Despite my daily walking regime and twice weekly gym sessions, I had never doubted my ability to stand up from a prone position. Talk about knowing your own strength, or not! I’ve had a rude awakening.

It all started recently when I dropped a button which disappeared under my bed. That required me to lay flat on the floor and reach in to retrieve it. Easy-peasy. Yes, but then I had to stand up – and discovered that such a simple action was not as easy as I thought. Luckily, I had the bed to assist.

Soon after that effort of scrambling up from the floor I was with a group at a luncheon, seated alongside a retired nurse. I shamefacedly shared my ‘down but not out’ story about regaining my feet after retrieving that lost button – and she was not surprised. Clearly, small falls are not uncommon among we more senior ambulators. She gave me some tips (see below) on how to arise, gracefully or otherwise, if I should ever again fall with nobody, or thing, nearby to help me up.

I also remember, some years ago, I had been down on hands and knees wiping dust from the skirting boards inside our built-in wardrobe. When I’d finished, I grabbed some clothes hanging above my head to assist me to stand up. You can guess the result: the hanging rail gave way and covered me with clothes, hangers, and the rail. Dorothy laughed and, fortunately, only my dignity was deeply hurt!

But nowadays I know the theory, and a technique, of how to regain my uprightness if (or when!) if I ever again find myself flat on the floor. I have even made a couple of exploratory simulations. It’s not too hard. Maybe you’d also like to do a little controlled trial yourself: just sit on the floor and then get up again!

First keep still, don’t panic, second, assess for any hurts, next, if all’s clear, have a go at being upright! Roll so that you can kneel, crawl to a sturdy piece of furniture and use it to pull yourself up.

But, in a real-life fall: if you are in pain, or just know you’ve broken something, keep still and press your personal alarm button. Of course you have one? If you live in a retirement village or a nursing home, there’s usually an accessible button in the bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom. Better still, if you are wearing a pendant or watch with a special call button, or if you can access your mobile phone, use it.

Anticipate and prepare! If you are of an age and suspect the real possibility of a fall, get ready!

Always use your walking stick, especially when in unfamiliar territory and/or unusual surfaces.

Here’s some other little snippets of advice from my vast storehouse of near misses and failures:

• Don’t sit on rock walls (rocks move, spiders and ants spring surprises)
• Don’t clean skirting boards (let it be, or get someone else to do it)
• Don’t say I didn’t warn you (so many of my friends have spent years healing shin sores)
• Remember to use your walking stick when out (or a friend’s arm)
• Go do your own research: an Internet search on “avoiding falls” will do.

So, there’s the lesson for the month. And remember the words you knew so well when you were younger: Humpty Dumpty… (we can’t even find brown paper these days, so that won’t work!). If you want to keep fit, get walking (always with a stick), but be careful where you sit……