Senior Care: Prevent Falling with Balance Therapy

Having proper body balance as you get older can help you prevent unwanted falls that can lead to chronic or dangerous injuries. However, when you’re having balance problems, it can be challenging to maintain stable and upright positions when standing, walking, or even sitting down.

At Impact Medical, we don’t want you stuck inside staring at the beautiful Miami weather out your window. We want you to be able to enjoy your life and step out of your fear of falling. Therefore, we’ve put together our expert guide to Balance Therapy.

One of the biggest things that comes with balance problems is not always falling, but also the fear of falling, which can stop you from living an independent and fulfilled life. When working with an experienced and compassionate physical therapist, they can help you:

Assess your risk for falling.
Design an individualized plan for your fall-prevention needs.
Help you make your home as safe as possible.
Educate you about the medical risk factors associated with falls.
Provide you with exercises and balance training designed to reduce your risk of falling.
Work with other health care professionals to address any underlying medical conditions that could increase your fall risk.
Provide you with recommendations on appropriate community programs.

Balance therapy is a great way to restore your peace of mind, reduce your fear of falling, and be able to enjoy the ordinary day-to-day things you once did. And have the stability to keep your footing every step of the way.

What Causes Balance Problems?

Balance problems occur when you have trouble staying upright, and there are a range of issues that can contribute to your balance problems, including:

Muscle weakness
Joint stiffness
Inner ear problems
Certain medications (such as those prescribed for depression and high blood pressure)
Lack of activity or a sedentary lifestyle
Simple aging

They occur when one or more of these four systems in your body are not working correctly:

Vision
Inner ear
Muscular system
Awareness of your body position (called “proprioception”)

How Do I Know if I’ve Got Balance Problems?

If you find yourself swaying, tripping, stumbling, dizzy, or simply falling far more than ever before, then you should see one of our balance therapy specialists at Impact Medical. While you may feel that you can stand on your own just fine, the more you move about, the higher the risk of falling and causing serious injury.

How Can Balance Therapy Help?

Our balance therapy specialists work with you to create a custom care plan that targets and treats your balance problems based on your needs. A balance therapy specialist can evaluate multiple systems of your body that include the muscles, joints, inner ear, eye-tracking ability, and more to determine where your treatment is best focused.

Balance therapy at Impact Medical consists of prescribing active movement techniques and physical exercise designed to improve your systems by strengthening, proprioception exercises, visual tracking, inner ear retraining, and stretching. These techniques and practices together help you reduce your fall risk and fear of falling by improving your mobility, balance, strength, movement, and flexibility, and posture.

If you’re tired of feeling afraid to go outside and enjoy the Miami weather or even go to the grocery store, Impact Medical can help. Our balance therapy professionals are here to help you create a customized care plan designed to optimize your healing and take back your independence.