If you’ve had a fall, staying calm and knowing how to get up safely can make a big difference.
In this blog, we’ll be sharing a few step-by-step techniques to help you to get up from the floor safely, plus, what to do if you can’t get up. We’ll also be discussing advice on local support to help prevent any future falls.
You can also watch our demonstration video here, delivered by Vicky, a Physiotherapist and Community Falls Lead for East Cheshire NHS Trust to teach you how to get up off the floor if you were to have a fall and talk you through steps to take if you’re unable to get up from the floor.
If you find yourself on the floor after a fall, the first thing to do is stay calm, take a deep breath and assess the situation.
Have you injured yourself? It can sometimes take a minute or two to feel pain from any injuries, so make sure you have a think about whether you feel able to get up from the floor.
If you feel that you’ve injured yourself and you’re unable to get up, please read on or watch our video How to get up from a fall or what to do if you can’t get up and we will give you some advice on what to do to stay safe.
If you haven’t injured yourself and you feel able to try and get up off the floor, here’s how to get up safely after falling:
For a video demonstration please click here: How to get up from a fall or what to do if you can’t get up
- Bend your knees and roll onto your side
- Using your arms, push yourself up into high sitting
- From there you want to go onto your hands and knees and crawl towards the sofa
- Put your hands on the sofa and put the foot of your strongest leg in front of you
- If you can, with your other foot, tuck the toes underneath
- From there, push through your hands and feet, raising your body and turning until your bottom is on the sofa
- Take a moment to make sure that you are safe and re-assess for any injuries
The process of getting up from the floor will always look a little bit different for everyone.
If you were to find yourself in the hallway and the nearest object was the bottom step, you could try the previous technique, or this could be an alternative to try:
- Bend your knees and put your feet on the floor
- Bring yourself up to sitting
- Then using the bottom shuffling technique, move yourself backwards to the bottom step
- Pop both your hands on the bottom step and then bring your feet close to your body
- Push through your hands and feet, bringing your bottom to rest on the step
- Once you are in this position and you’ve taken a moment to make sure that you’re ok
- You can then use the handrail or banister to pull yourself up into standing
If you find yourself unable to get up after a fall
It’s important to have the strategies in place to keep you safe
- Use a pendant alarm or community alarm if you have one to get help
- If you don’t, use your landline or mobile phone to phone a neighbour, friend or relative to come and help you
- If you are injured, phone 999 or if you are unsure what to do, you can always phone 111 for advice or support.
- If you’ve got a smart speaker, you can programme them to phone a relative or emergency contact for you. So if this is set up, you can ask your smart speaker to do this for you.
- If you don’t have a phone nearby, try shouting or banging on a wall or floor to try and get help.
- Try and keep yourself warm, move to a carpeted area or a rug, these will be warmer than wooden floors or hard floors
- Use blankets or duvets or any clothes to keep you covered
- If you need to empty your bladder, try to keep your clothing dry and then roll away from the wet area on the floor
- Whilst on the floor, try to keep moving as much as possible, even if it is just scrunching your fingers and toes to keep your blood circulating.
- If movement is painful, please stop
You can also prevent future falls by improving your strength and balance. Join our free balance and mobility classes in locations:
- Crewe
- Goostrey
- Knutsford
- Holmes Chapel
- Poynton
- Alsager
- Handforth
- Wilmslow
- Macclesfield
- Congleton
- Sandbach
- Nantwich
Our falls prevention programme in Cheshire East helps you stay steady and confident on your feet.
Falls can happen but knowing how to get up safely and where to find support makes all the difference.
Find out more about our Stand Strong programme and book onto our free classes today. Find out more and book online here: Stand Strong – One You Cheshire East or give the team a call: 0300 123 5026.
Looking for ways to prevent falls at home? Read our blog: Top Tips for Falls Prevention at Home: How to Reduce Your Risk and Improve Balance.