Falling down stairs

[DinoLil]

I hope this isn't considered a TAAT but there was a post where the OP had fallen down the stairs recently, I commented that I'd done similar around the same time (again 🙄) and bust my foot.

Well, just as my foot was starting to get better, what did I do? Yep. Fell again 10 days ago. Four stairs around a corner. Broken ribs, sprained knee and ankles, cracked tailbone. Many a bruise. Two huge lumps on my head. Both legs and left arm are very colourful. Can't lift up my right arm because I've pulled something. The pain is really ridiculous.

Anyway, just to say, it is sooooo easy to slip. My stairs are steep and not very 'user friendly'. Even my dog falls up and down them. I've got onto my GP and they've sent a referral to occupational health to check out my house. I own it, it's not rented, but it's clearly not safe for a 54yr old!

I think I'm trying to say, please be careful when you live alone. Try and put safety things in place. I am a complete accident waiting to happen all the time, you'll see from previous posts involving shower curtains and dogs! Ask for a referral, get support, don't wait for Netflix to come and film a climber to ascend and descend your 10 tread stairs, no ropes, solo!

Please, be careful.

I've seen the odd phone on a lanyard but can't picture how they attach. Could you send me a link for yours please? I find better to get real people recommendations.

Gosh, is nothing safe? How about on a belt clip?

Oh gosh.. l hope you get the help.
I fell down mine and broke both hips and pelvis
. My daughter phoned aids and adaptation.. l got assessed and had a stairs lift fitted. Wet room.. hand rails and hand grabbers.. just waiting for an hip replacement and cervical spine surgery
Please be careful. Wishing you a speedy recovery x

I'm a fit and healthy 40 year old but I've had to get a motion activated light at the bottom of my stairs, so that it illuminates when I'm descending.

My bottom stair casts a shadow that my brain simply cannot compute as anything other than another stair. This repeatedly led to me stumbling on the final step. I was becoming concerned about my neurological health because I would be walking down looking at it, thinking "it's a shadow, don't do it again"...but I would! It was like some sort of optical illusion that my logical side simply couldn't override.

Anyway, motion light has solved my issue.

You poor thing. Hope you have a speedy recovery. I have had a couple of falls downstairs and it is awful. I am quite fearful of them now and take it very slowly going up and down them. I always make sure I have one hand free to grip the rail so sometimes have to make multiple trips.

A friend of mine has a awful steep narrow stairs. There are no hand rails but she got someone to install rope ones recently as there was no space for wooden ones.

In fairness, it’s the strength of convulsions that causes so much damage for me, if I was “just” falling to the floor (no disrespect meant to fallers as that’s a nightmare in itself) it’d be easier. I’ve not yet found anything better other than cased in Apple Watch. I don’t go downstairs alone any more, but things like radiators and sinks are really hard surfaces and easy to break phones and bones on.

I had a few falls down my stairs in my last house (1930's Semi, steep stairs in the middle of the house with no natural light) - one where I slipped the last 5 steps with a cup of tea in my hand - slid on my back landing somehow on my feet but the tea stain on the ceiling took some explaining ...

I put sensor lights on every other tread (downstairs bathroom) which helped.

What really helped though after tumbles at home and when out was - I figured my head thought I could move much faster than my legs actually could. I was probably mid-50's then, and apart from a bit of arthritis was fit and healthy. But did a lot of falling over ...

I moved into a bungalow at age 62 - future proofing for my solo old age.

Another thing that I've recently done is to have another landline installed upstairs. (Well ok, not really installed as such - just an extra upstairs phone synced to my router downstairs and plugged in in the bedroom). I don't carry my mobile around in the house and I had decided that I wasn't going to risk breaking my neck by falling down the stairs if it rang downstairs when I was up. It's so much better!

Christmas Day 2025 11pm im on my way to bed

How crazy that I just tidied my stairs and was worried about falling!!

all the best op ❤️, sorry to hear of your pain

I linked to one similar to mine above, here it is again for you.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/takyu-Adjustable-Universal-Compatible-Smartphone/dp/B0D5H78QHZ/ref=sr_1_17?sr=8-17

You firstly need a phone case (not a wallet type). Then you place the oblong shaped item (in the link) at the back of your phone with the "hole" facing down, then clamp phone case on top. You then attach the key ring type attachment + strap to that and wear it either around your neck or cross body. I think cross body is more stable as when around the neck it can move around, or as mentioned above can whack you in the face!

I hope that helps you figure out how to attach the lanyard. 😊

Ooh yes sinks. When I was 15 for some reason I fainted in the bathroom and cracked my head on the enamel sink. Ow!!

I do have my phone in a cover so it has some protection anyway. Am going to try the crossbody bag idea though, it should fit given the dimensions.

Good luck @GentleSheepyou probably already do, but if you carry a hot drink upstairs, it’s best in a sealed - can’t think of the word atm? Flask? Travel container? in your bag.

When I used to take tea upstairs myself, I’d put in a totally leakproof container in my bag, along with a China mug to decant it upstairs

Ouch re enamel, hate it and it’s a bugger to clean too. I also knocked myself unconscious on our bathroom sink and my head was so sore when I came round I didn’t even realise I’d broken my leg as well! Paramedics have told me that the bathroom (after kitchen related injuries inc knives/burns etc) is the most common room in the house they are called to.

It will be Occupational Therapy not Occupational Health.

If you can afford to, and if you intend to live in the house for many more years, I would recommend getting a builder in to look at the stairs. We inherited a house that had two flights of horribly dangerous narrow steep stairs which we had to change as the risk was too high. They came nowhere near to complying with modern safety standards. One flight was just a change of gradient, the other we did a bit of rejigging the configuration downstairs to enable us to have much wider stairs at a better gradient. It is so much safer. Well worth it for the peace of mind

I have read all of your posts, thank you. Thank you for the advice and thank you for links. I am so, so sorry to all of you who have had similar accidents. I would love to reply to every single post because they are all so valid but there are too many. And that's rather terrifying.

My friend's brother has been in hospital for a couple of weeks. He fell out of bed.

Advice for getting down the stairs, lighting, all so important. The PP who said about socks with rubber bits on (I call them slipper socks), that's what I was wearing at the time of my mishap. I'm terrified of them now! The occ health/therapy thing, this is what my GP sent to me... 'you need help from the community rehab team (occupational therapy + physiotherapy) & I've referred you to them today'. From what you've all reported, I shall settle in for a long wait! I've had physio for 34yrs on and off, so that will be a waste of resources and I will turn that down.

I'm going to post again with a couple of pics of my bruising. Two weeks on and more are still appearing! I'll put a sensitive photo marker on them, they're not nice.

It's just too easy to have awful accidents. Sharing advice, making sure we're all a bit more aware, taking precautions, it's got to help prevent a bruise or more. Stairs have always been my nemesis, falling up, down, pregnant, breaking things - maybe I'm just horrendously lacking in attention!

Anyway, photos in a sec...

Get checked for cervical myelopathy

Here you go. Two weeks on...

Please don't be an idiot like me.

@lifeisgoodrightnow I've just Googled that. Good lord! I do have a herniated disc, unstable SI, arthritis, trapped nerve in my shoulder, centralised pain syndrome but that sounds absolutely spot on! I was in UTC a couple of years ago because it was thought I might have cauda equina (so?) so that's good advice, thank you! Never heard of that before!

If I carry my cat upstairs what should I put him in? He's a heavy so-and-so! 😅😂

My sons friend is dyspraxic. He's an artist does the most detailed work, but my goodness has A&E on speed dial. Yet he's an amazing surfer so it's not a balance thing. He's mid forties now he says he'll probably get arthritis in all his broken joints one day.

Oh blimey that looks soooo painful!! You poor thing.

Those slipper socks are lethal for me too. UGG slippers get saggy and the heels collapse so they went in the bin. Son bought me some full sheepskin slippers which I've worn every day all autumn winter. They're very safe haven't got baggy and are cheaper than uggs. I'm on two sticks so really need safe.

For Christmas I got the yeti traveller mug with a lid. It's stainless steel, perfect for carrying whilst on sticks. They do a ceramic lined one now.

Sorry if I missed anything like this upthread, but there's lots of advice online from suitably trustworthy bodies on avoiding falls, and sometimes they make points that are so obvious that you might not actually have thought of them.

Here's a small selection:

https://sbuhb.nhs.wales/urgentout-of-hours/avoiding-injuries/

https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/falls-and-falls-prevention/falls-and-fractures-older-adults-causes-and-prevention

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/health-wellbeing/exercise/falls-prevention/

I live alone in an upstairs flat in converted old house with narrow stairs. I’m thinking of trying to move to a one level flat and I’m late 50’s