The short answer
Falls are prevented by addressing the handful of contributors that actually move risk: leg strength and balance, medications that cause drowsiness or drop blood pressure, blood pressure that falls on standing, poor vision, unsafe footwear and hazards at home. Dizziness is different — some of it is benign and some of it is a stroke or a cardiac rhythm problem. The red flags above mean emergency care, not an appointment.
What a fall work-up looks at
- The circumstances: what you were doing, whether you blacked out, how you landed, whether you could get up.
- Blood pressure and pulse lying and standing, because a drop on standing is common and treatable.
- Every medication, especially sedatives, sleep aids, blood-pressure medicines and anything anticholinergic.
- Strength, gait and balance, assessed in person.
- Vision, hearing, foot problems and footwear.
- The home: rugs, cords, lighting, stairs, bathroom grab rails.
Medication contribution is often the biggest single lever — see polypharmacy and medication management.
Dizziness: the patterns that matter
| What it feels like | What a provider is thinking about |
|---|---|
| Room spinning, worse with head movement | Inner-ear causes — often assessable and treatable |
| Light-headed on standing up | Blood pressure dropping on standing; medications; dehydration |
| Faint, with palpitations | Heart rhythm — needs prompt evaluation |
| Unsteady on the feet rather than spinning | Balance, strength, neuropathy, vision, medications |
| Sudden, severe, with neurological symptoms | Emergency — stroke must be excluded now |
This table is how clinicians organise the question; it is not a way to diagnose yourself. New or unexplained dizziness needs to be assessed.
What genuinely reduces risk
Strength and balance work, repeatedly
Progressive leg strength and balance practice is the intervention with the best record. Frequency beats intensity.
A medication review aimed at fall risk
Sedating medicines and blood-pressure stacking are common, findable and often changeable.
Check blood pressure standing, not just sitting
Readings lying and standing at home, written down with dates, change what a provider can do.
Fix the house and the shoes
Lighting, rugs, cords, bathroom rails, and footwear with a firm heel. Cheap, dull, effective.
Get vision and feet looked at
Updated glasses and treated foot problems both reduce risk; these are referrals, not something we test.
Virtual or in person?
History, medication review, home-hazard discussion and follow-up work well virtually. A gait, balance and cardiovascular examination does not — that is an in-person visit, available by appointment at our North Richland Hills practice for ages 13 and over. Anything on the red-flag list is an emergency, not a scheduled visit.
General education only. This page cannot tell you why you are dizzy, and it is not a substitute for being assessed.