What should you do immediately after falling?

Nothing, for a minute. The instinct is to scramble up quickly, often out of embarrassment, and that is how a bruise becomes a second, worse fall. Lie still, take a few slow breaths, and check yourself: head, wrists, hips. Sharp pain, a leg that will not take weight, or hitting your head means stay down and call for help. If you feel unhurt, use the chair method to get up slowly, and still mention the fall to your doctor, because falls are often the first sign of something treatable.

What if an elderly person falls and cannot get up?

This is common, not rare: roughly half of older adults who fall cannot get up without help. If you are with them, do not pull them up by the arms. Help them through the chair method, supporting at the trunk or hips, and only if they are uninjured. If they are hurt, keep them still and warm and call 911. If they live alone, this scenario is the strongest case for an automatic fall-detection pendant, because the damage from a fall is often done by the hours spent on the floor afterward, not the fall itself.

Should you see a doctor after a fall even if you feel fine?

Yes, mention every fall to your doctor even when nothing hurts. Falls in older adults are frequently a symptom, not just an accident: new medication side effects, blood pressure drops, an infection, vision changes, or early balance decline can all announce themselves as a fall first. A doctor can also check for slow-developing injuries, and a fall on a blood thinner with any head contact deserves same-day medical attention, full stop.

Why practise getting up from the floor?

Because the first time you try the chair method should not be the day you are shaken, sore, and alone. Practising once or twice, with a family member or physiotherapist in the room, builds the muscle memory and, just as important, the confidence. Fear of falling makes people move less, which weakens legs, which causes falls. Knowing you can get yourself up breaks that spiral.

HomeHow-To Guides

Step-by-step guide · 8 minute read

How to Get Up After a Fall: The Chair Method, Step by Step

The safe sequence for getting off the floor, what to do if you cannot get up, and why practising this before a fall matters.

The short version

Do not rush up. Lie still, breathe, and check for pain first. If anything might be broken, stay down, stay warm, and call for help instead.
The safe sequence: roll to your side, get onto hands and knees, crawl to a sturdy chair, bring your stronger leg forward, and push up into the seat.
About half of seniors who fall cannot get up without help, which is the real argument for a medical alert button. Practise this method once while someone is with you.

The steps at a glance

Stay still and check yourself. Take several slow breaths where you are. Check for sharp pain, especially hip, wrist, and head. If anything might be injured, do not try to get up; move to step 6.
Roll onto your side. Bend your knees, turn your head in the direction you want to roll, and roll your whole body to that side in one piece.
Get onto hands and knees. Push your upper body up with your arms until you are on all fours. Rest here as long as you need.
Crawl to a sturdy chair, couch, or bed. Crawl to the nearest solid piece of furniture and place both hands flat on the seat.
Bring your stronger foot forward and push up. From kneeling, bring your stronger leg forward so that foot is flat on the floor, then push down through your hands and that leg, and turn to sit in the chair. Sit and rest for a few minutes before standing, and tell your doctor about the fall.
If you cannot get up, protect yourself while you wait. Press your medical alert button or reach a phone if you can. Pull a blanket, coat, or cushion over yourself for warmth, pad bony spots, and shift your weight every 20 to 30 minutes. Make noise at intervals rather than continuously.

This guide is general information, not medical advice. Bodies and situations differ; a physiotherapist or occupational therapist can check technique and equipment for your exact needs, often at no cost through your doctor or Ontario Health atHome (310-2222).

The first rule: do not rush to get up

The instinct after a fall, especially with an audience, is to scramble upright immediately. That instinct causes second falls and turns minor injuries into major ones. So the first move is no move: lie where you are, take five slow breaths, and let the shock settle. Then check yourself deliberately, starting with the places that matter most: head, neck, wrists, and hips.

Sharp pain anywhere, a leg that will not take weight, any blow to the head, or feeling faint means the answer is stay down and call for help, and skip ahead to the last section of this guide. Getting up on a broken hip does not make it less broken; it makes it worse, and it risks a far harder landing.

The chair method, step by step

If nothing seems injured, here is the sequence physiotherapists teach. Rest as long as you need between every step; this is a journey with stops, not one motion.

The chair method: roll to your side, get to hands and knees, crawl to a sturdy chair, bring your stronger foot forward, and push up to sit. Rest at every stage.

Roll onto your side. Bend your knees, turn your head the way you want to go, and roll your shoulders and hips together in one piece.
Get onto hands and knees. Push your upper body up with your arms until you are on all fours. Breathe.
Crawl to something solid. A sturdy chair, couch, or the bed. Not a rolling office chair, not a walker, not a glass table.
Hands on the seat, strong foot forward. From kneeling with both hands flat on the seat, bring your stronger leg forward so that foot is flat on the floor, like a runner's lunge in slow motion.
Push up and turn to sit. Press down through your hands and your front leg, rise, and pivot your bottom onto the seat. Then sit for several full minutes before trying to stand; the light-headedness after a fall is real and it has caused many second falls.

Afterward, even if you feel fine, tell your doctor a fall happened. Falls are often the first visible symptom of something treatable: a medication side effect, blood pressure dipping on standing, an infection, changing vision.

If you cannot get up: the plan for waiting well

Roughly half of older adults who fall cannot get up without help, so this is not a remote possibility to skim past; it is the other half of the skill. The danger of a fall is often not the landing but the hours on the floor afterward, what emergency medicine calls a long lie: cold, pressure damage, dehydration, and muscle breakdown. The goals while waiting are summon, warm, and shift.

Summon: press the medical alert button if you wear one, or crawl toward the phone. This exact moment is why phones should live low, why a cordless handset belongs at floor-reachable height in main rooms, and why alert pendants with automatic fall detection earn their monthly fee.
Warm: pull down anything reachable: a blanket, coats, cushions, even a tablecloth. Cover yourself, and put something between bony spots and hard floor.
Shift: change position a little every 20 to 30 minutes to protect skin and joints, and keep moving whatever moves comfortably to stay warm.
Make noise in bursts: banging a shoe or cane on the floor at intervals carries surprisingly well and lasts far longer than shouting.

Practise this once, before it is real

Read step lists all you like; the version that works at 2 a.m. is the one your body has done before. Once, with a family member or physiotherapist in the room, get down on the floor deliberately and go through the whole sequence: roll, all fours, crawl, chair, up. Two minutes of slightly silly practice buys two things: the muscle memory, and the knowledge that you can, which quietly changes how confidently you move every day.

If practising reveals that getting up is genuinely not possible even fresh and calm, that is vital information gained safely: it moves fall detection from nice-to-have to essential, and it is worth raising at the next doctor's visit along with a referral for strength work like sit-to-stand practice.

For the family member reading this

If you find a parent on the floor: resist the arm-pull. If they are hurt, keep them still and warm and call 911; do not move them to a chair first. If they are unhurt, your job is coach and spotter for the chair method above, with your hands steadying at the hips or trunk, never hauling on hands or arms. The companion guide, how to help someone stand up, covers your body mechanics so there is one fall in the family story that day, not two.

And afterward, ask the quiet question: is this the first fall, or the first one you heard about? One fall a year is an event; two is a pattern that deserves a doctor's visit, a medication review, and an honest look at the home with our fall-proofing guide.

Common questions

What should you do immediately after falling?: Nothing, for a minute. The instinct is to scramble up quickly, often out of embarrassment, and that is how a bruise becomes a second, worse fall. Lie still, take a few slow breaths, and check yourself: head, wrists, hips. Sharp pain, a leg that will not take weight, or hitting your head means stay down and call for help. If you feel unhurt, use the chair method to get up slowly, and still mention the fall to your doctor, because falls are often the first sign of something treatable.
What if an elderly person falls and cannot get up?: This is common, not rare: roughly half of older adults who fall cannot get up without help. If you are with them, do not pull them up by the arms. Help them through the chair method, supporting at the trunk or hips, and only if they are uninjured. If they are hurt, keep them still and warm and call 911. If they live alone, this scenario is the strongest case for an automatic fall-detection pendant, because the damage from a fall is often done by the hours spent on the floor afterward, not the fall itself.
Should you see a doctor after a fall even if you feel fine?: Yes, mention every fall to your doctor even when nothing hurts. Falls in older adults are frequently a symptom, not just an accident: new medication side effects, blood pressure drops, an infection, vision changes, or early balance decline can all announce themselves as a fall first. A doctor can also check for slow-developing injuries, and a fall on a blood thinner with any head contact deserves same-day medical attention, full stop.
Why practise getting up from the floor?: Because the first time you try the chair method should not be the day you are shaken, sore, and alone. Practising once or twice, with a family member or physiotherapist in the room, builds the muscle memory and, just as important, the confidence. Fear of falling makes people move less, which weakens legs, which causes falls. Knowing you can get yourself up breaks that spiral.

Keep going: related how-tos

Want a professional to help with this?

Browse medical alert & safety guides and vetted providers.

Go to Medical Alert & Safety →