A bad fall

[masraum]

Originally Posted by oldE

My wife uses these when the ground is ice covered.



After the broken wrist and hip fracture, she's not taking any chances.

Best
Les

Nice, like foot chain-studs!

[greglepore]

Check out Yak Trax.
I was walking from the house to the horse shed two days ago. We get snow here, but it's normally gone in a day or two. Its been here three weeks, and has melted and refrozen several times.
A moment not staring out at my next footfall, and boom-down, no warning, frozen ground left shoulder and head. I just laid there for a minute or so, wondering if my next year was fully f'd, and eventually came around.
Falling at 65 is no joke. Its my biggest fear. I cycle, ride horses, drive fast etc but really fear that what'll get me in the in the end is a single unprotected slip.

Denis, glad its all more or less ok.

[greglepore]

Check out Yak Trax.
I was walking from the house to the horse shed two days ago. We get snow here, but it's normally gone in a day or two. Its been here three weeks, and has melted and refrozen several times.
A moment not staring out at my next footfall, and boom-down, no warning, frozen ground left shoulder and head. I just laid there for a minute or so, wondering if my next year was fully f'd, and eventually came around.
Falling at 65 is no joke. Its my biggest fear. I cycle, ride horses, drive fast etc but really fear that what'll get me in the in the end is a single unprotected slip.

Denis, glad its all more or less ok.

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by greglepore

Falling at 65 is no joke. Its my biggest fear. I cycle, ride horses, drive fast etc but really fear that what'll get me in the in the end is a single unprotected slip.

It's one of the first questions on medical intake forms after they see you have medicaid for insurance; "have you fallen recently?"

I'm 65 also and I, too, cycle a bit; I broke my wrist in a relatively gentle fall off the bike last August and I hope to shout this minor injury ain't no joke.

An eye opener for me and the fellows that I ride with. My wrist still has issues and my basic fitness has taken a huge hit over the winter.

So many anecdotes in such a short amount of time on this thread shows that it's a real concern. Be safe, fellow travelers.

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by greglepore

Check out Yak Trax.

Yax Trax and MicroSpikes are great. There's quite a few brands of MicroSpikes clones on Amazon that are quite a bit less money than MS and have good reviews. YT's are light and can be thrown into the backpack for emergencies on the trail.

[Crowbob]

Just this afternoon I was shoveling snow off my sloped driveway. All of a sudden, I found myself sliding down the driveway backwards. Somehow I swung myself around so I was now sliding down the driveway frontwards, shovel in hand. Good thing too because I used the shovel to brace myself and prevent what would have been a spectacular feat of uncontrollability of my entire torso and all five limbs in mid-air.

Once I recovered I resumed work. For about a second.

Nope. Done for now. Nobody got hurt; the wiser you get the older you get and it's not the other way around.

[Racerbvd]

Hopefully she will be ok. One of my good friends from the lodge fell last Wednesday, I generally go see him on Wednesdays, last week, the bartender called me to tell me that the lodge wasn’t going to be open because of the so called “Cold” weather that was expected. She then informed me that my friend Paul (who is in his 80s) had fallen that day and fractured his skull, with blood on the brain. He was supposed to go to a rehab, but I have gotten no response when I call the room and his cell phone goes directly to voicemail. Of course I am still dealing with the results of my Mother’s fall and the results.

[cjh]

From a local who lives 25 miles north of Lake Harriet, there is a lot of bare ice out there right now or ice with just a dusting of snow on top due to the lack of snow this season. If your sister walks several miles a day outside, she know the procedures and the risks. I wouldn't be out on a lake right now without my grippers I wear when walking on the polished icy streets that I use as sidewalks.
One of the risks of winter. Tell her to get well!

[onewhippedpuppy]

Sorry Denis. Hope she ends up okay! I think stuff like this happens most frequently when we are in our comfort zone and let our guard down. Something you’ve done for years, all of a sudden you get bit. They say most accidents happen at home, similar concept.

[LWJ]

Hey Speeder. Send some good wishes to your Sis. She sounds like a great human.

Related: wife and I went for a hike Sunday. It was crazy icy. We bailed out after a short bit. I bought micro spikes yesterday. I never thought they were needed and I am a lifelong skier.

Guess what? Things get SLICK sometimes.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

Glen..I had the same problem with Beta blockers. Why is it that meds that supposedly help make you feel like krap-ola?

On falls...Yeah, I have to watch every step...I've suffered a few. Hey, at 81, I may walk like Biden, but I'm a hell of a lot better cognitive wise. The PA I visit gave a double take on my last "wellness" visit when I asked why the test questions are the same every time...

The funniest part was my pulse rate was at 40, as I was going in for a colonoscopy. The nurse asked if I was an athlete. I laughed and said have you looked at me? The Anesthesiologist said he was going to give me an additional drug to get my heart rate up for the procedure, as my pulse was too low for comfort. He said the bad news is I would have a bad case of dry mouth for a day. Boy was that the truth.

[jyl]

Every winter, we check the Yaktrak supply in the foyer closet. When it gets iced up here, you can’t even walk without them. Even with them, I’d rather drive than walk a block on PNW ice.

I keep forgetting that I have some wading boots with steel studs. Now those would work great on ice.

[DavidI]

Denis, I hope your sister makes a full and speedy recovery, brother. This is a great warning and reminder for all of us as we get a little older.

[recycled sixtie]

Costco has ice grips on sale in fall and winter. $15 cdn. They work well. A little hard to get used to outside. Inside the stores they can be slippery to wear on tile floors though.

[Bugsinrugs]

My driveway off the front door can be covered with black ice after a snowstorm. I always send my dog out ahead of me to see if she has traction. She once slid about 10 feet in front of me. I turned around and went back inside.

[GH85Carrera]

One of my friends was playing tennis and fell and broke his arm, and needed surgery to get it back in place and with a few plates and screws to hold it together.

[juanbenae]

Timely post. Like a dumb ass went to fetch my snow shovel out of my shed after a couple inches of snow with more coming in crocs. While carrying the shovel I slipped and fell back and due to holding the shovel I landed squarely on my right elbow leading to a dislocated shoulder. Was helped into the house by my sweety and was in the greatest pain I'd ever experienced. Even after a year with a bad hip that was ultimately replaced, fractured wrist, ankle, and torn ACL in separate dirt biking mishaps.

Tried to bear the pain cause the hospital is 12+ miles down the hill and the snow had increased significantly. No matter how I positioned myself and arm I could not lessen the pain. After an hour and a half I relented and let sweety drive me down the snowy hill to the ER. Got me in quickly, but you know how ER's can be with the waiting x-rays, the pics to be reviewed, further consultation, and finally some pain meds. The nurse and doctor had to wait for clearance from the lightly staffed pharmacy to clear the morphine use, but once I got it was the first bit of relief I'd felt for hours. The doc gave the meds 15 minutes or so to take before returning and popping the shoulder back into place. You could actually hear it "pop" back in. Doing better than expected and will have to wait until 2/11 to visit an orthopedic doc for hopefully a cortisone shot.

Here I am high AF on the morphine just after having it reset...

[JavaBrewer]

Sorry to hear about your younger sister Denis. Piling on the best wishes from others here for a great outcome.

24 years ago I passed out at Target, fell back head first onto the concrete floor. Halo skull fracture and impact seizure - I "woke" in the ER that day. Took me out of work for nearly a month So I have some experience here. Consulted with the neurologist who worked on me and others during follow up care. Bottom line is there is still much to learn about the brain and it's many differences between us. He said he has treated folks with damage like mine, generally vehicle/motorcycle related, and some (like me) luckily turn out just fine. He also treated folks with minor bumps to the head who suffered long term/permanent damage.

Consider your sister and family lucky sir. Head injuries are no joke and when we get older the famous “monkey roll” is just a pipe dream.

[creaturecat]

a close friend of mine (Frank) - he hit a f'n banana peel while riding his bicycle.
no helmet - got a concussion - died 2 days later, in the hospital.

[Magyar Kiwi]

Here's some handy fall prevention advice and an app all for mature people.
https://www.acc.co.nz/preventing-injury/trips-falls/preventing-falls-for-over-65s
Enjoy !