People fall and falls cause injuries. As we get older we are statistically more likely to fall. Preventing falls is in every ones best interest.

In an earlier article we discussed new guidelines for preventing falls by elderly people. No one wants to be considered to be old, and we hate using the term elderly it sound pejorative and condescending, yet one of the most problematic issues in medicine today are people over 65 who fall and injure themselves. While most injuries are minor sometimes only a bruising to the ego. On the other hand, many of the injuries are real and range from minor bruises and abrasions all the way to broken hips or fractured skull’s, to subdural hematomas and death. While not all of these injuries require medical care, other require prolonged stays in hospitals, convalescent facilities and even permanent disabilities.

The most difficult part of all of this is that most of these major injuries, the pain and suffering that accompany them, and the disabilities they cause, are fully preventable. As we suggested in our earlier article there are a number of things you can do to ensure prevention. In this article we will look at one of these many thing you can do, taking up Tai Chi.

Taking up Tai Chi could form part of a multiple intervention approach to helping adults of all ages reduce their risk of falling, according to recently updated guidelines from the American Geriatrics Society and the British Geriatric Society. These organization also agree that by using Tai Chi many of people could also cut back, and even get off, of some medication which, if Tai Chi is used regularly, may no longer be necessary

In newly update guidelines for preventing falls in the elderly, "multifactorial" interventions are now being recommend. One of the intervention strongly recommended is an exercise component. This along with assessing feet and footwear, vision problems, fear of falling, ability to go about daily living, overall strength and other factors, provides a way of determining who needs what type of intervention to best help them.

Two of the most important factors involved in preventing falls is increasing physical strength and improving balance. Tai chi offers and excellent, fun way to do both at the same time. Tai chi is a perfect for individuals who are not generally exercise minded. It is also valuable in that it does not require lots of machinery, lifting weights, or fatiguing strenuous activities such as treadmills or running. It can be done indoors when it is cold or raining, or outdoors on beautiful days. No fancy equipment or clothing is needed, although comfortable clothing and a mat might be helpful in your home.

An ancient oriental art, Tai chi is a regime of postures that act to strengthen frequently used and unused muscles, improve balance and increase stamina without having to work terribly hard. You can start with simple easy to use postures and move as you see fit into more complex ones or simply master what you know and enjoy using.

You can learn it from a book, an audio or video tape, but we suggest joining a class taught by and expert so you learn to do what you chose, correctly. Tai chi can not only be credited with helping strength, stamina and balance, but it can also help to lower blood pressure, reduce stress and act as a form of meditation.

One local resources for Tai Chi classes is Lu Molberg, see here flyer below.