At what age does 'Fell Over' become 'Having a Fall'?

Too many falls an one will be offered the opportunity to attend the falls clinic!! Falls suggest poor balance due to old age. So medical report should have mentioned tripped in pot hole whilst running. She can ask the surgery to add her comments to her notes if she wishes.

Juliet27

Didn’t we have a thread on this subject a while back?

Does it matter 🤔

My neighbour (97) has had four incidents described as 'having a fall'. They occurred fairly randomly and were diagnosed as being due to the aging brain. Standing up and walking are very complex and fine tuned in the brain. A lot of neurons need to fire in a co-ordinated fashion and this ability slows significantly in the very elderly, who also lose strength, which means its harder to correct for loss of balance. Falls are serious and one of the main causes of morbidity and disability for elderly people. I guess the point at which falling over becomes 'a fall' will vary from one person to another, but its likely to be when someone loses control of everyday actions and the outcome of falling doesnt lead to a complete recovery and going back to normal in a fairly short space of time. My Mum had a fall at the age of 89, broke her hip and never walked without a frame again. She stood up from kneeling quite quickly, turned round and that was it.

I can trip over the slightest thing but have a fall? No way. That’s when there’s nothing but the ageing body to blame. I can always find some inanimate, or not in the case of the dog, object to blame. (That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.)

Why do you all get so het-up about this and feel that the language used is ageist?

I fell, I fell over, I tripped and fell, I had a fall, I took a tumble, all mean precisely the same thing, namely I was going about my avocations in the upright position common to homo sapiens, when I missed my footing and landed in a horizontal position on the ground.

What matters is not the languge employed, but what damage I did to myself!

Witzend

Oops, replied to wrong post.

But to ‘Juliet27* I’d just reply that even if there was such a thread, I dare say plenty of GNers won’t necessarily have seen it.

True. The last time was in 2022 and only lasted one page so yes, good to be discussed again.

I have AMD and my balance has completely gone. I fell down thev stairs last week and hurt mysel.f

It’s pretty much one and the same, to me. What I learned in the hospital is that chronic feebleness, tripping, falling/fell over, dizzying walk is a Neurological Condition. Time for an evaluation.

And remove all throw rugs in the house, avoid steps when there are ramps, stay away from ice, do not wear mule or slide styled slippers/shoes (better an enclosed style). Things like that. Eyes on the ground!!!

I could always trip over a matchstick, then 18 months ago I tripped over the new pipe from the oil pipe in the garden and broke my hip. When I left hospital I was inundated with calls from companies who wanted me to buy lanyards or wristbands in case 'you have another fall'! I was furious, I am just clumsy and always have benn.

To me ‘had a fall’ hints that the person fell over without good reason-somehow failing to stay upright due to some bodily defect rather than an external agency. Potholes make you fall over, you might ‘have a fall’ due to being unable to cope with a step- just my analysis !

She could perhaps ask her GP to refer her to a "Falls Course". I attended a 12 week course because of falls and toppling to the side. It was an enormous help. I am 72 and unsure whether these courses are available to younger people.
The courses run all over the country.

I don't care how they describe it as long as they document my injuries properly and the treatment I need.

It's not the words, 'had a fall,' it's the way it is used to describe anybody who has fallen over that the speaker perceives as 'old'.

Very annoying for older people who are normally fit, active and healthy but happened to have fallen over something. It implies they are decrepit just because of their age!

I think there was a thread on this very recently.

I agree with Septimia. A fall relating to loss of balance in the elderly is indicative of frailty and it is not wrong to call that "having a fall".
Otherwise, a person falls over, for instance on an uneven pavement.

My son corrected me when I told him I'd had a fall. No, mum, you fell over. It did sound better.

I agree Septimia,
I fell asleep on the settee last year woke up and stood up with a start my hip gave way and I fell over the coffee table breaking a bone in my foot.
The triage nurse asked me if I had had a "Fall', I replied no I fell over a coffee table when my hip gave way not something I do regularly. Maybe I sounded cross because we had a 7 and a bit sit overnight to see a Dr. there is a difference.

It really depends on the mechanism of the fall. If you know that you caught your foot on something (as I did the other day and fell up the stairs - lovely bruises!) or turned your ankle over on the edge of the pavement, then that can happen to anyone and isn't age-related. I've been doing things like that since I was at school.

"Having a fall" is perhaps more to do with unsteadiness and lack of balance which might be worse as we get older...

Oops, replied to wrong post.

But to ‘Juliet27* I’d just reply that even if there was such a thread, I dare say plenty of GNers won’t necessarily have seen it.

Juliet27

Didn’t we have a thread on this subject a while back?

To me it’ll always be a few years older than my age! Though luckily at 74 I haven’t ‘fallen over’ for at least 12 years - last time was in The Dales, when I caught my foot in a loop of thin rope that had somehow been largely buried in the grass.

Had a fall is like 'had covid' , 'had measles', or 'had a stroke'.

Medicalising life events is part of how medics work. It's necessary to view the event (such as a fall ) as a thing that happened to the patient so that cause and prognosis can be done.

If you suddenly find yourself on the floor then you’ve ‘had a fall’ if you trip then you’ve fallen over, but as many have said, ‘I’ve tripped over’ is the way to tell it, not ‘I’ve fallen over’.

I joke about this at work, my colleagues are lovely and protective of me. I’m not to carry heavy boxes and they are wary of me getting on my knees ( in case I can’t get up).
They don’t want me to “fall”. Specially not “have a fall” that would be different and they say they will let me know when it changes.

Grey is not my colour, Medics like to medicalise their language. Goodness knows why!

It's at approximately the same age as that when the feebleness of old age becomes clinically significant.

I too don’t have falls. If I trip I say I have fallen over!