You wake up in the middle of the night, your blood pressure is already low, you step out of bed and stand up, your blood pressure drops further, it's totally dark, you have no visual cues to which way is up. You take two steps, lose your balance and hit your head on a desk, table or maybe you fall and break a hip. Avoidable? Probably!

The first mistake was not taking a brief pause sitting on the edge of the bed. This would have allowed an adjustment in blood pressure and prevented postural hypotension, something all of us experience if we get up too quickly.  The second mistake was not having at least a little bit of light available so that room objects can be seen to provide visual orientation. A dim bathroom or hall light will do the job. If you don't like lights on at night, get a remote controlled switch at Home Depot or Lowe's. The receiver plugs into a socket. Then a small light can plug into the receiver. The little transmitter sits beside your bed.  All you do is hit the button when you wake up at night, and you are no longer in the dark.

 Sitting on the bed with both feet on the floor, take five to ten seconds to let your blood pressure adjust and also to become visually oriented before arising.  Remember, a fall can occur at any age, but they can be particularly devastating if you are of a more seasoned age.  

Loss of orientation is not the only cause of falls.  As we age, we often experience a reduction of visual acuity so objects do not appear as clear as they once did.  There is also a slight loss of depth perception that may cause difficulty judging how far something is from you, like a step.   Viewing a step through your bifocal can lead to an accident.  The focal length of your bifocal is set for reading distance, 16 to 18 inches.  The distance from your eyes to the step is probably more than five feet so that step is not going to be clear.   Looking through the distance area of your glasses and moving up or down the steps slowly, particularly if you are on unfamiliar or poor quality, uneven steps, might save you from a painful accident. 

Here are a few other tips to help prevent falls:  1)  Make sure your hallways, steps and entryways are well lit, 2)  Eliminate clutter so you don’t slip or trip on something that should not be sitting in the middle of the floor,  and 3)  Allow your eyes to adjust when moving from the brightly, sunlit outside to the inside. 

FACTS ABOUT FALLING     http://www.homecaremag.com/mag/medical_bill_seeks_reduce