In winter it is especially easy to fall. The wild temperature variations and crazy kinds of precipitation lead to ever more falling hazards. Anyone can fall, but the potential for serious injury increases with age. Now along with prevention awareness; we should practice and learn the right ways to fall.
In the New York Times Kate Murphy wrote The Right Way to Fall
"Although often associated with older people, falls occur at any age and are the most common cause of injury seen in emergency rooms in the United States. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality estimates that falls cause more than a third of injury-related emergency room visits, around 7.9 million a year. “As physical therapists we talk a lot about preventing falls, but what we don’t talk about is what to do when you actually do fall,” said Jessica Schwartz, a physical therapist.
“It’s almost inevitable you are going to fall, so you really should know what to do.”
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Protect Your Head
- tuck your chin and turn your head to the side -
Stay Bent and Loose
- with bent arms and leg you have some ability to soften the blow -
Land on Your Fleshy Parts -
Protecting your joints try to curl to one side and land on your "meat not the bone" says Kevin Inouye, a stuntman and assistant professor of acting, movement and stage combat at the University of Wyoming. -
Don't Stop -
Keep Falling continuing to roll as you land will help you from becoming rigid and further injuring yourself
This doesn't seem too challenging until you are flying through the air with no time to plan how you land. That is why learning how to fall is as important as trying not to!
The Dutch have a program which is called Vallen Verleden Tijd course, roughly translates as “Falling is in the past.” Hundreds of similar courses are taught by registered physio and occupational therapists across the Netherlands."
Falling courses are relatively new and they are not meant to preclude strength training and fall prevention, but to add another important element of safety. The Dutch who have participated in the trainings have found that once they got over their initial discomfort with falling on purpose and rolling around like children, they actually had fun." In preparing their bodies for a possibly apocalyptic event, the students appeared to forget about their age."
