What makes people fall besides tripping?

Ear infections, sudden changes in blood pressure, changing directions suddenly, standing up too quickly, vision problems, the list is long and falling is dangerous.

www.healthinaging.org/aging-and-health-a-to-z/topic:falls/info:causes-and-symptoms/

Physical Risk Factors
As we age, many of us develop long-term physical conditions or illnesses that have an impact on gait and balance. Also, a great number of older people suffer from more than one of these conditions at the same time, making the risk of a fall even greater. The following are some examples of illnesses or conditions that increase the risk of falling:

Older age
Arthritis
Chronic pain
Diabetes
Parkinson’s disease
Anemia or other blood disorders
Thyroid problems
Foot disorders
Muscle weakness in the legs
Vertigo (dizziness) or balance difficulties
Sensory disorders, such as vision or hearing problems, or neuropathy (numbness) in the legs and feet
Brain or mood disorders, including dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, delirium, depression, or psychotic behavior
Urinary incontinence or having to urinate so frequently frequency that it requires numerous urgent trips to the bathroom (sometimes too late)
Dehydration (lack of fluids in your body). We tend to lose water as we get older. Dehydration produces hypotension (low blood pressure) which can bring on a fall. Dehydration can also cause confusion, loss of balance, constipation, and many other unwelcome symptoms. You can become dehydrated without realizing it if the weather is warm, if you take diuretics (“water pills”) and certain other medications, or if you have specific conditions like diabetes.
Fear that you will fall again
Frailty
Low vitamin D
Lifestyle or Behavioral Risk Factors
Even healthy people experience new challenges with aging that can increase the risk of falling.

Medications
The older you get, the more likely it is that you take many different prescription and over-the-counter medicines. When you are older, medications take longer to break down and leave your body. They may also interact with each other in ways that are unexpected and harmful. Certain medications strongly increase your chances of falling. These include medicines such as tranquilizers, sedatives, sleeping pills, antidepressants, or antipsychotics. Additionally, diuretics and blood pressure medications can lower your blood pressure, which increases your chances of falling. Some medications have side effects such as dizziness or confusion that can also increase your fall risk. Additionally, drinking alcohol while taking medications increases the risk of a fall.

Lack of Exercise
Common problems like arthritis, dizziness, and chronic pain may make it more difficult to exercise, even if you were active before. Muscles get weaker, joints ache more, and exercise is more and more challenging. Also, staying indoors reduces your exposure to sunshine. This means that your body produces less vitamin D, which you need to keep bones strong.

Environmental Factors
There may be factors in your environment that can make it more likely that you will fall. These include:

Improper footwear. Wearing shoes with heels or shoes that your feet slide around in is particularly dangerous.
Risks in the home. These can include loose carpets, wires, dark stairways or corridors, or water on the floor.
Risks in the environment outside your home. These can include uneven ground, clutter in the yard, or ice and snow.
Incorrect use of walking aids such as canes or walkers.

Yes, stroke and heart attacks can cause falls if standing when it happens or the person gets up.
Are you upgrading to the necklace that detects motion, like falling, so that an operator calls and if gets no response calls for help? I did this with Mom. If they become unconcious they can't push the button. The one problem I found was if the button hits something an operator will respond. Because of this my Mom would put the button down her top. The button has to hit the floor to send a signal to the operator. This means the necklace can't be too short and has to be outside clothing. Hope I helped.

My Moms falls were caused by neuropathy in her ankles. Pivoting on one foot was a no no. Even with a walker she would fall. First, I want to say they r great. Second, be careful where the phone lines are. I had a friend whose vwalker got tangled in the phone line next to her bed. She fell and was on the floor for 14 hrs because she pulled the phone cord out of the wall. They don't work in phone outages. You need them hooked up to a landline so during electrical outages, they work.

BTW, some hospitals or senior centers have trip prevention classes, addressing not only the potential physical or mental factors contributing to falls, but also how to fall proof a house as much as possible.

My mother fell sadly 2 days ago while my daughter and her great grandson were visiting her. Alot of stitches in her main hand but that seems to be it. She had her walker with her and didnt roll it over a section of pavement correctly. I feel bad although I had nothing to do with it. It curtailed her visits with family here from out of state. I feel as though bad luck is trailing me as there have been a number of difficult issues lately and am not the best at staying mentally strong but am trying hard.

There are so many causes.

My MIL started falling frequently. It turned out to be liver and kidney failure making her weak.

It’s worth adding the service. My mom who had never fallen has slowly gotten less steady on her feet and one evening when I had just returned from a trip she took an awful fall on her back. She was turning to come out of the bathroom and just fell. It sounded like a cabinet had fallen over. The alert went off and we were able to tell them all was ok but imagine if I had not been home and she didn’t have it? The peace of mine it gives me is invaluable.

Funny story, she once set it off in the middle of the night and didn’t hear them call, and none of the call chain folks heard their phones either, she woke up to 4 police officers standing in her bedroom shining flashlights on her! LOL! It was scary but again, at least we know the service works:)

Zalma, if you're concerned about falls, reconsider going with a lifeline service that charges more, apparently to detect falls.

Find a company that has a monitor that can detect falling or change in position; those monitors activate automatically and spur a call from the company to the individual, or any of the 3 named first responders (caregiver, EMS or other) if the person wearing the monitor doesn't respond.

And if you're considering any kind of first alert system (which is an excellent idea), also consider instilling a lockbox that's code operated so EMS can open it to get into the house. Locks that slip over the door handle aren't as sturdy and can be sawed off by someone who knows how and has the patience.

zalmanitzka: Elders are oftentimes unstable on their feet, e.g. my late mother "slipped out of a char" (she did not tell me until 10 months later), she fell when she simply turned around from her kitchen counter to her wall calendar to jot something  down, my mother's gait was off and she listed to one side when we finally remedied that with a shoe lift, they will ditch their walkers when no one is looking, they need to be slow to rise from a seated position to standing because of blood pressure changes. Plus even when they arise out of bed for the day, many a physician will tell them to sit on the side of their bed for a few minutes, else they get up too rapidly and fall.

Definitely get the medical alert 9-1-1 necklace. Be aware that some elders err when they mistakenly take it off when bathing.