NHS figures show that around one in three adults over 65 will have at least one fall a year, stresses physiotherapist Katie Knapton, while half of people over 80 will have at least one fall a year. In 2013, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence figures estimated that they cost the NHS more than £2.3 billion each year.
“Not all falls result in serious injury, but it’s a worry best addressed in your 40s and 50s, a time when we also lose muscle strength,” stresses Knapton, who has more than 30 years of experience at King’s College Hospital and Guy’s Hospital and as the founder of the private online physiotherapy service PhysioFast Online.
Balance and strength are interlinked. “We use our ability to balance all the time without even realising it, to stay upright,” she explains. But we neglect it at our peril. “If you fall and fracture your hip later in life, for example, your mobility can dramatically decrease.
“It’s particularly vital for perimenopausal and menopausal women to work on balance control and strength training to prevent the likelihood…
