One of the most common ways to be injured in the winter is falling on the ice and snow. While I am a big fan of walking for exercise, in the winter you have to take extra care to make sure that you don’t fall and hurt yourself.

Some strategies to keep you on your feet include having the right equipment and making sure you are not taking unnecessary risks.

Proper boots are very important. When choosing winter footwear look for boots with non-slip soles. There are a good selection of these kind f boots at Marks Work Warehouse as well as other shoe stores. Using ice grippers over the boots can be a good idea if you are going to be walking on paths that are ice and snow covered. However, they are not a good idea on bare concrete or asphalt as they are slippery on these surfaces.

Investing in a good pair of walking or hiking poles is a good idea as well. Make sure that they have both rubber tips and points for using in different terrains.  If you are using a mobility aide such as a cane or crutches get some ice picks for them so that you can increase the traction on icy or snowy surfaces.

If you do fall, don’t immediately try to get up. If there are other around ask for help. Before attempting to get up do a once over on your body to make sure that you are OK. If you cannot move without pain, then call 911 for help.

If someone is helping you get up make sure that the person helping you is strong enough not to get injured themselves. Many secondary falls happen when someone who is not strong enough and does not know how to help tries to lift someone and ends up falling.

If you can’t get up safely wait for paramedics to arrive to help you.

Below is a diagram of how to safely get up from the ground.

https://urbanpoling.com/urban-poles/

https://www.marks.com/en/search.html?q=non%20slip%20winter%20boots;lvp=1

https://www.sail.ca/en/hillsound-flexsteps-cleats

https://www.bigleyshoes.com/products/olang-alabama?_pos=3&_psq=olang&_ss=e&_v=1.0

How to get up from a Fall