I very recently took a significant tumble myself onto an uneven concrete sidewalk.
Click here to learn the outcome.
It was a lovely fall evening as we were leaving a fun evening with others after walking our small-town street fair. I was talking (of course) not paying attention to the sidewalk changes in heights when wham! I went down really hard as my cuts and bruises will attest to how hard my fall’s impact was.
You may be thinking “oh sorry Mitzi that you fell but what does this have to with anything?”
Well, by now you guessed what I am about to write to you all regarding falls.
Prevention is key!!
Key to what? It is key that if you do take a tumble like I did, and if you are exercising, taking your supplements like calcium and Vitamin E and whatever else you can do for bone strength, it will surely help you if you should fall.
I could have injured my shoulder that I fell on along with my wrists that took the brunt of my fall but thankfully, I had not a single hint of any internal effects like wrist fractures or etc. My knee also took a hard meeting with the sidewalk as my white pants showed requiring strong soaking to get the blood stains out. Bruises lasted but who cares?
Please you all do not think that I am merely boasting that I had no long-term effects from my fall. You know that my passion for you all is to be as healthy as you can possibly be going into whatever life stage is ahead of you. Therefore, the tip of this fall prevention iceberg is:
1. EXERCISE!
Yes, this article shows the benefits of yoga that I totally agree with its long lasting benefits. But any weight bearing exercise is sooooo important for your bone strength.
2. YOUR DIET
Eat for your bone strength with foods rich in. Omega 3’s like salmon and etc, plus calcium rich foods like broccoli. And please avoid lots of carbonated beverages that leak bone building needs.
3. TAKE SUPPLEMENTS
This is critically important for women prior to and after menopause when estrogen loss contributes to bone loss.
4. GET TESTED
A bone density test called a Dexa will assess your bone health which is critical in preventing the silent killer, osteoporosis or the beginning of this disease which is osteopenia. Know your numbers!
5. SEEK AN EXPERT IN WOMEN’S HEALTH
In my book, you will discover how I overcame a potentially lifechanging diagnosis of major osteoporosis. I know that I know without a doubt that the recent harsh fall I experience would have had a very serious outcome for me if I had not strongly pursued the advice from my women’s health expert. I owe her more than I can express.
I was 71 in the feature photo of me doing yoga and the photo of me doing a push up was taken when I was 72. The significance of mentioning my ages is to prove my point why it is so critically important for you all to know these facts. The photo from the page in my book tells of my very, very serious bone density or Dexa report when I was around 63 years old. Seeking knowledge, plus a womens health expert, plus following what I listed here in this post for you, reversal is possible and I have the test results to prove it. I have turned a potentially life changing threat to now rocking my bone density numbers. And you can too!
Additionally, as most of you know, I am a strong advocate for making our homes as safe as possible to prevent falls. However, this post on fall prevention focuses on what you all can do by incorporating these basic healthy life style suggestions.
Seeing and hearing of too many women sadly affected by falls motivates me to help spread the word as best as I can possibly can because you were meant to have and enjoy your life regardless of your life stage. Now, the rest is up to you my dear followers. Do not “fall” for assuming this is for those old people since anyone over 50 is at risk.
The choice is easy but you must make this choice to empower, equip, and enlighten yourself with Design Smarts to rock life now and in your future.
I am rooting for you!
To order your very own signed copy of my book click here!
P.S. And again, Please Be sure to follow me on Instagram, Youtube, Pinterest, and like my Facebook page
I’ve fallen three times since May, first when an outdoor chair collapsed in Paris, second time I fell off our dock, into the water when the boat I was getting out of pulled away with me half in, half out and just recently when a step stool was placed right behind me as I turned to walk away from holding a picture while my husband screwed the nail in the wall. None of these were because I was being clumsy, but I went flying each time, banged my head each time and have a pulled hamstring that has been aching since May.
I joke that my husband is trying to kill me, but the reality is that I could have died or seriously injured myself with each of these falls. Lucky for me I do not suffer from osteoporosis. But these have put a serious dent in my exercise regimen as exercise is rather painful.
Wow Margo! It is amazing that you were not hurt more seriously in any of these 3 incidents! It is so scary how quickly these falls happen to us. Like I said in my post, one of our defenses is being strong in our bone health for if we encounter a fall.
thank you for commenting I am happy to hear you are okay except for your pulled hamstring preventing your exercise…huge bummer!
It is SO important to prioritize health goals – it impacts quality of life long term as you have pointed out! You are an inspiration…I couldn’t do push ups at 20!
Ha! But Janet I bet you could do push ups if you had someone teaching you like I did so maybe you give it a try again? I think that it is hard for women to gain or keep upper body strength so actually this is an easy way to accomplish both. I had not actually done much with weights until in my 60’s! But what a difference it made. I need a kick in the you know where to get myself back to my routines after halting it all with our move. So not Designer Smarts!!
I’ve fallen out of my exercise routine and haven’t been attending pilates class. But you have reminded me that staying fit should be a top priority as I age and will have untold benefits 10 years down the road! I’ll be back at it fiercely. I love my online interior design community. Lisa Mende got me back to walking a few weeks ago and now you are reminding me that strength should be back in my routine too!
Thanks for commenting Lisa and you inspired me too!
You see since the months following our relocation move, I have been out of my routine with not good results…:( . Aching back and etc are a constant reminder since my walking is just not enough to keep me in tip top shape. Walking is a fab routine and I will hopefully do it forever but the upper body and core strenth are the essence of ultimate physical goals for us women. We all need to hold each other accountable!
So important to be proactive in the aging process. I was just in a boot for 5 weeks from a stress fracture on my foot. I did nothing unusual and the Dr. says he sees these kind of things regularly in women “my age” I’m 54. This was a wake up call to me to do everything possible to take care of my bones I didn’t realize you could reverse the damage done though. That’s very encouraging!
Melanie
Oh Melanie, I am sorry to hear about your issue but rather perturbed at your doctor’s comment ! Seriously, can our medical people not do more than that this is just life as aging happens and not give the prevention answers!
This is exactly why I wrote my book to shake up our beautiful women community to know this is so not the normal!!! We can absolutely do more than just accept whatevers as an aging thing.
thank you for affirming that is so much work to be done even in our community of mover and shaker blogger community.
I”m so sorry about your fall but relieved you didn’t break a bone. I remember when I got diagnosed with Osteoporosis. It IS like the silent killer and thank you for the reminder to do more for my bones. I now take a shot twice a year that builds bone mass. But because I have fallen, most recently twisting my ankle last spring, I really pay attention to where I”m walking. This is all SO important as we age and I’m so glad you published your amazing book. Enjoying it now as I did this post! Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience Mitzi!
Thank you so much Deborah for your affirming testimony that it is of uptmost importance that we do address our bone health. Unfortunately as you are so aware, most women our age are not being neglectful but are unaware of this huge threat to their futures and those in their inner circle that will be affected by this silent killer.
i too have an injection twice yearly along with other prevention treatment routines that you may have already read in my book in the Routine section. My passion is to help women not let their good be their enemy of their great for their futues. I have only recently heard about Jim Collins book of this same title. But does it not apply to our Mindset on our health as well?
I appreciate your following along Deborah and I am grateful to you for being such a lovely supporter of so many of us. xoxo
Hello Mitzie,
This is so very true and of utmost importance for women our age group to learn. What a great message to share. I’ve had both my hips replaced and had I learned ways to improve bone density in my forties it may have prevented surgery.
Thank you!
Nancy
Wow Nancy! I do not know your current age but regardless, absolutely if you had had more educational prevention in your forties, you, like myself, would not have gone through perhaps our unnecessary bone density issues. I have learned that pre-menopausal women, especially those of eastern European backgrounds, iight coloring and smaller frame are indeed at a much high risk for osteo related issues. I was not on any estrogen or progesteron before or during menopause which research now tells us is when the greatest bone loss can occur. I am not a doctor to give any medical advice for anyone else but I only am so extremely grateful for my women’s health expert who has given me my healthy future.
I wish you the very best health in your future!
This article was a bit of a wake up call. I think, hope (fingers crossed!) that I’m in good shape and great health. But I’m turning 57 soon, and my mom has suffered from osteoporosis. I will take your tips to heart.
Hello Suzana and please forgive my tardy response! Since your mother has experienced osteo I am very pleased to read that you are going to move forward in your own bone health by getting a dexa scan and incorporating other preventative measures that will help you in endless benefits in your future!
xo Mitzi