If you fall down in the snow, don’t rush to stand up!especially the elderly

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In recent days, many places have experienced heavy snowfall, and the heavy snowfall is still continuing, which brings a lot of trouble to travel.

When traveling in snow, the road surface is slippery and it is easy to fall and get injured, especially the elderly, so be careful. According to a report released by the World Health Organization, more than 300,000 people worldwide die from falls every year, of which more than 50% are over 60 years old. In our country, falls are also the leading cause of injury and death among people over 65 years old.

How to avoid falling injuries in snowy weather? And how to avoid secondary injuries caused by improper handling after a fall? Let’s talk about it in detail today.

　alert!There is a high risk of falling in these places

Judging from the experiences of those who have been injured in falls, there are three most common dangerous situations.

The first type is relatively smooth steps or ground. Especially polished marble is the easiest place for people to fall. The surface of polished marble is very slippery with a thin layer of snow, and the coefficient of friction is very low. It is easy to slip if you are not careful.

The second is that because the snow is relatively thick, after the ground is covered with snow, the ditches and bumps on the ground cannot be seen. They all look flat, but in fact they are full of potholes, making it easy for people to fall.

The third situation is a slope (often with some ice), which is easy to slip on in snowy days.

careful!The harm from a fall is not small

For many friends, especially young people, they may feel that it is just a fall. But the truth is, a fall can cause serious injury without you even realizing it. From a clinical perspective, there are four parts of the human body that are often injured due to falls, which may even be fatal in severe cases.

Number one is the wrist. On most snowy days, the most frequent emergency visits to the hospital’s orthopedics department are for the wrist.

Everyone knows that when we fall, our subconscious reaction is to put our hands on the ground. If you are an older person, you have some osteoporosis, and your body coordination is not very good when you fall. At this time, if he touches the ground with his hand, if he touches the ground with the back of his hand first, it is called Smith fracture; Colles’ fracture is prone to occur when landing on the ground, resulting in a fork-like deformity. If the fracture feels relatively stable after reduction, it can be fixed with a plaster for a period of time. In some cases, surgical reduction may be required.

The second most common site of injury is the shoulder joint. Shoulder joint injuries also occur when most of us subconsciously support the ground with our hands. When some people fall, their upper body hits the ground and the shoulder joint hits the ground first.

Therefore, the shoulder joint is prone to two situations, one is rotator cuff tear, and the other is shoulder joint dislocation. If the displacement is not serious and the tear is not serious, it can be treated conservatively, but some cases may still require surgery.

The third type is a very serious injury-femoral neck fracture, which is a fracture that easily occurs when we land on the side (outside of the hip joint) when we fall.

Some people call it “the last fracture in your life.” Why is it said to be “the last fracture in life”?

First of all, it is a fracture that occurs in many elderly people. The second is that after a fracture at this position, the blood supply of the femoral head will be greatly affected. Even if surgery is performed, there is a high probability of femoral head necrosis, so many times we will directly consider hip replacement.

If the patient is older and is not suitable for hip replacement surgery, it may cause the patient to be bedridden for a long time and limit his or her living ability. There may also be secondary complications, such as pneumonia, urinary tract infection, blood clots, and severe bone problems. Looseness, muscle atrophy, etc. will ensue, which can easily lead to life-threatening injuries.

The last common fall injury is located in the hip, called tail vertebra fracture. It is relatively not that harmful to life, but it is very embarrassing and uncomfortable.

You may have all experienced it when you were a kid. When playing, you would pull away the stool of the classmate in front of you, and the classmate would sit directly on the ground (good kids, don’t imitate!). If it is snowy and the sole of your foot slips and you fall backward, you will basically fall on what is commonly known as the “tail bone”. Friends who are new to skiing and skating, please be careful!

There are basically two situations after a fall of the tail bone. If it is not particularly serious, just lie down for a while to recover. If it is particularly serious, such as bending, it may also need to be reset. Although the risk is not that high, friends who have suffered a tail vertebra fracture must not want to think back to those days when they had to be careful even when sitting down…

Notice!Don’t be in a hurry to stand up after falling down like this

Usually after falling, we subconsciously want to stand up as soon as possible, or when we see someone else falling, we want to help them up as soon as possible. It should be noted that for some injured patients who have fallen, do not rush to stand up. Even during rescue, if the handling method is incorrect, it may cause secondary injuries and aggravate their pain.

So, how to determine the severity of a fall injury? And what situations should not be handled by oneself?

First, look at the severity of the pain.

Because pain itself is a good reminder for people. If the person who fell has no pain after resting for a while, there is a high probability that there is no problem. If you are not worried, just go to the hospital for a checkup afterwards.

However, if the injured person is in severe pain, sweating profusely, or even unable to get up, there is a high probability that there is a serious problem, because pain is a good reminder and he should seek professional medical help in time.

Secondly, check for obvious deformities around the joints.

For example, the normal joint is flat, but now it is convex. There is a mobility deformity, such as the elbow joint is anti-joint.

Another situation is a fracture of the head and neck of the femoral head. The injured person with a fracture here may have the lower limbs significantly shortened and rotated. This obvious deformity of the bones around the joint is most likely to cause dislocation and fracture. At this time, do not Move easily or ask the injured person to stand up quickly.

In short, when fractures and dislocations occur, the patient needs to remain relatively fixed for the first time. If it is not fixed during emergency transportation, it may cause secondary damage due to the cutting of the surrounding soft tissue by our broken ends. , sometimes it is even easy to cause neurovascular damage or some muscle and soft tissue damage.

Therefore, if we roughly judge that the above situation has occurred, or there is a situation that cannot be judged by ourselves, professional medical personnel should be sent to the scene as soon as possible for emergency treatment on site.

How to avoid falling injuries?

Compared with “What to do after a fall?”, prevention is obviously more important. So, how can you avoid falling injuries? Pay attention to these 5 points:

1. Always be vigilant and be careful

On snowy days, many places are slippery and easy to slip. When walking in such an environment, you must always be alert and use caution. In particular, although there is no snow on many roads, there is a thin layer of ice. This situation is the easiest to ignore and the easiest to slip.

2. Slow down your walking speed

When traveling on a snowy day, you must slow down and take every step firmly, one step at a time, especially if you encounter uneven roads, you must slow down.

3. Change to non-slip outdoor shoes

On snowy days, roads can easily freeze and become very slippery. If your shoes are not slip-resistant, you are more likely to fall and get injured. Nowadays, many outdoor shoes have some anti-slip technology on their soles. You can search for them yourself.

Also note that the trousers should not be too long to avoid stepping on the trouser legs and causing a fall; the socks should fit well and do not wear stockings that slip on the feet; the shoelaces should be tied tightly and should not be too long to avoid stepping on the shoelaces and causing a fall.

4. Keep warm and try to avoid putting your hands in your pockets

When traveling in snow, wear gloves and warm clothes, and try not to put your hands in your pockets because of the cold weather. Because if you put your hands in your pockets at the moment of a fall and don’t have time to take them out, your body will fall directly, causing more serious injuries. Therefore, knowing that the ground is slippery, it is best to take out your hands and be prepared to maintain balance at any time.

5. Elderly people should avoid going out as much as possible

Falls are the number one cause of accidental death among people over the age of 65. If it snows and freezes in winter, the road surface will be slippery, and the thick clothing will block the view of the road below. The elderly are more likely to fall and fracture in winter. Once fractures occur in the elderly, long-term bed rest can easily aggravate existing medical system diseases and cause complications such as urinary system infections, bedsores, and pneumonia.

Finally, I would like to remind everyone not to kick things randomly! Someone has been sent to the hospital because of this…

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