Terrified of falling again.

[angieloumc]

On Saturday myself and DD went to York for a uni visit. As many will know there are a lot of cobbled and Yorkshire stone pavements and roads. Somehow on walking on a relatively straight path I fell. I didn't trip or stumble I just seemed to lose my balance. I fell flat on my face, my feet came up in the air apparently! I fortunately didn't hit my face as I flung my hands out.
My DD said it was as if a gust of wind took me forward, I got up fairly quickly and gave no breaks or sprains just some bruising and still ache all over.
Rather pathetically I keep thinking about it and worrying I might fall again. I've been wondering if I ought to buy a fold up walking stick. I'm 52, a bit overweight but otherwise in good health but feeling a little vulnerable in case it happens again.

It sounds like it has given you quite a shock so I think it is entirely understandable you are worried about it happening again.

I would say if the fall happened in the last few days, give it a week or two and see if your feelings start returning to normal. If you are still worried, talk to your GP because this fear could really affect your life. I'm not sure what the best solution but your GP will know al. About this. Best of luck OP.

I am 44 and fell in a similar way a year ago. It was in the winter and I fell flat on my face, right into the main road through our village. I was walking our dog and the force of impact knocked the lead from my hand. I was worried about falling again for a few weeks and it shook me up more than I would expect. I kept thinking what if a car had hit me or my dog had run off and got hurt. Give yourself a bit of time and hopefully you will feel more confident again.

Thank you both for your replies. I'll do that and give it a bit of time, I think I was very shaken up by it I'm clearly not as tough as I thought.

Do you do any exercise ?
Perhaps some yoga or core exercises might help your stability, and your confidence.

Yy to yoga or pilates. We get unused to falling over as adults, OP, so it can come as a bit of a shock. When you've had time to get over it, you'll realise that really no harm was done. Children, and adults who do various sports, are used to the odd fall and some bruises here and there.

I used to twist my ankle really easily, which sometimes caused me to fall. I took up running and yoga and it massively improved my strength and balance. I don't run any more, but do plenty of walking, often on hilly and uneven ground, is still do the yoga. I don't have weak ankles any more! (I'm 50 and also a little bit overweight).

I've done this twice, have such weak ankles and hypermobility I have no idea what to do for my ankles at all.

I do normally walk a lot but maybe trying something like yoga would help, thank you for the idea.

Yes it's brilliant for balance. The other thing that's great for that is tai chi. I taught myself a standard tai chi sequence during lockdown from YouTube videos. The sequence only takes a few minutes to do, once you've learned it. I usually do it a few times a day (often while I'm waiting for the kettle to boil )