Did you know that balance can be improved with physical therapy?
First, lets chat about a few systems that can affect your balance if not working properly:
-Vestibular system: This system is known more commonly as the inner ear. Aging, trauma, and illness can all affect your vestibular system.
-Vision: Aging, eye tracking issues, and trauma can all affect your eyesight.
-Proprioception: Proprioception is the awareness of your body in space. Body position is typically sensed within receptors within your joints and can be affected by aging, injury (ex: ankle sprain or low back pain), surgery (ex: ACL repair or spinal fusion), diabetes, etc.
Your brain's job is to coordinate information taken from your vision, inner ear, and body position sensors to tell your body how to move in order to maintain balance when you are both still and moving.
What are typical symptoms of impaired balance?
-tripping or frequent falls
-swaying or stumbling
-dizziness
-vertigo
-blurry vision with movement
-inability to maintain balance when multi-tasking
At CCPT, we can provide you will a full evaluation to see which system is not functioning properly. Then, we can prescribe you specific exercises to improve your balance and reach your individualized goals. Lastly, we are skilled and able to recommend assistive devices if needed in order to decrease fall risk.
Some examples of exercises prescribed to our balance patients:
Improve static balance: standing heel to toe, standing on one foot, standing on uneven surfaces such as foam, balance boards, and/or bosu ball, maintaining balance while multitasking (maintaining a conversation, turning your head back and forth, throwing a ball, etc), etc.
Improve dynamic balance: walking heel to toe, walking with head turns, walking while maintaining a conversation, walking on uneven ground, walking up and down stairs, etc.
Come see us for a balance assessment! We'd love to work with you!
Maggie Nguyen PT, DPT