Health blog Category: Balance
How does Physical Therapy Help with Balance?
Physical therapists are movement experts. They improve quality of life through hands on care, patient education and prescribed movement no matter what the diagnosis is. If you are losing your balance and are feeling frustrated, keep reading. Physical Therapy might be the place for you!
Are you noticing that you are having a hard time sitting or standing upright, feel like you are falling over when walking and just not as stable as you use to be?
Read full blogImproving Balance and Reducing Injuries
Balance is what gives us the ability to walk on two legs and perform our daily routines. Our sense of balance changes over the course of our entire lives. Balance and the vestibular system develop as we grow from a baby all the way through adulthood, and then declines as we get older.
Most people don’t know their balance is not optimum until they suffer a sports injury, trip and fall, or lose their balance in the shower.
Balance Issues Occur in Both Older and Younger Populations
Balance issues occur in anyone, regardless of age. However, the cause of balance issues and how to treat them differ in older and younger populations.
We all have three systems that all work together to ensure we have good balance.
- We have our balance organ, which is our vestibular system in the inner ear.
- We have our leg strength.
- We also have our visual component which we rely heavily on when something else is not working properly.
Core Strength and Improved Balance
You may be wondering how core strength can help improve your balance. Well here’s your answer: When the “core” muscles around your trunk are strong, they prevent chronic lower back pain and many other injuries, but they also keep you from losing your balance and falling down. A stronger core will help to keep you upright — especially as you age and start to become more at risk of falling.
How Core Strength and Balance Are Linked
There are three systems in your body that help to control your balance.
Read full blogWhy are Strength and Balance so Important?
Why is Strength and Balance so important?
Strength is directly correlated to balance because of the benefits it has on body mechanics and joint strength. As you age, you want to continue to build muscle mass to reduce the stress on your bones and joints. The more strength you have surrounding the joints, the more support they will have in your daily activities and the less you will feel the wear and tear you put on your body.
Prevent Falling with Physical Therapy
Falls happen more often than you may think. In fact, more than one third of adults 65 and older fall each year. Thankfully, more often than not, these falls don’t result in serious injury. But, if you experience any symptoms or the reason that caused you to fall in the first place are not recognized or treated, there is a much greater chance of future falls and more serious injury.
As you age, your bones are more prone to fractures or breaks.
Why Do I Feel Off Balance?
Having good balance means being able to control and maintain your body’s position comfortably – whether you are walking, climbing stairs, standing or even sitting still. To have good balance, your muscles need to be working together in response to your sensory systems, which include: vision, inner ear and proprioception, or the sensation you get from nerves in your skin, muscles and joints.
We have three systems that all work together so we have good balance. We have our:
- Balance organ, which is our vestibular system in the inner ear.
The Connection Between Core Strength and Better Balance
Physical therapy as an industry has been talking about the link between core strength and better balance for years. When the “core” muscles around our trunk are strong, they prevent chronic lower back pain and many other injuries, but they also keep us from losing our balance and falling down. A stronger core will help to keep you upright — especially as you age and start to become more at risk of falling. If you’d like to get started on a core routine to improve your balance, contact Loudoun Sports Therapy today to speak with a physical therapist!
Read full blogWhen is a fall serious enough to seek medical attention…
Whether you are young or old, a fall outside, or even in your own home can be serious. You might assume that medical professionals are busy assessing injuries from falls at certain times of the year such as winter when there is snow and/or ice on the ground. This is true, however, it is also very common for older individuals to fall in their own homes at anytime of the year. How do you know if your injury warrants medical attention, or if it something you can handle on your own?
Read full blogFeeling Unsteady or Having Trouble Balancing?
Balance problems and having trouble balancing might not be what first comes to mind when you think of conditions physical therapy treats. However, balance impairments are something we see and treat in patients of all ages, young people and older population.
First, let’s clear up any confusion there may be about balance issues and vertigo. We do also treat vertigo, which is condition involving the inner ear. Vertigo causes symptoms such as dizziness and can impact balance but it’s not treated the same as balance issues that are unrelated to vertigo.
