The holiday season is a time for decorating—making things merry and bright. Decorating often involves moving, standing, and balancing in ways that we don’t commonly do.
In rehab, we can expect to receive a significant amount of business from inadvertent falls during the holiday season—and many of them are avoidable. Like Santa’s elves, we want to be fit and jolly enough to accomplish the tasks before us.
3 Simple Tips for a Safe Holiday Season
There are some simple things you can do to potentially stave off injuries during the holidays.- Think It Through: I’ve had numerous patients over the years tell me that they wouldn’t have gotten injured if they’d “just thought it through.” Before engaging in any decorating activity, especially when it involves ladders and reaching, take a moment to devise a safe plan of action to help prevent falls.
- Avoid Distractions: Whether retrieving a turkey or ham from the oven or standing on a ladder to get that final decoration in place, getting distracted can lead to falls or injuries. Hold conversations until these tasks are completed, and avoid unnecessary head turns when talking to others.
- Mind the Clutter: It’s easy to let clutter build up on the floor when decorating, creating an unintentional obstacle course. All it takes is one unfortunate step to cause a fall, so take the time to keep walkways clear and keep your eyes open for potential hazards.
- Don’t Take Risks: I get it. You only have one more ornament to put up, or a long stretch to hang that finishing touch. The temptation to reach further rather than take the time and effort to reposition your ladder or chair beckons. Please, however, consider moving your chair or ladder closer instead of taking risks. Falls and muscle strains can happen fast at your balance limits, and you don’t want to spoil a perfectly good holiday with a trip to the hospital.
