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The lost art of falling down

On Behalf of | May 15, 2017 | Personal Injury

Did you know there is a science to falling? Physical therapists say small children demonstrate some of the best ways to fall, just allowing themselves to drop without worrying about injury. Eventually, people do become afraid of hurting themselves and exercise caution as they walk. Of course, if someone’s negligence creates a dangerous situation, you may end up falling anyway.

Your first thought may have been embarrassment as you tripped or slipped and went crashing to the ground. However, it may have taken only a second for the pain to set in. You may barely recall reaching out to catch yourself, falling forward onto your hands or backward onto your elbows. In the worst-case scenario, you struck your head on the ground or some other object as you fell. If you lost consciousness, your doctor might be concerned about a brain injury.

Brace yourself!

In fact, experts say bracing for a fall is more likely to cause injury. Instead, as unnatural as it may sound, the best way to protect your body is to relax as you fall. Making your body rigid fails to allow the larger parts of your body to absorb the fall. The softer, fleshier parts of your anatomy will distribute the impact more evenly, especially if you can shift your weight from one area to another as you land, for example:

  • From the calf
  • To the thigh
  • Onto the buttocks
  • Across the latissimus dorsi on the side of the back
  • Rolling onto the back

Among others, gymnasts, paratroopers and those who practice martial arts practice these rolling landings successfully.

Down but not out

Obviously, unless you are a football player or a stunt double, falling is probably not your job, so it isn’t something you practice each day. When you fall, it is usually an accident that you don’t have a lot of time to think about. In fact, it may have happened so fast, you hardly remember it. However, it may have been someone’s job to maintain the sidewalk where you tripped or clean up the spill that left a slippery floor where you fell.

Slipping and falling may be funny in cartoons and comedies, but in real life, you know the pain and suffering it causes, and it has probably interfered with many aspects of your life. Your finances may be one of those aspects if you are dealing with doctors and specialists to find relief for the pain. By contacting a personal injury attorney in West Virginia, you can learn about the options available for seeking possible compensation from the ones responsible for the conditions that resulted in your fall.

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