Explore our 2020 guide to seizure types and fall prevention strategies. Learn about different seizure types, their impact on safety, and effective methods to prevent falls and enhance overall safety for individuals at risk.

Understanding Seizures, Causes & Prevention Strategies

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What is a Seizure?

A seizure occurs when a burst of nerve cells begin to misfire, creating electrical activity in the brain. All seizures will raise a cause for concern, and a diagnosis will determine which steps need to be taken next to prevent injuries and falling. Some seizures are indicative of epilepsy, usually, if they are happening for no apparent reason or occur more than once. However, many types are considered non-epileptic seizures such as eclampsia in pregnant women.

What Causes a Seizure?

Epilepsy seizure activity can arise from a variety of health conditions which may lead to mild to severe seizures on a weekly to a daily basis. An exact cause is hard to determine due to the diverse mix of conditions and a wide array of treatments to help individual patients.

Epilepsy can develop after a stroke, a brain injury or after a serious illness that causes a reduction of oxygen delivery to the brain.

Brain tumours, Alzheimer's and dementia can also cause epilepsy. This is where heredity plays a role in terms of neurologic diseases that are caused by genetics.

Common Seizure Types

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• - Focal Seizures: Affect one part of the body such as impaired vision and dizziness to jerking of one part of the body.
• - Generalised Seizures: Affect the whole body, can be mild to severe from shaking and jerking to Atonic Seizures which cause the person to drop to the floor without warning.
• - Non-Epileptic Seizures: This is when someone experiences a seizure without any unusual activity within the brain. These types of seizures can be caused by severe stress or underlying physical conditions.
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Seizures & Falling

All seizures are concerning and require medical treatment and prevention strategies and talking to a medical professional can help determine how you can support a person that suffers with seizures. Others who are diagnosed with Tonic seizures, Clonic seizures and Atonic seizures that can be hazardous to a person's health due to the sudden dropping to the floor, will require further attention and methods to prevent an injurious fall when a seizure occurs.

To reduce the chances of a brain injury, fall prevention strategies and head protection can be arranged:

 - Monitor Seizure Activity: This will allow you to note down the series of events that take place before the seizure occurs, including how often the seizures are taking place. This allows for timely planning including when it is safe to be outside and when it is better to remain inside for the day. Once a pattern is formed, a plan can be arranged to help reduce the chances of an injurious fall.

- Safety Prep The Home: Many epileptic patients experience impaired vision before a seizure begins, therefore it is important to remove any unnecessary furniture to reduce tripping over when these symptoms occur. You can also add foam to corners of tables, chairs and doors to reduce the chances of a person hitting their head on a sharp corner.

- Modify Your Diet: Work with your medical professional to tailor a nutrition plan to help reduce the number of seizures and severity of the activity.

- Learn the Correct First Aid: The most common method is Stay, Safe, Side. This means to stay with the person at all times, keep the person safe by removing any restrictive items of clothings or glasses which could break and cause an injury, and finally, turn the person on their side. However, it is important that you don't retrain them and if the seizure lasts longer than five minutes or the person is having difficulty breathing, call an ambulance.

Protect Your Head With a Medical Helmet

For those who suffer with regular seizures, a seizure helmet can provide comfort and protection all day long so that the person can continue with their every day routine with the knowledge that their helmet will protect them from a serious head injury.

Medical helmets like Ribcap's Soft Beanie Helmet Hat can be worn comfortably all day and can also be slept in. They are a registered medical device trusted by many neuro associations and tested by BSI notified body. They are air-light while being highly protective and did we mention their highly fashionable, non-stigmatizing style?