The Balance Paradox:

Why Fear of Falling Makes You More Likely to Fall

And what a hidden exoskeleton in a sneaker can do about it.

Every year, approximately 24% of adults over 65 fall. That’s roughly 14 million Americans and the number is rising as the country ages. The healthcare costs associated with those falls run to an estimated $50 billion annually. The human costs are harder to count: fractured hips, hospital stays, the slow surrender of independence.

So it makes sense that many older adults respond to fall risk the way they respond to any perceived danger: by being more careful. Moving less. Staying home. Sitting when they might otherwise walk.

The problem is that this response makes things worse.

 


The rest of this article is coming soon. Stay tuned.

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