Healthy aging: Over 50 (12)
- DHEA: Evidence for anti-aging claims is weak
- Sexual health and aging: Keep the passion alive
- Senior sex: Tips for older men
- see all in Healthy aging: Over 50
Healthy retirement (6)
- Aging: What to expect as you get older
- Fall prevention: 6 ways to reduce your falling risk
- Memory loss: 7 tips to improve your memory
- see all in Healthy retirement
Dependent seniors (1)
- Home care services: Questions to ask
Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
continued:
Fall prevention: 6 ways to reduce your falling risk
Fall-prevention step 4: Remove home hazards
As part of your fall-prevention measures, take a look around you — your living room, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, hallways and stairways may be filled with booby traps. Clutter can get in your way, but so can the decorative accents you add to your home. To make your home safer, you might try these tips:
- Remove boxes, newspapers, electrical cords and phone cords from walkways.
- Move coffee tables, magazine racks and plant stands from high-traffic areas.
- Secure loose rugs with double-faced tape, tacks or a slip-resistant backing.
- Repair loose, wooden floorboards and carpeting right away.
- Store clothing, dishes, food and other household necessities within easy reach.
- Immediately clean spilled liquids, grease or food.
- Use nonskid floor wax.
- Use nonslip mats in your bathtub or shower.
Fall-prevention step 5: Light up your living space
As you get older, less light reaches the back of your eyes where you sense color and motion. So keep your home brightly lit with 100-watt bulbs or higher to avoid tripping on objects that are hard to see. Don't use bulbs that exceed the wattage rating on lamps and lighting fixtures, however, since this can present a fire hazard. Also:
- Place a lamp near your bed and within reach so that you can use it if you get up at night.
- Make clear paths to light switches that aren't near room entrances. Consider installing glow-in-the-dark or illuminated switches.
- Place night lights in your bedroom, bathroom and hallways.
- Turn on the lights before going up or down stairs. This might require installing switches at the top and bottom of stairs.
- Store flashlights in easy-to-find places in case of power outages.
Fall-prevention step 6: Use assistive devices
Your doctor might recommend using a cane or walker to keep you steady. Other assistive devices can help, too. All sorts of gadgets have been invented to make everyday tasks easier. Some you might consider:
- Grab bars mounted inside and just outside your shower or bathtub.
- A raised toilet seat or one with armrests to stabilize yourself.
- A sturdy plastic seat placed in your shower or tub so that you can sit down if you need to. Buy a hand-held shower nozzle so that you can shower sitting down.
- Handrails on both sides of stairways.
- Nonslip treads on bare-wood steps.
Ask your doctor for a referral to an occupational therapist who can help you devise other ways to prevent falls in your home. Some solutions are easily installed and relatively inexpensive. Others may require professional help and more of an investment. If you plan on staying in your home for many more years, an investment in safety and fall prevention now may make that possible.
Previous page(2 of 2)
