If you ask emergency room physicians what keeps them up at night when it comes to patients over 50, the answers usually aren’t rare diseases or shark attacks.
This is gravity.
Falls are the leading cause of injury-related death for adults age 65 and older. According to the CDC, one in four older adults falls each year.
Although the physical damage is obvious, the financial toxicity of a downturn is often overlooked until the bills come. A bad fall often results in a broken hip bone. That one injury can trigger a cascade of costs — from deductibles and co-pays to the hefty expense of remodeling a home or moving into assisted living.
You spend decades building your savings. You don’t want to lose even a part of it because of a loose rug.
ER doctors often blame specific household items as the culprits behind these life-altering accidents. Here are three things you should immediately remove from your walking path, and what to do instead.
1. Problem of throwing rugs
Interior designers love them. Doctors hate them.
Small, unsafe area rugs are arguably the number one hazard in the home. It’s incredibly easy to catch a toe on a curved edge or have a rug slide out from under you on hardwood floors.
If you have throw rugs in high-traffic areas like a hallway, kitchen or at the top of the stairs, the safest step is to remove them completely.
If you absolutely can’t give up a specific rug for aesthetic reasons, save it. Don’t rely on the cheap rubber backing that comes with the rug; It deteriorates over time. Buy heavy-duty, double-sided rug tape or a high-quality non-slip pad and place the rug on the floor as if it were glued there.
2. Extension cord on walkway
In our connected world, we have more devices than outlets. This leaves a web of charging cables and extension wires all over the living room floor and bedrooms.
This is a classic tripwire. It’s easy to miss a white string on a light carpet or a dark string in a dark room.
Go around your house and audit your shops. If you have to cross a wire from the sofa to the kitchen, remove it immediately.
Relocate the lamp or device closer to the outlet. If this isn’t possible, run the cord along the baseboard and secure it with cord clips.
You can also buy cord covers that lie flat on the floor, reducing the tripping profile, although it’s always safer to remove the cord entirely.
3. Low level chaos
We all have “that place” where things accumulate. This could be a pile of shoes by the door, a pile of magazines next to the recliner, or pet toys scattered in the hallway.
When you’re carrying a laundry basket or groceries, your vision changes. You are not looking at your feet. That pile of mail or the dog’s chew toy becomes an invisible threat.
The solution here is free. Adopt a zero-tolerance policy for floor clutter in walking zones. Baskets, bins and cabinets are your friends.
If an item has no permanent home beyond the floor, it should be donated or thrown in the trash.
financial reality of decline
Fall prevention doesn’t just mean avoiding falls; It’s about protecting your net worth.
The average cost of a hospital stay after a fall is more than $30,000. If the injury requires long-term rehabilitation or a move to an assisted living facility, the costs skyrocket. Medicare generally does not cover long-term custodial care.
That means the money comes out of your pocket.
Taking the time to clean and carpet your floors is one of the highest-ROI moves you’ll make this year.
light your path
Once you clear the obstacles, make sure you can see the runway.
As we age, our eyes need more light to see contrast and depth. A shadow in the hallway may look like a staircase, or a staircase may look like a flat surface.
Install automatic nightlights in your hallway, bathroom, and kitchen. You can buy simple LED plug-ins for a few dollars at any hardware store. They turn on automatically when the sun goes down and cost a lot of money a year to run.
It’s a small investment that keeps you on your feet and in control of your financial future.