Getting up from the Floor
Watch the film attached at the end of this article
For those with physical limitations due to age, illness or injury it is very important to learn how to rescue yourself from the floor if you have had a fall. The longer you spend on the floor the more serious the health consequences.
Once you have fallen take a moment to make sure you have not severely injured yourself if you have try the last technique in this sequence.
In event that you are on the floor and you are not injured try the simplest method.
1. The Basic Fall recovery
Bend your knees. Then put your strongest arm (usually the right) across your body to the opposite side. Place the hand on the floor. Push down on the hand at the same time as pushing the other elbow back under you. Then extend both arms and come over on to your knees. Then crawl to any stable surface. Put your hands up on to this surface bend your strongest leg and then push down on hands to push yourself upright.
As you come up you can turn to sit down.
Remain seated to recover for a while
If this does not work for you here is another method you can try
Tipping Point
Get yourself back near your sofa. If you have a cushion on the sofa remove it to make the sofa lower.
Put your elbows on to the sofa extend them a little just enough to lift your bottom off a few inches. Then lean your shoulders and head backwards until you reach the tipping point when you should then be able to push yourself backwards on to the sofa. Once your weight is supported on the sofa you can walk your legs to the side, lift them up on to the sofa, roll over on to your side. Finally drop your legs back over the side and sit up.
If neither of these work Try
The Hip Hike
As before get yourself up beside your sofa.
When your hand is the same side of your body it is hard to get enough height to get up on to the sofa.
The trick is to reach your Right hand across your body.
Put the left elbow up on the sofa.
Lean your head forwards and push down through the arm on the right and the Left elbow while lifting your hips on to the sofa.
If this is no good then you need to start scanning your environment around you for something else that can help you get up. You need any small item that than make a half way point to getting yourself up on to the sofa.
You can use a radio, speakers, cushions, footstool or books.
If you then place these by the sofa you can push up on to this before progressing the whole way up.
If you are near a pile of books you can make a Book Tower
Get a pile of books beside you.
All you do if lean one way and place a book under your one buttock. Then lean the other way and do the same thing the other side.
Keep doing this until you are high enough to get up either on to the sofa , or pulling up on something like a window ledge or stable piece of furniture.
What if you are injured?
Firstly see if you can sit up without too much pain.
Then try Walking your hips backwards
You can lean yourself from side to side and as you do so you lift and scoop your hip up and backwards. This takes up very little energy.
This can be done forwards or backwards but you may find backwards is slightly easier.
Try and get to a phone or front door.
Use your shoe to hit the front door to draw attention
If you are injured to the point that you can not even sit up you have one last trick to try.
Sideways Body shift
With your knees bent try and lift bottom up a fraction and shift the pelvis sideways a little.
Then Pushing down on your elbows move the upper body sideways.
Keep repeating this action until you can reach the phone or the front door.
Then you can shout and bang the door with your shoe or hand
Watch this film to show you how to get up from the floor.