By Matt Sizemore, KION  |  Feb 21, 2018

SALINAS, Calif. – Over the past two days, we’ve learned how strokes and falls can seriously and sometimes permanently affect lives. Now we learn how those affected can recover from those traumatic events. 

Strokes typically happen to older adults, but traumatic falls can affect people of any age. Despite that, it’s still older folks who have a harder time recovering.

"It does take longer and also as we get older our balance goes down. That’s just a natural aspect of getting older so when you’re young, your balance is at it’s peak but as you get older, the systems in your body typically don’t respond like they used to," said Natividad Medical Center Therapy Services Manager Blair Limon.

For many fall or stroke victims, physical therapy can help.

"Every fall is different, and ever circumstance is handled differently. At the end of the day, as an outpatient therapist what we want to do is we want to get that patient back to doing what they were originally doing before the fall occurred," said Limon.

Therapists mainly focus on three things: strength, balance, and flexibility.

"Flexibility is a big issue with balance because our bodies need to be able to go through the full range of movement in order to correct ourselves so if we start to go one direction and we can’t correct that or we don’t have that movement, we’re more likely to fall," said Limon.

Physical therapy has helped Princetta after her fall. 

"More confident, and my legs can get stronger, my arms are stronger, my back is stronger," said Fall Victim Princetta Blackmon.

As the saying goes, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." That’s why places like Natividad Medical Center offer strength and balance classes to keep seniors on their feet and off the ground. But if a stroke is suspected or you or someone you know has taken a bad fall, see a doctor as soon as possible.

"Absolutely should not hesitate cause you don’t know the extent of the injuries that you have. So the sooner you get to the hospital and the sooner you get looked at, the better chances are if something is going wrong, they can catch it," said Limon.

If you’d like to find out more about the dangers of falling and brain trauma, you can find that information on Natividad Medical Center’s Brain Smart program website: http://natividadbrainsmart.com/