Falls are some of the most common accidental injuries in communities across America. They can occur for a number of reasons. However, more often than you might think, the underlying reason is alcohol use. That’s especially true for falls that result in death. What explains this connection between drinking and falling? There are several answers to this question. Together, they add yet another motivation for helping your loved one enter timely alcohol addiction treatment.
Understanding Alcohol’s Basic Effects
To understand the connection between alcohol and falls, it helps to understand drinking’s mental and physical effects. The most important effects to highlight include:
- Loss of your ability to make good decisions
- A lowering of normal inhibitions on risky behaviors
- Impairment of the ability to coordinate your muscles
- Decreased body balance
- Delays in your reaction to things that happen around you
- A reduced ability to detect and understand dangerous situations
- Slower-than-usual thinking
You don’t have to drink a lot before you start to feel the impact of these changes. In fact, some of them can begin to appear when you’re far below the level of legal drunkenness. But as a rule, the more you drink, the worse their influence on you.
Falls and Alcohol – The Risks in Older Adults
As they grow older, your loved one’s chances of falling typically increase. Why? The aging process can rob them of some of the abilities that provide protection against falls. For example, muscle strength, and muscle coordination may decline. The same holds true for reliable body balance. In addition, many older adults experience mental changes that help boost fall risks. What’s more, some people in this age group take medications that can put them in even greater danger.
The use of alcohol can easily worsen the impact of aging. That’s true, in part, because older adults are often more sensitive to the effects of drinking. This means that a level of use that didn’t pose a fall risk earlier in life may now do so. Advancing age can also increase the odds that your loved one will drink heavily. In turn, they may be more impaired by alcohol than they once were.
Alcohol and Falling in Younger Adults
But youth doesn’t provide blanket protection against fall-related accidents. That’s especially true for nonfatal falls. Even among people between the ages of 18 and 50, alcohol use increases the chances of experiencing such an accident. And the more you or your loved one drink, the greater the level of risk.
Types of Injuries During Alcohol-Related Falls
Alcohol use can also have an impact on the injuries that happen to you or your loved one during a fall. If you drink heavily, you have higher risks for:
- Soft-tissue injuries to your limbs
- Arm and leg fractures
- Severe injuries to your head or face
Compared to those who don’t drink, the chances of breaking an arm or leg are substantial. That’s also the case for soft-tissue injuries to an arm or leg. However, the greatest increase is in your level of exposure to severe face or head injuries.
Find Out More About Alcohol and Falling at Skywood Recovery
Falls and alcohol use are clearly connected. When your level of drinking goes up, so does your overall fall risk. This fact applies to all adults, regardless of their age. Want to know more about alcohol and falling? Talk to the helpful staff at Skywood Recovery.
Rehab resources for alcohol problems are a major focus at Skywood Recovery. With our expert support, you, or your loved one not only have the chance to reduce your exposure to falls. You can also get help avoiding the impact of many other alcohol-related harms. Just call us today at 269.280.4673 or contact us online.