Saturday, October 4, 2014

Dealing with falls and using the Gowers Maneuver

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Growing up with Becker’s Muscular Dystrophy definitely has its challenges. Throughout the years I have actually tried to ignore the fact that I even had Muscular Dystrophy. Something many of us do when diagnosed with any condition. The truth is you can only ignore it for so long. You see from time and time little things will happen that quickly reminds us of our condition. It's in these time's when most of us might feel alone in our situations. Most of my reminders come in public when I am either walking in a store or just simply stepping off a curb when one of my leg gives out causing me to fall. It's like one moment your walking without a worry in the world and the next thing you know your on the ground. Thankfully when this happens it usually doesn’t result in an injury, but I am sure you can understand it does leave me feeling embarrassed and at times pretty frustrated.

I am sure those living with Becker's Muscular Dystrophy or other conditions who are no longer walking and are now using wheelchairs can remember the days when they too faced similar situations. To be honest and I am sure many others will agree you never really get used to falling. After years of suffering many slips and falls I have yet to reach a point in my life where I get up off the ground with a big smile on my face. It is truly hard to act as if nothing really happened especially when it happens in front of family or in my situation as a child when I was trying to impress a girl. But I will save that one for another blog post. Now when it comes to falls at times it can put us at risk. The other day I was walking in a parking lot when one of my legs gave out, I ended up on the ground behind some parked cars. Thankfully no one was backing up out of a spot or I might not be here to share this blog post with you. Thankfully in this situation I was able to use the chrome bumper of a pick up truck as a support to help me get back up. You see when those of us the BMD fall we need something to push off of to get up off the ground. Eventually as our muscles weaken it becomes harder to push off of our legs to get back up. That means if we fall
in an open area we may have to crawl to the closest chair or table so we can use it to push off of to help us get back up. Many of us in our younger years were able to use something known within the Muscular Dystrophy community as the Gower's Maneuver - but eventually it does become much harder for us to do.

When it comes to living with Becker Muscular Dystrophy there are those out there who believe our lives are relatively easy. Sure in the early years we might be better off but as we age we do slowly lose the ability to things most people take for granted. When it comes to the issue of dealing with falls related to living with BMD eventually we do reach a point when the only way to avoid falls is to consider using mobility aids such as canes and wheelchairs.


Related Posts:
My personal story growing up with Becker's Muscular Dystrophy,
Life after being diagnosed with Becker's Muscular Dystrophy,
Living with Muscular Dystrophy and dealing with "Weak Days",
Living with BMD: Dealing with falls & size of calf muscles &
When stairs become your worst enemy


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