and a sling and a bashed up face.
Needless to say I am now very careful walking down my drive.

Gosh, some of these falls sound painful! 😫 healing vibes and extra gin for everyone.

@MumSsparkles Sorry that happend to you. You'll get better responses if you start your own thread in relationships.