Falling

People with MS fall a lot.  With balance, coordination and vision issues, staying upright isn’t exactly easy.  If the ground is wet or uneven, we have to be very careful if we don’t want to hit the pavement face first.  My face is too pretty to smash up.

I love Exploding Dog!  Should have put this in the Stairs Blog though.  Oh well...still relevant!

Being VERY aware of my surroundings in important.  I have to watch out vehicles, bicycles and other pedestrians.  Normally they are distracted by shiny things, mainly their cell phones.  If I don’t want to get thrown off balance or run over, I have to anticipate their moves.

While watching my fellow humans riding and walking, I also have to watch out for various parts of the sidewalk jumping out at me.  It happens.  Ok, maybe not, but that’s what it feels like.  There may be an unnoticeable dip in the sidewalk or a sudden step where the sidewalk and the pavement below look very similar. I scan my surroundings while I walk.  I can’t keep my nose to the ground because I might miss something coming straight toward me.   If I’m not careful, I could totally miss a step and co plummeting into a broken wrist, nose or hip.  Walking can be very difficult and exhausting on the brain.  For those of you who walk just fine...put your cell phones away.  You’re distracted when you’re talking and texting making it harder for us to dodge you. We may think you’re walking straight and then a quick turn can throw us off.  Be mindful and respectful.  Is that too much to ask?

I’m lucky that I haven’t had a fall due to MS.  I have been thrown off balance, but I recovered well.  It is inevitable, but manageable as long as I am aware of my surroundings and take things slow.  

While at my local support group meeting we watched a video about preventing falls and fall recovery.  It was very informative.  A lot of the information may be common sense, but it’s nice to be reminded of the little things one can do to help prevent accidents.  The funniest part we all discussed is when we have a sudden urge to need to go to the bathroom.  Frequent urination is a common symptom of MS.  While rushing to the bathroom, we may forget to be more cautious.  There is medication for the frequent urination thing, but I’m thinking about investing in Depends.  

If you would like to see the guide that accompanied the video about fall prevention, it can be found here.