Today we’re going to answer the frequently asked question (FAQ) that I hear from my patients which is, “If I want to prevent myself from falling, or reduce fall risk, what do I need to know or do medically?”

What you need to know about medical management is that, first of all, if you have had a fall or if you are afraid of falling or are noticing a change in your ability to walk and balance, you should definitely make an appointment to talk to your doctor about how to reduce fall risk.

It may be that your doctor needs to review your medications to look for side effects or interactions that may be affecting your balance.

Sometimes medications can also interact with alcohol so if you are using alcohol or other recreational drugs make sure that you talk to your doctor about how that may interact with your medications.

The next thing regarding medical management is to make sure to manage your chronic health conditions, such as your blood pressure or your blood sugar if you’re suffering from high blood pressure or diabetes.

There are other chronic health conditions that you may have that you can manage effectively to reduce your risk of falling. Make sure that you partner with your doctor to understand how to manage your chronic health conditions.

The other medical recommendations to reduce your risk of falling are to talk to your doctor about the proper diet for yourself, as well as how much water you should be drinking throughout the day.

Also, make sure that you get your eyes checked at least once a year because there are normal changes to the eyes that occur with aging as well as some diseases that can occur in the eyes. Those are especially prevalent in the population of people over 65 years old so it is important to get your vision checked and make sure that you have the proper glasses.

All of those things are considered medical management, which may help reduce your risk of falls.