Safety Concerns With Epilepsy

People with epilepsy and other seizure disorders, often express concern for their physical safety. Some are afraid to live all alone. Others are fearful that certain activities my trigger a seizure. There is also concern for the safety of others. People assume that they are safe in their home, the same way that we assume that a chair will support your weight.  However, those to live with epilepsy do  not feel that we can take our personal safety for granted.

  More seizures occur in the home than anywhere. Most of the accidents associated with at home seizures can be lessened when appropriate safety measures are added. For example, when preparing meals, a good food processor can be used rather than a knife to reduce the likelihood of knife accidents. Cooking using a slow cooker or a microwave oven may reduce burns and maybe safer than using the stove top or the oven. I personally do not prepare food when I have a migraine, as this may be a warning of an impending seizure

.In  the bathroom it may be desirable to replace glass with shatter proof glass whenever possible to reduce cuts and serious injury. Some people prefer to put carpeting in the bathroom floor or else they use area rugs. This may prevent serious injury during a fall. It may help to have a door to the bathroom that opens at work to the hallway. This will make it easier to enter the bathroom in an emergency. A person who falls to the floor during a seizure may block the entrance making it difficult to get help. Rounded corners on the cabinets are also helpful and may prevent injury. To prevent accidental electrocution have outlets on the walls away from the water sources