Regaining Confidence After a Fall & Practicing Winter Safety

No matter how careful and proactive you are when it comes to fall prevention, falls can still happen. The important thing to remember after a fall occurs is to continue to move forward.

After a fall, it is common to feel concerned and uneasy. You may feel anxious about the possibility of falling again, so how do you rebuild your confidence? 

Vivage offers long-term care and services throughout Colorado and Missouri, and we want to answer this question. Our team is dedicated to helping you continue life’s best experiences, and, to help do this, we are sharing ways to regain confidence after a fall, as well as providing a few winter fall prevention tips.

Acknowledge Your Fear of Falling

The first step to regaining your confidence is to acknowledge your fear of falling again. It is entirely normal to have increased anxiety and fear after the occurrence of a fall, so do not undermine or ignore these feelings. 

Common advice to overcome any fear is to confront it, and it is no different with the fear of falling. Once you recognize this fear and anxiety, you have a place to work from and can start to rebuild your confidence. 

Recognize the Factors that Caused the Fall

Fall prevention involves modifying the aspects of your environment that you can control. Overlooking something as simple as a loose rug can lead to an unexpected fall. In order to regain your confidence and move forward, identify what caused the fall in the first place. 

Once you have isolated the cause, you can fix the issue; ask yourself the following questions to pinpoint the cause of the incident.

• Were you wearing loose clothing or unstable footwear that affected your balance?
• Did you trip over clutter?
• Is there a loose floorboard or rug that you tripped over?
• Were you having difficulty seeing? Was the room poorly lit?
• Have you recently started a new medication/different dosage?

All of these potential causes have easy solutions and can aid in future fall prevention. For instance, wearing proper footwear and decluttering your home can go a long way in helping you feel safer and more stable.

Set Small Goals and Take Action

Confidence starts internally, so when you are comfortable with yourself and your abilities, you are naturally more confident. A good way to regain confidence after a fall is to set small goals. 

Work to regain your balance and strength by completing exercises at home and set goals that will help keep you on track. For instance, you could set a goal of increasing the number of repetitions you do a specific exercise within a certain timeframe. Additionally, you could have a goal as simple as walking to and from the mailbox. 

Your goals can be as small or big as you wish, but the important thing is that they are specific.

Take action by optimizing your home for fall prevention. As you work to regain your strength and balance, focus on making your living space safer. Remove unnecessary clutter, secure loose flooring, and improve the lighting in your home.

By recognizing the potential hazards in your home, you can be proactive and decrease the risk of another fall. As a result, your confidence will be stronger. 

Fall Prevention Through the Winter Months

In addition to common potential hazards, the winter months bring with them added concerns. The snow and ice increase the risk for anyone to slip and fall, making it even more important to use extra caution and fall prevention techniques. 

Winter fall prevention tips include:

• Wear appropriate clothing and footwear – Wearing warm clothing helps keep your muscles relaxed, and wearing footwear with additional traction can help keep you stable.
• Allow for extra travel time – Winter conditions take more time to navigate than conditions during the summer months. When you are in a rush, falls are more likely to happen.
• Evaluate surfaces before you start moving – It is not always easy to see ice.

Regaining your confidence after a fall is just as important as knowing how to prevent one in the first place. Vivage proudly offers long-term care and services throughout Colorado and Missouri, and safety is our number one priority. 

We invite you to contact a member of our team or visit our website to learn more about our communities and services.