Many people don’t realize their balance is impaired until incident happens. For Some athletes, they can get repetitive strain or overuse injuries and for older adults can suffer repetitive falling. Balance is a complex skill that involves the brain, muscles, and parts of the inner ear. In fact, as we age, our proprioception which is our ability to know where we are in space, gets worse and contributes to a decline in our balance. The solution is balance training which can benefit people of any age, including older adults and athletes. For Athletes, balance training helps to improve their performance and reduce the risk of injury. For older adults, it maximizes their safety during daily activities. To improve your balance, it’s important to understand the types of balance and incorporate balance exercises into your workout. Also, there are many medical conditions that we have listed that can affect your balance:
– Neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, Multiple Sclerosis, and Stroke are among those that can affect balance.
– Conditions that can cause nerve damage in the feet making it difficult to walk such as peripheral Neuropathy.
– Dizziness may be caused by ear disorders or simply from the aging of the inner ear’s balance system.
– Postural hypotension is a drop in blood pressure when you sit up or stand up can cause lightheadedness and even fainting.
– Leg length discrepancy, ankle sprain/strain, arthritis and deformities may also result of uneven balance.
– Eye diseases such as Cataracts and glaucoma are stealthy thieves of sight and balance.
– Some medications such as sedatives, blood pressure medicines, antidepressants, and antihistamines are among those that may cause dizziness.
Our balance training strategy starts with a complete assessment of your past medical history, muscle strength, level of activity, and objective functional balance tests. If it is determined that your balance is impaired, a treatment strategy will be developed including exercises that utilize many tools to help improve your balance and maximize the safety of your functional mobility. The ideal balance program is the one challenges both static and dynamic balance with a focus on coordination, Static balance (training is stationary with a solid, predictable surface underfoot) and dynamic balance (training is facilitated by adding a stimulus underfoot that challenges you to maintain stability).