June 30, 2025 • 51 mins
In this empowering episode, we sit down with Dr. Kunjal Dharod, a private practice physical therapist who specializes in helping seniors stay strong, confident, and independent. We dive into one of the most overlooked but critical topics in aging well—fall prevention.Dr. Dharod breaks down the common risk factors for falls, from muscle weakness and balance issues to environmental hazards and medication side effects. She shares the real-life consequences of falls, and why they’re often a turning point in someone’s health journey.You’ll learn about her personalized assessment protocol and how she creates tailored plans for her clients to prevent falls before they ever happen.Because here’s the truth: falls are not normal.They are preventable—and this episode will show you how.Whether you're caring for a loved one or planning for your own strong future, this conversation is a must-listen.Follow Dr. Dharod on IG: @myjourneymywaysptFollow us on Instagram!Dr. Lucille @LucilleNecas Dr. Lynn @TheAgingGamesLynn's book, The Fasting Bible: How to Lose Weight, Grow Younger and Heal your Body (in 30 days or less): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BQ43495K#podcast #relationshipadvice #innerpower #lifeadvice
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Welcome to the Rewilded Human podcast, where Doctor Lucille,
holistic psychiatrist and psychotherapist, and Doctor
Lynn, Naturopath and Nutritionalconsultant help you reconnect
with your true self through practical tips on mental health,
nutrition, exercise, relationships, and spirituality.
With a dash of humor, they tackle today's toughest issues
to guide you back to a harmonious, vibrant life.
(00:21):
Rediscover your natural self, just as nature intended.
So as you're getting on in years, maybe you're noticing
that your balance is a little bit off, you're not quite as
strong as you used to be. Maybe you're getting a little
bit anxious about moving too fast or moving too far.
Well, these may all be signs that you're at risk of having a
(00:42):
fall. So on today's episode of the
Rewilded Human podcast, we are going to address this issue with
Doctor Kunjal Darod. Now, she's a private practice
physical therapist who specializes in fall prevention.
And her motto is that she's there to help seniors stay
(01:05):
strong and independent. So in this episode, you're going
to learn what the risk factors are for falls.
What are the consequences of having a fall?
Doctor Kunjal shares her protocol for how she assesses
people. And it's very extensive and very
(01:27):
comprehensive. And she is looking for
absolutely everything within theindividual and in their
environment, in their social milieu that could make them at
risk for a fall. And then she develops a very
comprehensive plan that clients can follow so that they can
(01:48):
literally prevent ever having a fall.
In her words, falls are not normal.
So sit back and relax because you are in good hands with
Doctor Darod. You will learn so much about
falls and fall prevention so youcan develop the confidence that
(02:12):
you can live the rest of your life with that strength and
independence that you desire. Doctor Kunja, welcome to the To
the Rewilded Human podcast. We are so happy to have you here
with us. I'm so excited to join this
conversation. I am very thank you for having
me here. Thank you so much.
And this is such an important topic.
This is something that people don't talk about too much.
(02:34):
So I was really happy to see your website.
I mean, your page on Instagram and you know that you do address
how detrimental falls can be andall the many ways that we can
actually prevent falling as we're getting older.
And our audience is primarily ladies over 50.
So this actually is very important for them to talk
about. Let's let's begin with, you
(02:56):
know, some of the serious effects that people don't really
think about. Like they think it's just a
fall, just a broken bone, you know, just the hip and but
really a fall can have really serious ramifications.
Let's can we start with that? Yes, definitely.
So sometimes even even before that broken bone or even before
(03:16):
that fall actually happens, people are moving less or not
even noticing the signs that they're about to fall.
Before a fall happens, you are given so many alerts and your
caregivers can notice so many things in your body, but we most
people sadly tend to avoid it and consider it as normal part
(03:40):
of aging. Can you can you name some of
these things for us that so. Like before, they'll start
taking shorter steps when they're walking.
Like being really cautious when they're walking.
Some people will start furniturewalking.
They'll hold on to furniture when they're walking.
They'll think twice about stepping over a curb.
They will want to hold on to somebody and it's it's in their
(04:03):
head. They're just afraid of moving
overall, they'll maybe, you know, stop going out less how
did if they're feeling fatigued or tired or weak, they'll just
consider it as, oh, I'm just getting old.
It's my age. So those things we just ageing
is so normalized as being pathological, which is which
it's not supposed to be. It's not pathological.
(04:26):
Absolutely. So that we just it's just so, so
natural for people to think thatthis is aging, that they don't
even think that no, I need to stop think and work on this.
I can change it. And then to your point, it's not
just, it's not just the physicalinjuries that impact the falls,
right? Not just the broken bone, not
(04:46):
just head injuries, it's a lot of things.
It breaks you as a person. It it changes your identity.
You're no longer, you're no longer doing the things that you
enjoy. You're not no longer going out
with your friends. You're no longer just being an
active participant in the community.
You're not. If you loved cooking before,
you're not going even to the kitchen to stand for 15 minutes
(05:08):
and cook. You're not.
It's change. It changes you.
It changes your whole surrounding, right, your
environment, your people around you.
They're worried about you. It affects their life too
caregivers life, family's life, your your adult children's life.
So it's it's a lot bigger than just a broken bone.
(05:30):
It falls are. So it's a tremendous loss.
It's a tremendous loss of a lifereally.
It's it's huge must, must require, must involve quite a
bit of grieving. I would imagine that you can no
longer do what you did. You're no longer independent,
you have to do rely on people, etcetera.
(05:51):
Yes, it you just lose that joy out of your life.
You just now you're just waitingfor that day to come when you
know it's you're just waiting because this is the way of life.
You've accepted. This is what ageing looks like
for you now. Yeah, it's so.
So, so let's, if you could get back to the, the negative
ramifications, like what happensyou've, you've started talking
(06:12):
about it, but what are all the things physical, you know,
emotional and and perhaps even spiritual that occur as a result
of a fall? So I just so just in your
day-to-day life, right, People are afraid to when they're
afraid of falling or when they know that they're feeling weaker
and aging. They won't even go outside to
(06:33):
get their meal independently. Imagine how restraining, how
confined that is mentally, physically, your your world is
getting so small every day. So small physically,
emotionally, every. And then because you're not
(06:54):
moving as much, you're falling even more weaker.
Your reflexes are slowing down even more.
Your flexibility is declining. You're declining cognitively.
If you're not moving, you're becoming, for the lack of a
better. You're just becoming grumpier.
People don't want to be around you anymore, and we don't want
(07:15):
to be around people who are not aging or who are, you know,
vibrating. Yes.
Still doing their things. We used.
To be your friends and you, you,you used to be one of them, but
now you're not. So it's it's a very, very big
deal. I've read some statistics that
if you factor a hip that you have like 50% chance of not
(07:37):
living past two years, 2 years. I mean, that's pretty scary.
That's a very scary thought. It's, it's very, as I said, it's
and after the especially after the age of 65.
So if you broke your hip after the age of 65, there's a 50%
chance that you will not surviveafter two years.
(07:58):
Wow, it's a big deal. And it's and 65 is young, you
know, 65 is not old anymore. That's not old age.
It's nothing. So is it is it on quality of
life? You'll just won't survive it.
How how huge is that? That's.
Is it? Is it?
I've also heard that it's a lot of times it's not actually that
(08:19):
you fall and break your hip, butyour hip is so fragile that the
that you know, your hip breaks and then you fall, but it's
actually just falls apart on itsown without any impact or
anything. So many people who are living
with conditions like arthritis, osteoporosis or even osteopenia,
right where you're deficient in calcium, vitamin D, your bones
(08:43):
are already weak. And because you haven't trained
for it, your muscles are weak, too.
You're not supported properly. So when you fall, you really
fall. Yeah, you're broken.
Yeah. And then to go into negative and
then build back up, it's very hard.
But if you were strong to begin with, and if something happened
(09:05):
and you say fell and you broke something because of weak bones,
a health condition, it would be easier to rehab.
It would be because you didn't go into negative from 5.
You came down to three and now it's easier to bring you back to
five. Yes.
But if you started with A1 and then the fall took you into -2,
(09:26):
how hard would it be to, you know, even bring you back up to
0? OK.
So what that sort of suggests tome is like what, what are the
risk factors? Like what you've mentioned a few
of them, but with who are the people who are most likely to
fall and have a serious consequence as a result?
Like, I guess they're they're not going to be marathon
(09:47):
runners, right? No, so, so not counting, not
accounting for the accidents that happened like, you know,
natural accidents. Right.
But people who are 65, even 55 plus, who are not in the
greatest of health, who have other comorbid conditions like
(10:08):
they have arthritis, they have hypertension, they have
diabetes, they have Parkinson's or they've had stroke.
Because it affects your a lot ofthings, right?
Like a stroke would affect your coordination, your strength,
sometimes even cognition like Parkinson's will affect how
(10:30):
you're moving or diabetes will affect how you're feeling your
sensations. Hypertension will affect how
your heart and body are working when you put it under stress,
right? So those people with multiple
comorbidities are at the highestrisk of.
Right. Highest risk of falling.
(10:50):
But again, I'm not. It's not, it's not not
preventable. You can prevent it.
Even with having everything thatI just said, people still can
train to not fall. Right and another would another
risk factor be being on medications because so many of
them have that side effect of light headedness, dizziness and
(11:11):
and into. Call it like a cocktail, right?
A lot of people especially here in USAI, see I, I work, I work
with thousands of people and most of them are, are what we
call as on polypharmacy level ofmedication.
They are if you're taking 5 or more medications, there is a
higher chance that you will fallbecause a lot of them have come
(11:34):
with unwanted side effects like dehydration, dryness of mouth
causing light headedness, dizziness, especially
medications like antidepressants, antipsychotics,
tranquilizers, some hypertensionmedications.
Those are putting you at higher risk of falling.
(11:54):
But again, but again, if you're feeling those side effects, you
should be talking to your physicians, adjusting the dosage
of medications. There are other, there's always,
always another drug that's more suitable to your body.
Not every drug is made for each body.
So yes, medications. So fall prevention is a lot of
things, right? Medication, that part of
(12:16):
managing your medications, have you take them when you take
them, are you taking them as prescribed?
Are you taking the correct dosage for your body?
Are you correcting at correct? Are you taking it at correct
times like you know, 45 minutes before meals or whatever they
are prescribed it for you. So a lot of even in under
medication, a lot of things apply.
(12:37):
Are you taking, are you taking anything other than the
medications that are prescribed to you, like natural supplements
or herbs? Even though we know that they
are safe and we think that they are safe, sometimes how they
interact in our body with each other, Yeah, is unknown.
So it's your habits and medications that comes.
So yes, polypharmacy, it's it's it's a very huge deal here in
(12:59):
America. Polypharmacy.
Yeah. It's actually considered when we
do the fall risk assessment. It's one of the major questions
that asks you are you taking 5 or more medications?
Doesn't even ask which ones you're taking.
If you're. Taking 5 or more you are at a
higher risk of falling. Right.
So interesting. What about we're very big on
(13:20):
quantum biology, as you probablyknow from my page.
And what about like vitamin D levels, sun exposure?
Do you see that in those people that are have very low vitamin D
levels and they're staying out of the sun, you know, super
white skin, they don't tan, theydon't go outside.
Do you see a higher rate of falling with those people?
(13:40):
So a higher rate of falling, I cannot.
So it's, I don't think it's a predictor of falling, but I know
that it's not helpful to not have your vitamin D yeah, at a,
you know, appropriate level or it's not helpful to that you're
not going out in the sunlight for anybody.
Of course, forget about. So I don't know that it
increases your fall risk per SE,but I know that if you fall,
(14:03):
it's not a helpful thing that you did not have your levels in
check. Yeah, well, for for strong
bones, you know, vitamin D is very important, so obviously
one. 100%. Also for healing, for example,
after a fall, what you know, thesteps that you take would also
be very important to spend more time outside in the sun, get
more vitamin, not natural, vitamin D and everything else.
(14:26):
Can we talk a little bit about your protocol?
You know what you do with people, how you help them
primary, What kind of people areyou dealing with, what age group
and and what is how are you ableto help them recover after a
fall? Sure.
So when people think of physicaltherapists, they think that, you
know, we just hand out exercises, you know, that's what
(14:47):
we do. But physical therapy and
especially what I do, fall prevention is, is a very large
area. It's it combines off so many
things. Exercises are a part of them, a
huge part of it, but the other major part of it is so when I so
say, if I came to you, I will give you a head to toe
assessment of your body. So it will, it will come, it
(15:10):
will be all of your systems, your sensory, your vision, your
strength, your balance, your flexibility.
I will look at your home environment because that is also
one huge part of fall preventionintervention umbrella.
So I will look at the home environments.
What are some places that you'reputs you at a higher for risk?
(15:34):
Like loose rugs, poor lighting, cords, clutter, grab bars,
access to grab bars, stairs without hand rails, stairs with
hand rails, water. Like it's like child proofing
your home again but for fall. Proofing, yes, like fall
proofing your home. Dirty proofing, yeah.
Yes. Then I want to look at your
(15:54):
daily habits. How, how much water are you
drinking? How much, what medications are
you taking? What time?
How, where are you look? Where are your medications
located? How far do you have to bend down
to put on your clothing? How you know where is so your
daily habits? Are you using any assistive
device? Are you not using any assistive
device? Are you so that then I will look
(16:16):
at your medications. I want to talk to your doctor
about, you know, making a perfect plan with what
medications you're taking, what health conditions you have and
how I can flaming upon my assessment.
How what causes in your body? What are the causes for higher
fall risk? So I will look at that.
And then I also look at your support systems.
(16:36):
So family, friends, community. So it's, it's this whole
picture. I create this whole picture of
you, a whole you in my head. And then I give you
recommendations or any expert for prevention, physical
therapist will do that. They have to give you a whole
recommendation, not just exercises.
We have to give you a blueprint on how to change your life, not
(17:00):
just exercise, not just strength, not just balance, how
to change your body, the way you're treating your body, the
way you, your environment, your habits, and what support systems
you need in place to live independently and confidently.
That's what fall prevention is. So you start, you start with the
(17:21):
prevention. So it's, it's this whole package
of how to go through their wholelifestyle and everything and how
to, because the best, best part is really to, to prevent the
fall. Because once you, once the
accident happened, it's much, much more difficult, as you
mentioned, to come back from that and the recovery is much
more difficult. And how effective is it, you
know, with your method and everything that you do, how
(17:44):
effective is it in preventing falls for these people?
If you follow it, if you follow it to the TA 100% wow, you will
not fall. You will not fall because of non
accident. So, as I said, not counting the
accidents. Yes, of course.
Right. But if you're following, if
you're strengthening this, if you're using all the
(18:05):
modifications that I suggested, if you're, if you've made the
changes to your home, if you've made those daily habits a part
of your life, and of course I'm not God, I cannot say sorry, I
shouldn't have said 100%. But you, you will feel confident
that you're not going to fall. You can, you can get that life
back in you that you can move confidently, you can enjoy good
(18:29):
years, you can enjoy good life the way you're successful.
How many? How many?
It's. Not magic.
It takes time. It's it's not like if you have
me come see you, you're not going to, you know, fall from
tomorrow. You have to build those habits.
I will. I want to be there.
Hold your hand through that change.
I'm going to do that because I'mnot handing you something that
(18:50):
you take and just put it in yourbody and you know, now you're
not falling. You have to work with me.
We work together to build habits, to make changes.
When you were a kid, your life looked different than when you
were a teen versus when you werean adult.
And now you're older adult, yourlife has to look different to be
safe and to live the way you're supposed to.
(19:10):
Given that, which is absolutely realistic and very, very
important that you've nailed that down so thoroughly, but
what percentage of your clients actually do comply fully with
your recommendations? What percentage would you say?
It is a lot of them. A lot of them won't because some
(19:32):
people have other mental health conditions too.
A lot of people don't have the support system that's required.
A lot of people don't have the resources and they're needed.
But my job as a so up until now,I was as a, my work experience
has been working for insurance certified.
You know, that's what I've been doing.
(19:53):
So when I jumped into private care, this was my mission,
right? I wanted to do things that
insurance wouldn't allow me to do.
I want to see you more. I want to work with you in areas
where it's not billable. I want to give you my skills.
I want to work with you to buildthose things that you don't
currently have. Are you depressed?
Are you unmotivated? Let me help you out.
(20:14):
Let's talk to your doctor to treat your medic depression,
anxiety. Let me help you find community
other you don't have support system.
Let me help you find community resources.
You can go to Senior Center. You can do this.
You can use technology to your advantage.
You can check in with me. You can set up a pillbox pill
(20:35):
reminder. You can set up exercise
reminder. You can so I can do it gives me
freedom to do a lot of things that insurance did not allow me
to do before. Exactly.
Yeah, yeah. Sorry, So when I'm talk, when
you ask me about compliance, howmany people are able to comply?
It's it's very different when you're working under you're not
(20:57):
motivated to do that, do a lot of things in that five visits
that you're assigned approved, right.
I'm allowed to see one person for five visits, say 10 visits
even. It is hard to build habits.
Absolutely, Absolutely. So I can.
I can I can understand how you would get so frustrated working
under a system like that and youyou feel like you're not really
(21:20):
serving your clientele. No.
So for, for me to really help you and to build those small
habits step by step by step, I need time.
And that's what will get get me compliance from you.
Because now you're motivated, you're seeing the change that
even that one small step gave you.
So if you, if I've tasted that success, I will be more
(21:41):
motivated to do it. I'm not going to because I only
have 5 visits. I'm going to have to give you 10
exercises to practice every day,which nobody loves, even I don't
love. So now I'm able to give you 2
best exercises that will suit you right now to get you
started. And you love to do that and
you'll do it. And then next time when I see
you, because you, you love to doit, you will do two more that
(22:03):
I'll give you. Can you tell us about the
exercises? What kind of exercises you
recommend? So we everybody again, so
everybody needs different exercises depending on where
they are right now, depending onwhat conditions they have right
now. So for one person I can say for
your strengthening you need squats, but other person may not
(22:27):
tolerate it. So for them I will have to give
them mini squats, wall squats. Some somebody will tolerate 15
repetitions, three sets every day.
Somebody will tolerate 8 repetitions, one set right now.
Just, you know, start there. So I really have to look at you,
your form, your posture, your current health to give.
(22:47):
It's like medication. I have to prescribe it to you.
You can't. There are there are thousands of
videos. You know you'll find it on
YouTube, on Instagram. There's so many online programs
that you can subscribe to monthly ones.
There are CDs available. I'm not it's good.
The messaging is good. You should move, but movement.
(23:10):
Movement is medication, but it has to be for right person at
right time and right time it it can sometimes even be
detrimental to just follow one exercise blindly.
It it can cause harm too. So if I if somebody with
arthritis and a poor reaction type just attended single like
standing, imagine what will happen right?
They will fall. Yeah.
(23:33):
Because they are not supposed tooperate at that level right now.
At least that's not their baseline.
So you have to start with everybody's baseline and build
them up from there. Yeah, that makes a lot.
That makes a lot of sense. I mean, you know, I, I talk
about exercise a lot and exercise is huge in my life.
And I think it's the the the reason I'm exercising so much
now at 55 is so that I don't have those issues twenty, 30-40
(23:55):
years down the line. And it's all about prevention.
Yeah, of course you want to lookgood, you want to be fit, but
it's so important to me going down the line, you know, as I'm
aging, to stay fit and to stay strong and to keep my bones
strong. And I think, you know, weight
bearing exercise and that's why I love squats.
I mean, squats are great, right,because you're strengthening
your bones as well. So would you say that, for
(24:17):
example, squats are like the king of all exercises that
you're recommending? Is that like the gold standard
or it's? Not squats and modified versions
of it. Because it's weight bearing,
it's functional, and it's it's strength, balance, flexibility
all in one. Yes.
(24:37):
Right. And it's very interesting they
have these flexibility or even, you know, these movements where
you can you get off the floor unassisted.
And that will tell you how much longer you're going to live if
you can get off the floor without, you know, touching the
floor, pushing yourself up. And I don't know if you've
probably seen, but. Then all those studies are, I
would always take them, you know, with a pinch of salt,
because all those studies are done on a certain population
(25:02):
with certain health conditions and in certain shape, right?
Yes. It doesn't apply to everybody.
Yeah. So even the standardized testing
that I do for to assess your balance or where you're at has
different scoring or different standard levels for each age
group or each comorbidity. So if I say one person who
(25:22):
scored 14 second on one test means a high fall risk does not
mean another person who may withother comorbidities or using
assistive devices or older will be at higher risk with that
number too. So again, these studies you have
to look at who they, who that was studied on to apply it to
(25:43):
everybody because all the studies cannot be generalized.
But yes, some of those those types of studies have been
found, they have they are a goodpredictor on the population that
they were studied on. Yeah, that's so interesting.
I really appreciate the fact that you are so much going after
potential root causes. Yeah, of a fall and it's and
(26:05):
it's so individualized thinking about it.
I'm I'm in Canada, we have a, you know, socialized medicine
here in the states. If you're not, if your services
are not covered by the the insurance companies and you're
providing a very extensive program of treatment and, and
(26:26):
basically rehabilitation in manyways, like how do people pay for
that? So it's privately paid.
A lot of people are able to pay through health savings account,
yes. And sometimes to help if if I
feel like somebody is, you know,they reached out to me, they're
really interested and motivated to get this program going, but
(26:47):
they're not able to afford this.What I will do is I will give
them an option of providing themwith a super bill.
So it's like a bill that I will give them with the codes that
will kind of integrate what I did with them.
Not everything, it won't be, youknow, everything, but it will be
something which they can then submit to their insurance is to
(27:07):
get reimbursed. But sadly, such is the case
here, at least for now, that youknow, insurance will be paying
thousands of dollars in rehabilitation, but they will
not pay for preventative services.
That makes no sense because in the end they're going to pay out
a lot more in medical bills, right?
(27:28):
Doesn't. I mean how much they cost after
when they need to do hip replacement or anything else.
If anyone ends up in the hospital in the US, it's.
Thousands Can you believe Can you believe they won't even pay
for installation of grab bars ina person's home because.
I mean. It just, you know, blows my
mind. Why won't you?
Just why won't you? Yeah, it.
(27:52):
Doesn't make any sense, so. Then how, how do you interact?
It sounds like you would have tohave a really good, you know,
relationship with the family doctors or the doctors that are
referring I I assume you get some referrals from doctors,
correct? Yes.
Yes, so how? Social workers, yes.
(28:14):
Right. So what is that like the
relationship between you and theother caregivers like the
especially the MD's? So a lot of a lot of MD offices,
they primarily serve geriatric populations.
They are family practitioners. And so they really want.
So sometimes they'll just ask me, can you just go and do like
(28:34):
this one time consultation with this person, which is not very
expensive. You don't have to purchase the
whole program from me. So what I will do is I'll just
do a thorough evaluation and give them a detailed report with
recommendations. I won't be there in person to
check in with you time to time and to make modifications later
in your plan. But I can give you a starting
point, a jump start. And it's, it's everything too.
(28:58):
It's I'm not keeping things fromyou.
I will give you everything that you need.
You have to implement it. What my program does is it helps
you implement that system in your life, right?
That's the difference that this one time consultation.
If you just call me once, I'll come to your home and I'll do
all these things and give you the detailed writing, but I
(29:18):
won't come back. That's the that's the
difference. I won't help you implement that
system, but if you're motivated,it works great for people who
are really, you know, after it or who have great support system
like, you know, active children or who are primary decision
makers for somebody's care, thenthey're able to implement it in
their life just fine. And it's something, right?
In comparison to nothing, it's something, yes.
(29:40):
Absolutely. So do you find that most of your
clients come to you through MD referrals or other other ways?
How do they? How do the clients?
Come to you. My clients come to you or come
to me through my Facebook and Instagram ads because it has had
my services are privately paid and they are considered.
(30:01):
Because they are not considered,they are not payable through
insurances. They are considered premium
health services. Right.
So I just, I have to do this. There's no other way for me to,
you know, fund it. So I have to target people who
are motivated and really ready to invest in this kind of
service. Right it.
(30:22):
Doesn't happen this way, but it is sadly that way.
All right. So it's a higher socio economic
bracket that you're really dealing with.
Especially especially for the whole program, again, as I said
for one time consultation that'snot very out of reach for many
people. Right.
I would assume that most of yourclients are women.
Yes, because sadly they outlive.They outlive the guys.
(30:44):
Outlive the guys, Yeah, and. And, and I also think that
they're, I think they're more invested in prevention versus
just being reactive to what justhappened.
And now I have to take care of it.
I think they long just women think long term.
I guess I would love to believe that.
But yes, that's true. Women are more.
(31:06):
I have more women clients then. Let's talk about inactivity for
a second because as you telling me these stories and everything,
I can't help but think about like our grandparents or great
grandparents who were outside working in the fields, you know,
well into their 70s, eighties, staying active, being outside,
touching the ground. You know, they, they were doing
(31:27):
hard physical labor And sorry, Ithink this wasn't such a big
issue back then. I think that really kept them
fit, strong, yes, grounded. And I think a lot of people now,
but correct me if I'm wrong, butyou know, a lot of people are as
as you get older, you start to slow down, then you go out less
and you're just kind of sitting around watching TV.
(31:50):
And you know, most people don't even walk like 1000 steps a day
or maybe just inside their house.
And then the more inactive we are, the more prone we become to
falls and fractures. That is so so 100% true.
So people I've met 104 year old.Wow, who?
Was so no health conditions. They're like, you know, fit as.
(32:12):
No way. Wow.
No health conditions, but so they reached out to me.
I want to move better. I want to go out with my church
friends. Wow, wasn't that amazing.
That is so cool. So when you hear 104 year old
over the phone, they're invitingyou into their home.
(32:34):
You have a certain picture rightin your head.
Yeah, of what I'm about to encounter.
But I was completely thrown at this because you know what she
told me I took care of myself. That's what I will advise you.
So when they're inactivity, right.
So she says if I want to be ableto go out because I know if I
sat, if I stopped going out, I will be like this forever.
(32:58):
And she said I want to live to 110.
Wow. And she wants to and she, I, she
said I just don't want to, you know, just be, I want to live.
That's what she said. I just so inactivity, she didn't
want to be inactive because she knew that being inactive is an
invitation for all sorts of negative things in your life,
not just physically, emotionally, everywhere.
(33:20):
And so people from our older generation, 2 generations
before, what they did was hard work, right?
Physical hard work they did, even if they didn't know it,
they did strength training, theydid, they did the hard work they
did. They ate good because they
worked so hard through the day. They slept well, they had
(33:41):
friends, they had communities, right?
Everything. They had everything.
And and that's why we see them in better health than we are
right now. I'm 36.
I'm, I'm dreading aging. So I have to, you know, be at it
right now. They didn't have to.
They didn't have to consciously put training as part of their
life because they were trained in their lifestyle already.
(34:03):
Yeah. So yeah, inactivity is is a big,
it's huge. The root, it's huge.
It's a root cause of a lot of things.
You can not just lose your balance and you become weak.
You will develop a lot of sedentary lifestyle, lifestyle
disorders in your body, right. Yes, like diabetes or obesity.
Obesity is big here in United States.
(34:25):
It's you. It's, it's, it's, it's
incredible because I, for many years I would travel back and
forth between the Canada and theUS And the moment I crossed the
border into the US, the one thing that I noticed right off
the bat was how fat people were compared to the Canadians.
It was shocking, just absolutelyshocking.
And it's still, and I think it'seven getting worse now.
(34:46):
It is childhood. Children are obese.
A lot of children are obese, so inactivity is a root cause for
so many things. It mental, physical and
eventually financial so. I'll have to.
So I'm very curious about this 104 year old lady lady, right?
I'm assuming she's a lady. Are you able to share with us
(35:07):
some of the things because you said she she said she took care
of herself. Like what kind of things did she
do to take care of herself? I mean, that's so.
She was, she was very, very lively and she used to, she
still loves to, you know, go outto do her nails every week, got
to do her hair every week. And she just she's like, I
cannot sit. I just can't sit.
(35:28):
I, I love going out even even she, so she, she has a huge
collection of coffee in her home.
But that she says is for my evening dose, the morning she
has to go out to a cafe, take a book with her, read and have
coffee at the cafe because that will give her a small boost of
movement every day. So.
And she said, when I was young, I I used to take care of my
(35:50):
children and my husband, but I used to take care of me too.
And. That's a big one because a lot
of women don't do that. Yes, so she that that's what she
said because so and so this is about somebody else.
So what she shared with me was before I a lot of times family
meals were impossible for them because everybody was not at
(36:12):
home for the whole whole time. So she said a lot of time what,
what was important for me was tofeed myself first so that now
I'm happily feeding everybody else, taking my time.
So I'm taking care of me first so that I have my bucket filled
and now I am ready to give, I have something to give.
And self-care is actually for men or women, everybody.
(36:34):
It's very important because in your years when you age, that is
going to pay off. You're, you're going to need
that. If you, you, if you haven't
taken care of your body right now, it is not going to support
you later when you really need it.
And, and sadly in countries likeUSA, I come from India, so I
have very different views on these kind of issues.
(36:54):
But sadly in USA you don't have,you don't, you cannot just
always count on automatic support systems.
You have to build that. That's right.
You have to intentionally build that.
So and a lot of people are not fortunate enough to have that.
So what you can only rely on is your body.
And if you haven't taken care ofthat, what do you have?
That's actually a very, very important point because I think
(37:16):
so I think as, as you know, as we are aging community, family
and connection, human connectionis really important.
And I think in India, this is just part of the culture that,
you know, families live togetheror you take care of your parents
and your grandparents. And in the US, like all of North
America, because I think Canada's the same, right,
Lucille, is that, you know, you have, you can have your children
(37:39):
living on one coast and the parents on the other coast and
you see each other for Christmasor Thanksgiving and that's about
it. But I think that's unimaginable
in other countries. Like I, I live in the
Mediterranean, I'm between Spainand Gibraltar, but I've been
living in Mediterranean countries for like the past 20
years. And here it's like family is
everything and you know, people take care of each other.
(38:00):
And when grandma goes into the hospital, like for example, in
Spain, if grandma goes in the hospital, then the whole
family's there. Like the whole 20 people are in
the room with them and they sleep there and they will not
like grandma will never be alonefor a minute.
And then you go to other countries where, you know, the
elderly are just left to their own devices.
There's nobody will even visit them.
(38:21):
And, and I mean, I think part ofhealthy ageing, it's really
important in order to stay strong and active and fit and,
and to have a have purpose to wake up for every morning.
You need to have people around you who love you and support
you. I don't.
See a lot of people changing locations or moving homes to
live close to their family or with their family here in USA
(38:43):
too. It's not 0 but only when they
really have to. But what I want people to
understand is that enjoy time with your family, but not
because you have to. You can enjoy great years with
your grandchildren, with your children when you can.
You know you can, you can and you should.
And it will be pleasant for everybody, right?
(39:04):
Caregivers and you so. Yeah, I know this is so.
I mean, my son, he's going to be28 soon, but I can't imagine
like living in another country or far, far away from him.
I just, I just can't. I mean, that's our family and
our family has to be close by. And to me, that's so important
that I, I need to know that support that I can count on him
(39:25):
when I get older if I need help or anything.
And I mean, I know 100% that he would be there for me.
So that that must, it will be sohard when families are kind of
ripped apart and that becomes the normal where you know, your
kids are living thousands of miles away and your parents are
living thousands and everyone's just scattered.
And it's it was never like this ever before in human history.
(39:45):
No. And in India we don't even have
nursing homes. You know we don't have.
You don't because. We don't need it if if you don't
have family, if you really don'thave family, the neighbors will
take care of you. Yeah.
That's how the society works. So yeah, there, yeah, there are
many. Societies, yes.
Still. Yes, incredible.
I think, I think Spain is very similar.
I think there are some, but I think like a Spanish family
(40:07):
would never, never put anyone ina nursing home like that would
be so shameful to do that. Like the the family would be
just, they would never do that. But I mean, how nice is that,
right? And especially if it's, if it's
somebody that is prone to falling and they're getting
weaker and they're getting more fragile and to be all by
yourself, that's that's a scary thought, right?
(40:28):
That's something can happen. I can fall and then there's
nobody here to help me. Yeah.
And people think about preventative care always only in
terms of, you know, going to your Wellness checks every year.
Yes. And then all your blood levels
are in normal, you're, you know,medications are in check and
then you're done. That's that's what they think is
prevention. Yeah.
They never think that this can be prevented too.
(40:51):
And this is not aging it You cantake action.
Balance is a skill. It's not it's not a gift you.
And like any skill, it can be trained and built.
So why is why is why is balance so important?
Talk to us a little bit about balance.
Balance is what humans are. Humans are supposed to be
(41:15):
upright. They're not supposed to fall.
Being upright is normal. Falling is not normal.
So what is keeping you upright is your balance.
That's that's why we have two legs and animals have 4:00
because we are supposed to be upright.
That's what we are supposed to be.
We're not supposed to be hunchedover.
We're not supposed to be falling.
We're not supposed to be walkinglike this.
(41:37):
We're supposed to walk on our 2 feet.
So do you recommend exercise like standing on one foot while
you're brushing your teeth, you know, to work on that kind of
balance? No.
I I will not do that. No, but I mean when you're when
you're younger to kind of to keep your balance to maintain
your. Balance, of course, to just, you
know, build these small habits every day in your life, like
when you're watching TV, just doa 15 sit to stands.
(41:59):
Or when you play, you know, playcatch with your friends that
trains or reactions the reactivebalance.
But do stairs without holding onto your railings.
That's your dynamic standing balance.
Do you? You don't really have to focus
on just, you know, standing on one leg.
Yeah, it has to be just do functional things, right?
(42:19):
Like everyday movements, train them, make them better, train
them, keep maintain them. If not, improve, just preserve
what you have. So.
I would would these be tips thatyou would recommend for someone
to start like even in the 40s, fifties or or what are the
things that we can do at a younger age so that that we
don't have these issues later on?
Just just set aside 1520 minutesevery day to just pay attention
(42:42):
to your body. So like, yeah, mini squats, mini
squats, sidewalking, back walking, tiptoe walking, things
like that. Or when you're brushing your
teeth, sometimes just close youreyes and brush your teeth, you
know, bring your feet close together and brush your teeth.
Or when you're cooking or when you're bending, just, you know,
(43:03):
do a couple of squats when you're loading your dishes, bend
from your knees and hips and do some squats there.
You know, get in those quick cheat, you know, exercises,
moves there. It won't.
It won't give you like rehab, not rehabilitation, I want to
say it won't give you fitness training time the level of, but
it will at least you can preserve what you are.
(43:24):
You're using what you have to maintain it to preserve it.
You're not losing it, at least you can make sure of that.
Absolutely. So Doctor, Doctor Kunshaw, can
you, can you give us an example of a client of yours that really
stands out for you that made a huge move forward as a result of
your work with them? I have, I have so many.
(43:47):
One of them was so he was blind,so vision out of the gate,
right? No one sense, no one sense is
missing vision it and it's huge for balance, right?
Yes. He was using the stick to
navigate what happened. Was recently found himself
stumbling and he did have a fallhe fell it wasn't injurious, but
(44:11):
then he he just had a bruise, but he wanted to not not have
that again because he was very socially active too.
But then once he fell, he, he, he fell into this cycle.
Right now, he was afraid of moving and with I can't even
imagine what it must be like forsomebody who did, who could not
see because that fall can do a lot of damage to a person who
(44:36):
has all, all of his senses in place.
This person could not see. So for him, that set in a big
fear in his life. He, when I started working with
him, he wouldn't, I would give him exercises to do and then the
next time I would ask him, did you do them?
Well, he'll say no because therewas nobody to watch me while I
did them. So it was such a set fear that
(44:59):
he, he was almost about to stop moving.
And I was like, no, don't do that.
Because so I, I only gave him two exercises to do.
And then this is what we did, right?
I asked him, you do these, you set your phone, call me on video
call, and then you set your phone in front of your kitchen
(45:19):
counter and you call me. I'll watch you when you do that.
And we did that. And then I just had to do it I
think 2 times. I did it two times.
And then his neighbor volunteered to watch him while
he exercised only to watch him. And then that's how he built his
confidence. And then I started giving him
more and more and then he started feeling confident that
no, he's not falling. That was just one time that he
(45:40):
fell by accident and he's not going to fall now.
He built it again. He, you know, when that he, he
actually worked as a, he, he taught other teams who were
troubled, we call them troubled,but he, he, he was that he, he
used to do these motivational things for them at the local
(46:01):
recreational club. So he started doing that and
then he told his story to those.He, he was telling me that, you
know, they were, they were having such a fun with them and
it was inspiring to see that a, a simple change, a boost of
confidence, what it can do for aperson.
And then he hasn't fallen. He hasn't fallen since.
(46:24):
And he was able to get it back. And it amazes me that with one
complete lack of one sense, he was, he was still able to
achieve that. But what it also taught me is
how big fear of falling can be for anybody, how big it can be.
My mom, even she was, she passedaway last year, but then she was
(46:47):
full of life. And then she had diabetes.
She had many, many other comorbidities in her body, but
she was still so full of life. But then she started falling.
One fall changed her a little. Another fall changed her even
more. And at that time, I was in my,
in the beginning of my career when she started falling.
So I knew how to rehab her, but then it got me thinking about,
(47:12):
you know, this doesn't have to happen in the 1st place.
This has to stop. I mean, this doesn't have to
happen because my mom stopped being herself.
She was, I knew her to be my mom.
And now she was a completely different person who did not
want to engage in anything. And so I was like, no, this,
(47:34):
this is what I want to do. And that gradually, you know,
now it is my after working with insurance driven system for so
long, I am throwing my hands at Nope, I'm not doing this.
I'm not treating you after you fall.
I'm not. You don't have to fall.
You should not fall. It's amazing, especially the
emotional impact. Like I never really thought
(47:54):
about it that way. I always just thought, OK, you
fall, you injure yourself, you're you know, you break a
bone, they repair the bone and then you're back to your normal
life. But then obviously that the fear
and the emotional impact is alsohuge and and people don't really
talk about this part financial impact too many.
People are in debt because of that.
Many people are homeless becauseof this.
(48:14):
Wow. Especially in countries like
here. Where Healthcare is.
Almost like a privilege. It's I know.
Yeah. It's really shocking.
Doctor Kunja, what city are? You in.
I am in metro West Boston. Hopkinton, MA Boston, OK and if
somebody wanted. To reach out to you and find
you. Where can they find you?
(48:35):
Where can they get more information?
Learn more about you? So apart from my Instagram reel,
you can. Contact me through my website,
myjourneymyways.com and I also have a Facebook page that says
my that's named under my journey, my ways PT and you can
reach out to me. I provide just consultations, I
(48:56):
provide monthly programs and I my, my signature program is my
90 day program where I give you all of my skills and my check
insurance and my expertise through 90 days where because 90
days is the best time to build those habits and integrate it
into your life and where you cansee real changes.
(49:18):
So that's my signature program, but I have we can, you know,
design a custom suitable programfor you and you need anybody.
I, I do in home visits here in the metro West area, but I also
do online consultations as well.Oh, that's wow.
That's what I wanted to ask you about if you do online.
Consultations if someone's watching this from another city
(49:40):
or even another country? Yes.
So I do online consultations as well.
And they are designed a little differently, but then they're as
effective through Zoom, right? I assume that you.
And then I also give them. Give them a software with custom
exercises for them to follow. And then we also keep regular
(50:01):
check they're able to log which exercise they were able to do,
not able to do. And then we do weekly check
insurance where we, you know, goover everything that changed,
what needs to be changed, how much progress we've made and
such. So it's wonderful and I think if
you can, you absolutely should invest in a program like this,
if not with me, with somebody else.
(50:21):
See, you know, get your balance assessed.
That's where you should start. Get it assessed.
Know where you are at least now.At least know where you are.
This. Is amazing I.
Mean, I think there's a huge. Demand for your the service that
you provide and, and you know, as the population continues to
age, there's going to there are going to be more and more people
looking for this and, and looking for this type of support
(50:44):
and help. Thank you so much for all the
information. It was such a lovely chat.
It was such a great interview tobe chatting with you today.
Thank you. I I certainly.
Learned a lot. I learned a lot.
I learned a lot too. I I really.
I had no idea about all. The details.
So this was really, really, really interesting for us.
Thank you very much. I enjoyed it as much it was.
(51:04):
Pleasure speaking with the both of you.
Thank you so very much. Thank you so much and thank you
guys for watching or. Listening and we will see you in
the next episode. Thank you for tuning into the
Rewilded Human. Podcast, We hope you're leaving
with insights to reconnect with your natural, vibrant self.
(51:24):
Remember, the information sharedhere is for educational and
inspirational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical
advice. Always consult A qualified
healthcare provider for any personal health concerns.
If you enjoyed today's episode, please like, subscribe and share
it with others who might benefit.
We'll see you next time. Ready to dive even deeper?
(51:45):
Stay wild, stay true, and stay tuned.
Welcome to the Rewilded Human podcast, where Doctor Lucille,
holistic psychiatrist and psychotherapist, and Doctor
Lynn, Naturopath and Nutritionalconsultant help you reconnect
with your true self through practical tips on mental health,
nutrition, exercise, relationships, and spirituality.
With a dash of humor, they tackle today's toughest issues
to guide you back to a harmonious, vibrant life.
(00:21):
Rediscover your natural self, just as nature intended.
So as you're getting on in years, maybe you're noticing
that your balance is a little bit off, you're not quite as
strong as you used to be. Maybe you're getting a little
bit anxious about moving too fast or moving too far.
Well, these may all be signs that you're at risk of having a
(00:42):
fall. So on today's episode of the
Rewilded Human podcast, we are going to address this issue with
Doctor Kunjal Darod. Now, she's a private practice
physical therapist who specializes in fall prevention.
And her motto is that she's there to help seniors stay
(01:05):
strong and independent. So in this episode, you're going
to learn what the risk factors are for falls.
What are the consequences of having a fall?
Doctor Kunjal shares her protocol for how she assesses
people. And it's very extensive and very
(01:27):
comprehensive. And she is looking for
absolutely everything within theindividual and in their
environment, in their social milieu that could make them at
risk for a fall. And then she develops a very
comprehensive plan that clients can follow so that they can
(01:48):
literally prevent ever having a fall.
In her words, falls are not normal.
So sit back and relax because you are in good hands with
Doctor Darod. You will learn so much about
falls and fall prevention so youcan develop the confidence that
(02:12):
you can live the rest of your life with that strength and
independence that you desire. Doctor Kunja, welcome to the To
the Rewilded Human podcast. We are so happy to have you here
with us. I'm so excited to join this
conversation. I am very thank you for having
me here. Thank you so much.
And this is such an important topic.
This is something that people don't talk about too much.
(02:34):
So I was really happy to see your website.
I mean, your page on Instagram and you know that you do address
how detrimental falls can be andall the many ways that we can
actually prevent falling as we're getting older.
And our audience is primarily ladies over 50.
So this actually is very important for them to talk
about. Let's let's begin with, you
(02:56):
know, some of the serious effects that people don't really
think about. Like they think it's just a
fall, just a broken bone, you know, just the hip and but
really a fall can have really serious ramifications.
Let's can we start with that? Yes, definitely.
So sometimes even even before that broken bone or even before
(03:16):
that fall actually happens, people are moving less or not
even noticing the signs that they're about to fall.
Before a fall happens, you are given so many alerts and your
caregivers can notice so many things in your body, but we most
people sadly tend to avoid it and consider it as normal part
(03:40):
of aging. Can you can you name some of
these things for us that so. Like before, they'll start
taking shorter steps when they're walking.
Like being really cautious when they're walking.
Some people will start furniturewalking.
They'll hold on to furniture when they're walking.
They'll think twice about stepping over a curb.
They will want to hold on to somebody and it's it's in their
(04:03):
head. They're just afraid of moving
overall, they'll maybe, you know, stop going out less how
did if they're feeling fatigued or tired or weak, they'll just
consider it as, oh, I'm just getting old.
It's my age. So those things we just ageing
is so normalized as being pathological, which is which
it's not supposed to be. It's not pathological.
(04:26):
Absolutely. So that we just it's just so, so
natural for people to think thatthis is aging, that they don't
even think that no, I need to stop think and work on this.
I can change it. And then to your point, it's not
just, it's not just the physicalinjuries that impact the falls,
right? Not just the broken bone, not
(04:46):
just head injuries, it's a lot of things.
It breaks you as a person. It it changes your identity.
You're no longer, you're no longer doing the things that you
enjoy. You're not no longer going out
with your friends. You're no longer just being an
active participant in the community.
You're not. If you loved cooking before,
you're not going even to the kitchen to stand for 15 minutes
(05:08):
and cook. You're not.
It's change. It changes you.
It changes your whole surrounding, right, your
environment, your people around you.
They're worried about you. It affects their life too
caregivers life, family's life, your your adult children's life.
So it's it's a lot bigger than just a broken bone.
(05:30):
It falls are. So it's a tremendous loss.
It's a tremendous loss of a lifereally.
It's it's huge must, must require, must involve quite a
bit of grieving. I would imagine that you can no
longer do what you did. You're no longer independent,
you have to do rely on people, etcetera.
(05:51):
Yes, it you just lose that joy out of your life.
You just now you're just waitingfor that day to come when you
know it's you're just waiting because this is the way of life.
You've accepted. This is what ageing looks like
for you now. Yeah, it's so.
So, so let's, if you could get back to the, the negative
ramifications, like what happensyou've, you've started talking
(06:12):
about it, but what are all the things physical, you know,
emotional and and perhaps even spiritual that occur as a result
of a fall? So I just so just in your
day-to-day life, right, People are afraid to when they're
afraid of falling or when they know that they're feeling weaker
and aging. They won't even go outside to
(06:33):
get their meal independently. Imagine how restraining, how
confined that is mentally, physically, your your world is
getting so small every day. So small physically,
emotionally, every. And then because you're not
(06:54):
moving as much, you're falling even more weaker.
Your reflexes are slowing down even more.
Your flexibility is declining. You're declining cognitively.
If you're not moving, you're becoming, for the lack of a
better. You're just becoming grumpier.
People don't want to be around you anymore, and we don't want
(07:15):
to be around people who are not aging or who are, you know,
vibrating. Yes.
Still doing their things. We used.
To be your friends and you, you,you used to be one of them, but
now you're not. So it's it's a very, very big
deal. I've read some statistics that
if you factor a hip that you have like 50% chance of not
(07:37):
living past two years, 2 years. I mean, that's pretty scary.
That's a very scary thought. It's, it's very, as I said, it's
and after the especially after the age of 65.
So if you broke your hip after the age of 65, there's a 50%
chance that you will not surviveafter two years.
(07:58):
Wow, it's a big deal. And it's and 65 is young, you
know, 65 is not old anymore. That's not old age.
It's nothing. So is it is it on quality of
life? You'll just won't survive it.
How how huge is that? That's.
Is it? Is it?
I've also heard that it's a lot of times it's not actually that
(08:19):
you fall and break your hip, butyour hip is so fragile that the
that you know, your hip breaks and then you fall, but it's
actually just falls apart on itsown without any impact or
anything. So many people who are living
with conditions like arthritis, osteoporosis or even osteopenia,
right where you're deficient in calcium, vitamin D, your bones
(08:43):
are already weak. And because you haven't trained
for it, your muscles are weak, too.
You're not supported properly. So when you fall, you really
fall. Yeah, you're broken.
Yeah. And then to go into negative and
then build back up, it's very hard.
But if you were strong to begin with, and if something happened
(09:05):
and you say fell and you broke something because of weak bones,
a health condition, it would be easier to rehab.
It would be because you didn't go into negative from 5.
You came down to three and now it's easier to bring you back to
five. Yes.
But if you started with A1 and then the fall took you into -2,
(09:26):
how hard would it be to, you know, even bring you back up to
0? OK.
So what that sort of suggests tome is like what, what are the
risk factors? Like what you've mentioned a few
of them, but with who are the people who are most likely to
fall and have a serious consequence as a result?
Like, I guess they're they're not going to be marathon
(09:47):
runners, right? No, so, so not counting, not
accounting for the accidents that happened like, you know,
natural accidents. Right.
But people who are 65, even 55 plus, who are not in the
greatest of health, who have other comorbid conditions like
(10:08):
they have arthritis, they have hypertension, they have
diabetes, they have Parkinson's or they've had stroke.
Because it affects your a lot ofthings, right?
Like a stroke would affect your coordination, your strength,
sometimes even cognition like Parkinson's will affect how
(10:30):
you're moving or diabetes will affect how you're feeling your
sensations. Hypertension will affect how
your heart and body are working when you put it under stress,
right? So those people with multiple
comorbidities are at the highestrisk of.
Right. Highest risk of falling.
(10:50):
But again, I'm not. It's not, it's not not
preventable. You can prevent it.
Even with having everything thatI just said, people still can
train to not fall. Right and another would another
risk factor be being on medications because so many of
them have that side effect of light headedness, dizziness and
(11:11):
and into. Call it like a cocktail, right?
A lot of people especially here in USAI, see I, I work, I work
with thousands of people and most of them are, are what we
call as on polypharmacy level ofmedication.
They are if you're taking 5 or more medications, there is a
higher chance that you will fallbecause a lot of them have come
(11:34):
with unwanted side effects like dehydration, dryness of mouth
causing light headedness, dizziness, especially
medications like antidepressants, antipsychotics,
tranquilizers, some hypertensionmedications.
Those are putting you at higher risk of falling.
(11:54):
But again, but again, if you're feeling those side effects, you
should be talking to your physicians, adjusting the dosage
of medications. There are other, there's always,
always another drug that's more suitable to your body.
Not every drug is made for each body.
So yes, medications. So fall prevention is a lot of
things, right? Medication, that part of
(12:16):
managing your medications, have you take them when you take
them, are you taking them as prescribed?
Are you taking the correct dosage for your body?
Are you correcting at correct? Are you taking it at correct
times like you know, 45 minutes before meals or whatever they
are prescribed it for you. So a lot of even in under
medication, a lot of things apply.
(12:37):
Are you taking, are you taking anything other than the
medications that are prescribed to you, like natural supplements
or herbs? Even though we know that they
are safe and we think that they are safe, sometimes how they
interact in our body with each other, Yeah, is unknown.
So it's your habits and medications that comes.
So yes, polypharmacy, it's it's it's a very huge deal here in
(12:59):
America. Polypharmacy.
Yeah. It's actually considered when we
do the fall risk assessment. It's one of the major questions
that asks you are you taking 5 or more medications?
Doesn't even ask which ones you're taking.
If you're. Taking 5 or more you are at a
higher risk of falling. Right.
So interesting. What about we're very big on
(13:20):
quantum biology, as you probablyknow from my page.
And what about like vitamin D levels, sun exposure?
Do you see that in those people that are have very low vitamin D
levels and they're staying out of the sun, you know, super
white skin, they don't tan, theydon't go outside.
Do you see a higher rate of falling with those people?
(13:40):
So a higher rate of falling, I cannot.
So it's, I don't think it's a predictor of falling, but I know
that it's not helpful to not have your vitamin D yeah, at a,
you know, appropriate level or it's not helpful to that you're
not going out in the sunlight for anybody.
Of course, forget about. So I don't know that it
increases your fall risk per SE,but I know that if you fall,
(14:03):
it's not a helpful thing that you did not have your levels in
check. Yeah, well, for for strong
bones, you know, vitamin D is very important, so obviously
one. 100%. Also for healing, for example,
after a fall, what you know, thesteps that you take would also
be very important to spend more time outside in the sun, get
more vitamin, not natural, vitamin D and everything else.
(14:26):
Can we talk a little bit about your protocol?
You know what you do with people, how you help them
primary, What kind of people areyou dealing with, what age group
and and what is how are you ableto help them recover after a
fall? Sure.
So when people think of physicaltherapists, they think that, you
know, we just hand out exercises, you know, that's what
(14:47):
we do. But physical therapy and
especially what I do, fall prevention is, is a very large
area. It's it combines off so many
things. Exercises are a part of them, a
huge part of it, but the other major part of it is so when I so
say, if I came to you, I will give you a head to toe
assessment of your body. So it will, it will come, it
(15:10):
will be all of your systems, your sensory, your vision, your
strength, your balance, your flexibility.
I will look at your home environment because that is also
one huge part of fall preventionintervention umbrella.
So I will look at the home environments.
What are some places that you'reputs you at a higher for risk?
(15:34):
Like loose rugs, poor lighting, cords, clutter, grab bars,
access to grab bars, stairs without hand rails, stairs with
hand rails, water. Like it's like child proofing
your home again but for fall. Proofing, yes, like fall
proofing your home. Dirty proofing, yeah.
Yes. Then I want to look at your
(15:54):
daily habits. How, how much water are you
drinking? How much, what medications are
you taking? What time?
How, where are you look? Where are your medications
located? How far do you have to bend down
to put on your clothing? How you know where is so your
daily habits? Are you using any assistive
device? Are you not using any assistive
device? Are you so that then I will look
(16:16):
at your medications. I want to talk to your doctor
about, you know, making a perfect plan with what
medications you're taking, what health conditions you have and
how I can flaming upon my assessment.
How what causes in your body? What are the causes for higher
fall risk? So I will look at that.
And then I also look at your support systems.
(16:36):
So family, friends, community. So it's, it's this whole
picture. I create this whole picture of
you, a whole you in my head. And then I give you
recommendations or any expert for prevention, physical
therapist will do that. They have to give you a whole
recommendation, not just exercises.
We have to give you a blueprint on how to change your life, not
(17:00):
just exercise, not just strength, not just balance, how
to change your body, the way you're treating your body, the
way you, your environment, your habits, and what support systems
you need in place to live independently and confidently.
That's what fall prevention is. So you start, you start with the
(17:21):
prevention. So it's, it's this whole package
of how to go through their wholelifestyle and everything and how
to, because the best, best part is really to, to prevent the
fall. Because once you, once the
accident happened, it's much, much more difficult, as you
mentioned, to come back from that and the recovery is much
more difficult. And how effective is it, you
know, with your method and everything that you do, how
(17:44):
effective is it in preventing falls for these people?
If you follow it, if you follow it to the TA 100% wow, you will
not fall. You will not fall because of non
accident. So, as I said, not counting the
accidents. Yes, of course.
Right. But if you're following, if
you're strengthening this, if you're using all the
(18:05):
modifications that I suggested, if you're, if you've made the
changes to your home, if you've made those daily habits a part
of your life, and of course I'm not God, I cannot say sorry, I
shouldn't have said 100%. But you, you will feel confident
that you're not going to fall. You can, you can get that life
back in you that you can move confidently, you can enjoy good
(18:29):
years, you can enjoy good life the way you're successful.
How many? How many?
It's. Not magic.
It takes time. It's it's not like if you have
me come see you, you're not going to, you know, fall from
tomorrow. You have to build those habits.
I will. I want to be there.
Hold your hand through that change.
I'm going to do that because I'mnot handing you something that
(18:50):
you take and just put it in yourbody and you know, now you're
not falling. You have to work with me.
We work together to build habits, to make changes.
When you were a kid, your life looked different than when you
were a teen versus when you werean adult.
And now you're older adult, yourlife has to look different to be
safe and to live the way you're supposed to.
(19:10):
Given that, which is absolutely realistic and very, very
important that you've nailed that down so thoroughly, but
what percentage of your clients actually do comply fully with
your recommendations? What percentage would you say?
It is a lot of them. A lot of them won't because some
(19:32):
people have other mental health conditions too.
A lot of people don't have the support system that's required.
A lot of people don't have the resources and they're needed.
But my job as a so up until now,I was as a, my work experience
has been working for insurance certified.
You know, that's what I've been doing.
(19:53):
So when I jumped into private care, this was my mission,
right? I wanted to do things that
insurance wouldn't allow me to do.
I want to see you more. I want to work with you in areas
where it's not billable. I want to give you my skills.
I want to work with you to buildthose things that you don't
currently have. Are you depressed?
Are you unmotivated? Let me help you out.
(20:14):
Let's talk to your doctor to treat your medic depression,
anxiety. Let me help you find community
other you don't have support system.
Let me help you find community resources.
You can go to Senior Center. You can do this.
You can use technology to your advantage.
You can check in with me. You can set up a pillbox pill
(20:35):
reminder. You can set up exercise
reminder. You can so I can do it gives me
freedom to do a lot of things that insurance did not allow me
to do before. Exactly.
Yeah, yeah. Sorry, So when I'm talk, when
you ask me about compliance, howmany people are able to comply?
It's it's very different when you're working under you're not
(20:57):
motivated to do that, do a lot of things in that five visits
that you're assigned approved, right.
I'm allowed to see one person for five visits, say 10 visits
even. It is hard to build habits.
Absolutely, Absolutely. So I can.
I can I can understand how you would get so frustrated working
under a system like that and youyou feel like you're not really
(21:20):
serving your clientele. No.
So for, for me to really help you and to build those small
habits step by step by step, I need time.
And that's what will get get me compliance from you.
Because now you're motivated, you're seeing the change that
even that one small step gave you.
So if you, if I've tasted that success, I will be more
(21:41):
motivated to do it. I'm not going to because I only
have 5 visits. I'm going to have to give you 10
exercises to practice every day,which nobody loves, even I don't
love. So now I'm able to give you 2
best exercises that will suit you right now to get you
started. And you love to do that and
you'll do it. And then next time when I see
you, because you, you love to doit, you will do two more that
(22:03):
I'll give you. Can you tell us about the
exercises? What kind of exercises you
recommend? So we everybody again, so
everybody needs different exercises depending on where
they are right now, depending onwhat conditions they have right
now. So for one person I can say for
your strengthening you need squats, but other person may not
(22:27):
tolerate it. So for them I will have to give
them mini squats, wall squats. Some somebody will tolerate 15
repetitions, three sets every day.
Somebody will tolerate 8 repetitions, one set right now.
Just, you know, start there. So I really have to look at you,
your form, your posture, your current health to give.
(22:47):
It's like medication. I have to prescribe it to you.
You can't. There are there are thousands of
videos. You know you'll find it on
YouTube, on Instagram. There's so many online programs
that you can subscribe to monthly ones.
There are CDs available. I'm not it's good.
The messaging is good. You should move, but movement.
(23:10):
Movement is medication, but it has to be for right person at
right time and right time it it can sometimes even be
detrimental to just follow one exercise blindly.
It it can cause harm too. So if I if somebody with
arthritis and a poor reaction type just attended single like
standing, imagine what will happen right?
They will fall. Yeah.
(23:33):
Because they are not supposed tooperate at that level right now.
At least that's not their baseline.
So you have to start with everybody's baseline and build
them up from there. Yeah, that makes a lot.
That makes a lot of sense. I mean, you know, I, I talk
about exercise a lot and exercise is huge in my life.
And I think it's the the the reason I'm exercising so much
now at 55 is so that I don't have those issues twenty, 30-40
(23:55):
years down the line. And it's all about prevention.
Yeah, of course you want to lookgood, you want to be fit, but
it's so important to me going down the line, you know, as I'm
aging, to stay fit and to stay strong and to keep my bones
strong. And I think, you know, weight
bearing exercise and that's why I love squats.
I mean, squats are great, right,because you're strengthening
your bones as well. So would you say that, for
(24:17):
example, squats are like the king of all exercises that
you're recommending? Is that like the gold standard
or it's? Not squats and modified versions
of it. Because it's weight bearing,
it's functional, and it's it's strength, balance, flexibility
all in one. Yes.
(24:37):
Right. And it's very interesting they
have these flexibility or even, you know, these movements where
you can you get off the floor unassisted.
And that will tell you how much longer you're going to live if
you can get off the floor without, you know, touching the
floor, pushing yourself up. And I don't know if you've
probably seen, but. Then all those studies are, I
would always take them, you know, with a pinch of salt,
because all those studies are done on a certain population
(25:02):
with certain health conditions and in certain shape, right?
Yes. It doesn't apply to everybody.
Yeah. So even the standardized testing
that I do for to assess your balance or where you're at has
different scoring or different standard levels for each age
group or each comorbidity. So if I say one person who
(25:22):
scored 14 second on one test means a high fall risk does not
mean another person who may withother comorbidities or using
assistive devices or older will be at higher risk with that
number too. So again, these studies you have
to look at who they, who that was studied on to apply it to
(25:43):
everybody because all the studies cannot be generalized.
But yes, some of those those types of studies have been
found, they have they are a goodpredictor on the population that
they were studied on. Yeah, that's so interesting.
I really appreciate the fact that you are so much going after
potential root causes. Yeah, of a fall and it's and
(26:05):
it's so individualized thinking about it.
I'm I'm in Canada, we have a, you know, socialized medicine
here in the states. If you're not, if your services
are not covered by the the insurance companies and you're
providing a very extensive program of treatment and, and
(26:26):
basically rehabilitation in manyways, like how do people pay for
that? So it's privately paid.
A lot of people are able to pay through health savings account,
yes. And sometimes to help if if I
feel like somebody is, you know,they reached out to me, they're
really interested and motivated to get this program going, but
(26:47):
they're not able to afford this.What I will do is I will give
them an option of providing themwith a super bill.
So it's like a bill that I will give them with the codes that
will kind of integrate what I did with them.
Not everything, it won't be, youknow, everything, but it will be
something which they can then submit to their insurance is to
(27:07):
get reimbursed. But sadly, such is the case
here, at least for now, that youknow, insurance will be paying
thousands of dollars in rehabilitation, but they will
not pay for preventative services.
That makes no sense because in the end they're going to pay out
a lot more in medical bills, right?
(27:28):
Doesn't. I mean how much they cost after
when they need to do hip replacement or anything else.
If anyone ends up in the hospital in the US, it's.
Thousands Can you believe Can you believe they won't even pay
for installation of grab bars ina person's home because.
I mean. It just, you know, blows my
mind. Why won't you?
Just why won't you? Yeah, it.
(27:52):
Doesn't make any sense, so. Then how, how do you interact?
It sounds like you would have tohave a really good, you know,
relationship with the family doctors or the doctors that are
referring I I assume you get some referrals from doctors,
correct? Yes.
Yes, so how? Social workers, yes.
(28:14):
Right. So what is that like the
relationship between you and theother caregivers like the
especially the MD's? So a lot of a lot of MD offices,
they primarily serve geriatric populations.
They are family practitioners. And so they really want.
So sometimes they'll just ask me, can you just go and do like
(28:34):
this one time consultation with this person, which is not very
expensive. You don't have to purchase the
whole program from me. So what I will do is I'll just
do a thorough evaluation and give them a detailed report with
recommendations. I won't be there in person to
check in with you time to time and to make modifications later
in your plan. But I can give you a starting
point, a jump start. And it's, it's everything too.
(28:58):
It's I'm not keeping things fromyou.
I will give you everything that you need.
You have to implement it. What my program does is it helps
you implement that system in your life, right?
That's the difference that this one time consultation.
If you just call me once, I'll come to your home and I'll do
all these things and give you the detailed writing, but I
(29:18):
won't come back. That's the that's the
difference. I won't help you implement that
system, but if you're motivated,it works great for people who
are really, you know, after it or who have great support system
like, you know, active children or who are primary decision
makers for somebody's care, thenthey're able to implement it in
their life just fine. And it's something, right?
In comparison to nothing, it's something, yes.
(29:40):
Absolutely. So do you find that most of your
clients come to you through MD referrals or other other ways?
How do they? How do the clients?
Come to you. My clients come to you or come
to me through my Facebook and Instagram ads because it has had
my services are privately paid and they are considered.
(30:01):
Because they are not considered,they are not payable through
insurances. They are considered premium
health services. Right.
So I just, I have to do this. There's no other way for me to,
you know, fund it. So I have to target people who
are motivated and really ready to invest in this kind of
service. Right it.
(30:22):
Doesn't happen this way, but it is sadly that way.
All right. So it's a higher socio economic
bracket that you're really dealing with.
Especially especially for the whole program, again, as I said
for one time consultation that'snot very out of reach for many
people. Right.
I would assume that most of yourclients are women.
Yes, because sadly they outlive.They outlive the guys.
(30:44):
Outlive the guys, Yeah, and. And, and I also think that
they're, I think they're more invested in prevention versus
just being reactive to what justhappened.
And now I have to take care of it.
I think they long just women think long term.
I guess I would love to believe that.
But yes, that's true. Women are more.
(31:06):
I have more women clients then. Let's talk about inactivity for
a second because as you telling me these stories and everything,
I can't help but think about like our grandparents or great
grandparents who were outside working in the fields, you know,
well into their 70s, eighties, staying active, being outside,
touching the ground. You know, they, they were doing
(31:27):
hard physical labor And sorry, Ithink this wasn't such a big
issue back then. I think that really kept them
fit, strong, yes, grounded. And I think a lot of people now,
but correct me if I'm wrong, butyou know, a lot of people are as
as you get older, you start to slow down, then you go out less
and you're just kind of sitting around watching TV.
(31:50):
And you know, most people don't even walk like 1000 steps a day
or maybe just inside their house.
And then the more inactive we are, the more prone we become to
falls and fractures. That is so so 100% true.
So people I've met 104 year old.Wow, who?
Was so no health conditions. They're like, you know, fit as.
(32:12):
No way. Wow.
No health conditions, but so they reached out to me.
I want to move better. I want to go out with my church
friends. Wow, wasn't that amazing.
That is so cool. So when you hear 104 year old
over the phone, they're invitingyou into their home.
(32:34):
You have a certain picture rightin your head.
Yeah, of what I'm about to encounter.
But I was completely thrown at this because you know what she
told me I took care of myself. That's what I will advise you.
So when they're inactivity, right.
So she says if I want to be ableto go out because I know if I
sat, if I stopped going out, I will be like this forever.
(32:58):
And she said I want to live to 110.
Wow. And she wants to and she, I, she
said I just don't want to, you know, just be, I want to live.
That's what she said. I just so inactivity, she didn't
want to be inactive because she knew that being inactive is an
invitation for all sorts of negative things in your life,
not just physically, emotionally, everywhere.
(33:20):
And so people from our older generation, 2 generations
before, what they did was hard work, right?
Physical hard work they did, even if they didn't know it,
they did strength training, theydid, they did the hard work they
did. They ate good because they
worked so hard through the day. They slept well, they had
(33:41):
friends, they had communities, right?
Everything. They had everything.
And and that's why we see them in better health than we are
right now. I'm 36.
I'm, I'm dreading aging. So I have to, you know, be at it
right now. They didn't have to.
They didn't have to consciously put training as part of their
life because they were trained in their lifestyle already.
(34:03):
Yeah. So yeah, inactivity is is a big,
it's huge. The root, it's huge.
It's a root cause of a lot of things.
You can not just lose your balance and you become weak.
You will develop a lot of sedentary lifestyle, lifestyle
disorders in your body, right. Yes, like diabetes or obesity.
Obesity is big here in United States.
(34:25):
It's you. It's, it's, it's, it's
incredible because I, for many years I would travel back and
forth between the Canada and theUS And the moment I crossed the
border into the US, the one thing that I noticed right off
the bat was how fat people were compared to the Canadians.
It was shocking, just absolutelyshocking.
And it's still, and I think it'seven getting worse now.
(34:46):
It is childhood. Children are obese.
A lot of children are obese, so inactivity is a root cause for
so many things. It mental, physical and
eventually financial so. I'll have to.
So I'm very curious about this 104 year old lady lady, right?
I'm assuming she's a lady. Are you able to share with us
(35:07):
some of the things because you said she she said she took care
of herself. Like what kind of things did she
do to take care of herself? I mean, that's so.
She was, she was very, very lively and she used to, she
still loves to, you know, go outto do her nails every week, got
to do her hair every week. And she just she's like, I
cannot sit. I just can't sit.
(35:28):
I, I love going out even even she, so she, she has a huge
collection of coffee in her home.
But that she says is for my evening dose, the morning she
has to go out to a cafe, take a book with her, read and have
coffee at the cafe because that will give her a small boost of
movement every day. So.
And she said, when I was young, I I used to take care of my
(35:50):
children and my husband, but I used to take care of me too.
And. That's a big one because a lot
of women don't do that. Yes, so she that that's what she
said because so and so this is about somebody else.
So what she shared with me was before I a lot of times family
meals were impossible for them because everybody was not at
(36:12):
home for the whole whole time. So she said a lot of time what,
what was important for me was tofeed myself first so that now
I'm happily feeding everybody else, taking my time.
So I'm taking care of me first so that I have my bucket filled
and now I am ready to give, I have something to give.
And self-care is actually for men or women, everybody.
(36:34):
It's very important because in your years when you age, that is
going to pay off. You're, you're going to need
that. If you, you, if you haven't
taken care of your body right now, it is not going to support
you later when you really need it.
And, and sadly in countries likeUSA, I come from India, so I
have very different views on these kind of issues.
(36:54):
But sadly in USA you don't have,you don't, you cannot just
always count on automatic support systems.
You have to build that. That's right.
You have to intentionally build that.
So and a lot of people are not fortunate enough to have that.
So what you can only rely on is your body.
And if you haven't taken care ofthat, what do you have?
That's actually a very, very important point because I think
(37:16):
so I think as, as you know, as we are aging community, family
and connection, human connectionis really important.
And I think in India, this is just part of the culture that,
you know, families live togetheror you take care of your parents
and your grandparents. And in the US, like all of North
America, because I think Canada's the same, right,
Lucille, is that, you know, you have, you can have your children
(37:39):
living on one coast and the parents on the other coast and
you see each other for Christmasor Thanksgiving and that's about
it. But I think that's unimaginable
in other countries. Like I, I live in the
Mediterranean, I'm between Spainand Gibraltar, but I've been
living in Mediterranean countries for like the past 20
years. And here it's like family is
everything and you know, people take care of each other.
(38:00):
And when grandma goes into the hospital, like for example, in
Spain, if grandma goes in the hospital, then the whole
family's there. Like the whole 20 people are in
the room with them and they sleep there and they will not
like grandma will never be alonefor a minute.
And then you go to other countries where, you know, the
elderly are just left to their own devices.
There's nobody will even visit them.
(38:21):
And, and I mean, I think part ofhealthy ageing, it's really
important in order to stay strong and active and fit and,
and to have a have purpose to wake up for every morning.
You need to have people around you who love you and support
you. I don't.
See a lot of people changing locations or moving homes to
live close to their family or with their family here in USA
(38:43):
too. It's not 0 but only when they
really have to. But what I want people to
understand is that enjoy time with your family, but not
because you have to. You can enjoy great years with
your grandchildren, with your children when you can.
You know you can, you can and you should.
And it will be pleasant for everybody, right?
(39:04):
Caregivers and you so. Yeah, I know this is so.
I mean, my son, he's going to be28 soon, but I can't imagine
like living in another country or far, far away from him.
I just, I just can't. I mean, that's our family and
our family has to be close by. And to me, that's so important
that I, I need to know that support that I can count on him
(39:25):
when I get older if I need help or anything.
And I mean, I know 100% that he would be there for me.
So that that must, it will be sohard when families are kind of
ripped apart and that becomes the normal where you know, your
kids are living thousands of miles away and your parents are
living thousands and everyone's just scattered.
And it's it was never like this ever before in human history.
(39:45):
No. And in India we don't even have
nursing homes. You know we don't have.
You don't because. We don't need it if if you don't
have family, if you really don'thave family, the neighbors will
take care of you. Yeah.
That's how the society works. So yeah, there, yeah, there are
many. Societies, yes.
Still. Yes, incredible.
I think, I think Spain is very similar.
I think there are some, but I think like a Spanish family
(40:07):
would never, never put anyone ina nursing home like that would
be so shameful to do that. Like the the family would be
just, they would never do that. But I mean, how nice is that,
right? And especially if it's, if it's
somebody that is prone to falling and they're getting
weaker and they're getting more fragile and to be all by
yourself, that's that's a scary thought, right?
(40:28):
That's something can happen. I can fall and then there's
nobody here to help me. Yeah.
And people think about preventative care always only in
terms of, you know, going to your Wellness checks every year.
Yes. And then all your blood levels
are in normal, you're, you know,medications are in check and
then you're done. That's that's what they think is
prevention. Yeah.
They never think that this can be prevented too.
(40:51):
And this is not aging it You cantake action.
Balance is a skill. It's not it's not a gift you.
And like any skill, it can be trained and built.
So why is why is why is balance so important?
Talk to us a little bit about balance.
Balance is what humans are. Humans are supposed to be
(41:15):
upright. They're not supposed to fall.
Being upright is normal. Falling is not normal.
So what is keeping you upright is your balance.
That's that's why we have two legs and animals have 4:00
because we are supposed to be upright.
That's what we are supposed to be.
We're not supposed to be hunchedover.
We're not supposed to be falling.
We're not supposed to be walkinglike this.
(41:37):
We're supposed to walk on our 2 feet.
So do you recommend exercise like standing on one foot while
you're brushing your teeth, you know, to work on that kind of
balance? No.
I I will not do that. No, but I mean when you're when
you're younger to kind of to keep your balance to maintain
your. Balance, of course, to just, you
know, build these small habits every day in your life, like
when you're watching TV, just doa 15 sit to stands.
(41:59):
Or when you play, you know, playcatch with your friends that
trains or reactions the reactivebalance.
But do stairs without holding onto your railings.
That's your dynamic standing balance.
Do you? You don't really have to focus
on just, you know, standing on one leg.
Yeah, it has to be just do functional things, right?
(42:19):
Like everyday movements, train them, make them better, train
them, keep maintain them. If not, improve, just preserve
what you have. So.
I would would these be tips thatyou would recommend for someone
to start like even in the 40s, fifties or or what are the
things that we can do at a younger age so that that we
don't have these issues later on?
Just just set aside 1520 minutesevery day to just pay attention
(42:42):
to your body. So like, yeah, mini squats, mini
squats, sidewalking, back walking, tiptoe walking, things
like that. Or when you're brushing your
teeth, sometimes just close youreyes and brush your teeth, you
know, bring your feet close together and brush your teeth.
Or when you're cooking or when you're bending, just, you know,
(43:03):
do a couple of squats when you're loading your dishes, bend
from your knees and hips and do some squats there.
You know, get in those quick cheat, you know, exercises,
moves there. It won't.
It won't give you like rehab, not rehabilitation, I want to
say it won't give you fitness training time the level of, but
it will at least you can preserve what you are.
(43:24):
You're using what you have to maintain it to preserve it.
You're not losing it, at least you can make sure of that.
Absolutely. So Doctor, Doctor Kunshaw, can
you, can you give us an example of a client of yours that really
stands out for you that made a huge move forward as a result of
your work with them? I have, I have so many.
(43:47):
One of them was so he was blind,so vision out of the gate,
right? No one sense, no one sense is
missing vision it and it's huge for balance, right?
Yes. He was using the stick to
navigate what happened. Was recently found himself
stumbling and he did have a fallhe fell it wasn't injurious, but
(44:11):
then he he just had a bruise, but he wanted to not not have
that again because he was very socially active too.
But then once he fell, he, he, he fell into this cycle.
Right now, he was afraid of moving and with I can't even
imagine what it must be like forsomebody who did, who could not
see because that fall can do a lot of damage to a person who
(44:36):
has all, all of his senses in place.
This person could not see. So for him, that set in a big
fear in his life. He, when I started working with
him, he wouldn't, I would give him exercises to do and then the
next time I would ask him, did you do them?
Well, he'll say no because therewas nobody to watch me while I
did them. So it was such a set fear that
(44:59):
he, he was almost about to stop moving.
And I was like, no, don't do that.
Because so I, I only gave him two exercises to do.
And then this is what we did, right?
I asked him, you do these, you set your phone, call me on video
call, and then you set your phone in front of your kitchen
(45:19):
counter and you call me. I'll watch you when you do that.
And we did that. And then I just had to do it I
think 2 times. I did it two times.
And then his neighbor volunteered to watch him while
he exercised only to watch him. And then that's how he built his
confidence. And then I started giving him
more and more and then he started feeling confident that
no, he's not falling. That was just one time that he
(45:40):
fell by accident and he's not going to fall now.
He built it again. He, you know, when that he, he
actually worked as a, he, he taught other teams who were
troubled, we call them troubled,but he, he, he was that he, he
used to do these motivational things for them at the local
(46:01):
recreational club. So he started doing that and
then he told his story to those.He, he was telling me that, you
know, they were, they were having such a fun with them and
it was inspiring to see that a, a simple change, a boost of
confidence, what it can do for aperson.
And then he hasn't fallen. He hasn't fallen since.
(46:24):
And he was able to get it back. And it amazes me that with one
complete lack of one sense, he was, he was still able to
achieve that. But what it also taught me is
how big fear of falling can be for anybody, how big it can be.
My mom, even she was, she passedaway last year, but then she was
(46:47):
full of life. And then she had diabetes.
She had many, many other comorbidities in her body, but
she was still so full of life. But then she started falling.
One fall changed her a little. Another fall changed her even
more. And at that time, I was in my,
in the beginning of my career when she started falling.
So I knew how to rehab her, but then it got me thinking about,
(47:12):
you know, this doesn't have to happen in the 1st place.
This has to stop. I mean, this doesn't have to
happen because my mom stopped being herself.
She was, I knew her to be my mom.
And now she was a completely different person who did not
want to engage in anything. And so I was like, no, this,
(47:34):
this is what I want to do. And that gradually, you know,
now it is my after working with insurance driven system for so
long, I am throwing my hands at Nope, I'm not doing this.
I'm not treating you after you fall.
I'm not. You don't have to fall.
You should not fall. It's amazing, especially the
emotional impact. Like I never really thought
(47:54):
about it that way. I always just thought, OK, you
fall, you injure yourself, you're you know, you break a
bone, they repair the bone and then you're back to your normal
life. But then obviously that the fear
and the emotional impact is alsohuge and and people don't really
talk about this part financial impact too many.
People are in debt because of that.
Many people are homeless becauseof this.
(48:14):
Wow. Especially in countries like
here. Where Healthcare is.
Almost like a privilege. It's I know.
Yeah. It's really shocking.
Doctor Kunja, what city are? You in.
I am in metro West Boston. Hopkinton, MA Boston, OK and if
somebody wanted. To reach out to you and find
you. Where can they find you?
(48:35):
Where can they get more information?
Learn more about you? So apart from my Instagram reel,
you can. Contact me through my website,
myjourneymyways.com and I also have a Facebook page that says
my that's named under my journey, my ways PT and you can
reach out to me. I provide just consultations, I
(48:56):
provide monthly programs and I my, my signature program is my
90 day program where I give you all of my skills and my check
insurance and my expertise through 90 days where because 90
days is the best time to build those habits and integrate it
into your life and where you cansee real changes.
(49:18):
So that's my signature program, but I have we can, you know,
design a custom suitable programfor you and you need anybody.
I, I do in home visits here in the metro West area, but I also
do online consultations as well.Oh, that's wow.
That's what I wanted to ask you about if you do online.
Consultations if someone's watching this from another city
(49:40):
or even another country? Yes.
So I do online consultations as well.
And they are designed a little differently, but then they're as
effective through Zoom, right? I assume that you.
And then I also give them. Give them a software with custom
exercises for them to follow. And then we also keep regular
(50:01):
check they're able to log which exercise they were able to do,
not able to do. And then we do weekly check
insurance where we, you know, goover everything that changed,
what needs to be changed, how much progress we've made and
such. So it's wonderful and I think if
you can, you absolutely should invest in a program like this,
if not with me, with somebody else.
(50:21):
See, you know, get your balance assessed.
That's where you should start. Get it assessed.
Know where you are at least now.At least know where you are.
This. Is amazing I.
Mean, I think there's a huge. Demand for your the service that
you provide and, and you know, as the population continues to
age, there's going to there are going to be more and more people
looking for this and, and looking for this type of support
(50:44):
and help. Thank you so much for all the
information. It was such a lovely chat.
It was such a great interview tobe chatting with you today.
Thank you. I I certainly.
Learned a lot. I learned a lot.
I learned a lot too. I I really.
I had no idea about all. The details.
So this was really, really, really interesting for us.
Thank you very much. I enjoyed it as much it was.
(51:04):
Pleasure speaking with the both of you.
Thank you so very much. Thank you so much and thank you
guys for watching or. Listening and we will see you in
the next episode. Thank you for tuning into the
Rewilded Human. Podcast, We hope you're leaving
with insights to reconnect with your natural, vibrant self.
(51:24):
Remember, the information sharedhere is for educational and
inspirational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical
advice. Always consult A qualified
healthcare provider for any personal health concerns.
If you enjoyed today's episode, please like, subscribe and share
it with others who might benefit.
We'll see you next time. Ready to dive even deeper?
(51:45):
Stay wild, stay true, and stay tuned.
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