Getting up from a fall safely means moving slowly, checking for injuries first, and using a specific sequence that protects your joints and prevents a second fall. Rushing to stand is the most common mistake, and it can cause more harm than the fall itself. Whether you’ve fallen at home, outdoors, or in a public place, the technique below works for most people who are physically able to rise from the floor.
Before You Try to Stand
Stay on the ground for a moment. Take several slow breaths and let the initial shock pass. While you’re still down, mentally scan your body: move your fingers, wrists, arms, toes, ankles, and legs one at a time. If anything produces sharp pain, significant swelling, or you feel dizzy or confused, do not attempt to get up on your own. Call for help or dial emergency services.
If everything moves without severe pain, you’re ready to begin the process of getting up. Look around for a sturdy piece of furniture nearby, like a chair, couch, or low table. You’ll use it as your anchor point.
The Step-by-Step Method
This technique, widely taught by physical therapists and fall-prevention programs, uses a chair or similar stable surface to support you as you rise. Here’s the full sequence:
- Roll onto your side. Don’t try to sit straight up from your back. Turn your whole body to one side, preferably the side that feels stronger or less painful.
- Crawl or slide to the nearest sturdy furniture. A dining chair, heavy coffee table, or couch works well. Avoid anything with wheels or anything that might tip over.
- Get into a kneeling position. Use your arms to push yourself up onto both knees, facing the furniture.
- Place both arms on the seat of the chair. Let the furniture bear some of your weight. Take a breath here.
- Bring your stronger leg forward. Plant that foot flat on the floor so you’re in a half-kneeling position, like a lunge.
- Push up with your arms and legs together. Rise slowly, pivoting your body around so your backside is aimed at the seat.
- Sit down in the chair. Rest here for at least a minute before trying to stand and walk.
Once seated, sit still and check how you feel. Dizziness, nausea, or heart pounding are signs your body needs more recovery time. Wait until you feel stable before standing from the chair.
If You Can’t Get Up
Not everyone can rise from the floor, and that’s important to plan for rather than fight through. If you try the method above and your body won’t cooperate, or if pain prevents you from completing the steps, shift your focus to staying safe and getting help.
Try to slide or crawl toward a phone. If you can’t reach one, move toward a door, window, or any spot where someone outside might hear you. Yell, knock on the wall, or bang an object against the floor to create noise. If you’re wearing a medical alert device, press the button now.
While you wait, make yourself as comfortable as possible. Pull a blanket, coat, or anything warm over your body. If you can reach a pillow or bundle up clothing, place it under your head. Staying warm matters because your body loses heat quickly when lying on a hard floor, and cold muscles make it even harder to move later.
Why Getting Up Quickly Matters
The longer someone stays on the floor after a fall, the higher the risk of serious medical complications. Researchers call this a “long lie,” though there’s no single agreed-upon time that defines it. Studies have used cutoffs ranging from just five minutes to an hour or more. What is clear is that extended time on the floor can lead to dehydration, pressure injuries to the skin, muscle breakdown from sustained compression, infections, and loss of consciousness. In studies where people remained on the floor for an average of 18 to 45 hours, nearly all experienced some form of physical harm.
This is why practicing the get-up technique before you ever need it is so valuable. Rehearsing the movement when you’re calm and uninjured builds the muscle memory and confidence to do it under stress.
Building the Strength to Recover From Falls
If getting up from the floor feels difficult even in practice, that’s a signal worth paying attention to. Geriatric medicine guidelines recommend that clinicians watch how patients rise from a chair and walk across a room as a basic screening tool for fall risk. Specific warning signs include needing to push off the armrests with your hands to stand, feeling unsteady while walking, or holding onto furniture for balance at home.
Two of the most effective exercises for building floor-to-stand ability are simple enough to do at home. Chair rises (sitting down and standing up repeatedly from a sturdy chair without using your hands) build the leg and core strength the get-up technique demands. Standing balance exercises, like holding a single-leg stance near a counter for support, improve the stability you need during the transition from kneeling to standing. A physical therapist can tailor a program to your specific strength and balance gaps.
Equipment That Can Help
For people who fall frequently or lack the upper body strength to push themselves up, assistive devices designed specifically for floor-to-stand transfers exist. Mechanical floor lifts can raise a person from the ground to a seated or standing position without requiring physical effort from the individual or risking injury to a caregiver. Some models support up to 400 or 600 pounds and include handles that allow transfers to a wheelchair, couch, or commode.
A personal emergency response system, the wearable button that connects to a monitoring service, is another practical investment. It eliminates the need to crawl to a phone and can cut the time spent on the floor from hours to minutes. For anyone living alone with fall risk factors, this single device addresses the most dangerous part of a fall: not the impact itself, but the time spent unable to get help afterward.