Our falls prevention service helps you build strength, balance and confidence through a tailored exercise programme, practical home safety advice and a clear plan to lower your personal risk. At Tylurs com it suits you whether you have fallen before or simply feel less steady than you used to.
Key takeaways
- Falls rarely have a single cause, and many risk factors can be changed.
- Your assessment uses simple tests of balance, strength and walking.
- Progressive strength and balance exercise has the strongest evidence for reducing falls.
- Home safety changes, floor-recovery practice and confidence building complete the plan.
Why falls happen
Feeling unsteady can quietly shrink your world: avoiding stairs, skipping the shops, turning down invitations. Falls are common, but they are not an inevitable part of ageing. The World Health Organization reports that adults older than 60 suffer the greatest number of fatal falls, yet many risk factors can be changed. Common ones include:
- Muscle weakness in the legs and hips.
- Balance and walking problems, such as slower reactions and shuffling steps.
- Medicines that cause drowsiness or dizziness, especially several together.
- Eyesight problems and bifocal or varifocal lenses on steps.
- Foot problems and footwear, including loose slippers.
- Home hazards such as loose rugs, cables and poor lighting.
- A previous fall and long-term conditions such as arthritis, Parkinson’s or stroke.
If a condition such as Parkinson’s or stroke affects your balance, our neurological physiotherapy service can combine both approaches. Painful joints play a part too: treating hip pain that makes you walk less is part of lowering your risk.
Your falls prevention assessment
We ask about falls or near misses, your health, medicines, eyesight, feet and home, then use well-established tests:
- Timed Up and Go: stand from a chair, walk a short distance, turn, walk back and sit.
- Standing balance: feet together, half in front, heel to toe and on one leg if safe.
- Chair stands: how many times you can stand without using your arms.
- Walking observation: step length, speed, turning and use of any walking aid.
These are not pass or fail. NICE’s falls guideline advises against single “risk score” tools, so we use the results to target what needs work and set a baseline. We may also suggest a medication review with your GP or pharmacist, an eye test, a hearing check or a podiatry visit.
Exercise programmes that work
The strongest evidence for reducing falls is for exercise that challenges balance and builds leg strength, done regularly and progressed over time. The Otago Exercise Programme is a well-known example combining home strengthening, balance work and walking. NICE says programmes should be progressive, tailored to you, focused on balance, strength and power, and run long enough to build lasting habits. Expect to keep going for several months.
| Level | Balance exercise | Strength exercise |
|---|---|---|
| Starting out | Feet together, holding a worktop | Sit to stand, using hands if needed |
| Building | One foot half in front, fingertip support | Sit to stand without hands; heel raises |
| Progressing | Heel-to-toe standing, then walking by a worktop | Slow step-ups with a rail; side leg raises |
| Advanced | Stand on one leg; walk turning your head | Slow, controlled squats to a chair |
Always exercise next to something stable, wear supportive shoes and stop if you feel dizzy or faint. Your physiotherapist will tell you when to move up a level.
Physio tip: Pair each exercise with a daily routine, such as heel raises while the kettle boils.
Home safety checklist
At Tylurs com we treat small home changes as one of the simplest parts of falls prevention:
- Floors: secure loose rugs and keep cables out of walkways.
- Lighting: bright bulbs, a lamp within reach of the bed and night lights to the toilet.
- Stairs: sturdy handrails, clear steps, good lighting.
- Bathroom: non-slip mats and grab rails by the bath, shower and toilet.
- Help at hand: a phone within reach or a personal alarm.
Getting up safely after a fall
If you are not hurt, lie still for a moment, roll onto your side, get onto your hands and knees, crawl to a sturdy chair, bring one foot forward and push up slowly before sitting to rest. If you are hurt or cannot get up, call for help, keep warm and change position gently about every 30 minutes. When it is safe, we practise getting down to the floor and back up with you, which is a real boost to confidence.
Fear of falling
Worry about falling can start a cycle: you move less, muscles weaken and balance worsens. We break it by starting with exercises you feel safe doing, practising situations that worry you such as kerbs and the bath, checking your walking aid and setting small, achievable goals.
When to seek urgent help
Call emergency services after a fall if someone may have injured their head, neck, back or hip, cannot bear weight, cannot get up, blacked out or shows stroke signs. See your GP after any fall, because falling can signal an underlying health problem.
Book a falls prevention assessment
Acting early helps you stay active and independent for longer. The physiotherapists at Tylurs com balance clinic will find out what is behind your unsteadiness and build a programme you can follow at home. Our guide to your first physiotherapy visit explains what to expect, and you can browse all our physiotherapy services. When you are ready, book a falls prevention assessment and feel free to bring a family member.
Frequently asked questions
Am I too old to improve my balance?
No. Strength and balance can improve at any age, including in your eighties and beyond, as long as exercises are challenging enough and done regularly. Your physiotherapist will start with exercises you can manage confidently, often holding a kitchen worktop, and build up gradually as your legs get stronger and your balance improves.
How often should I do strength and balance exercises?
The NHS recommends older adults do activities that improve strength and balance on at least two days a week. Many people find short daily balance practice easier to stick to, such as a few minutes while the kettle boils. Improvements fade if you stop, so the aim is a lasting habit.
Should I stop going out if I am afraid of falling?
Staying in usually increases your risk, because moving less weakens your muscles and balance. Plan ahead instead: wear supportive shoes with good grip, go out in daylight, use any recommended walking aid and choose familiar routes at first. Your physiotherapist can practise the situations that worry you, such as kerbs.
Can I have a balance assessment if I have never had a fall?
Yes, and it is a good time to act. Warning signs include feeling unsteady, holding on to furniture as you walk around the house, near misses or trips, or struggling to stand from a chair without your arms. Starting training before a fall helps you stay independent for longer.
References
- Falls (fact sheet) (World Health Organization)
- Falls: assessment and prevention in older people and in people 50 and over at higher risk (NG249) (NICE)
- Falls (NHS)
