Three reasons to consider balance training for seniors

When we’re young, each of us must learn to balance ourselves; this learning process is crucial to our ability to walk, stand and do other routine activities. However, as people age, they can start losing their ability to balance, and this can be the result of osteoarthritis and other conditions. If you or someone you know has problems with balance, there are three factors that should lead you to consider trying balance training for seniors.

1. Fear of falling

Older people with balance issues can easily develop a fear of falling. Unfortunately, there’s a good reason to fear falling if you’re older. The National Council on Aging (NCOA) reports that falls are responsible for more than 2.8 million yearly hospital visits. This same report also revealed that falls are the leading cause of fatal injury for seniors. If this sounds like a fear you have, balance training for seniors can be a way to face and defeat it. 

2. Inability to do routine daily activities

Most people don’t go through their day without walking, standing and doing other routine tasks that depend on balance. For seniors with balance problems, tasks like these can become too hard to do. Balance therapy can help seniors by restoring their ability to do routine tasks. 

This type of therapy is intended to help strengthen muscles that support your joints. In turn, this can make you feel more stable when standing or moving around. Balance therapy programs can also show you how to use assistance devices like grabbers. Avoiding risky tasks like climbing up on a step stool can help decrease your risk of losing your balance. 

3. A poor quality of life

Some seniors with balance issues tend to avoid moving and doing pretty much any task but sitting around. However, using this method to deal with balance problems can lead to a much lower quality of life. It can make you feel like you have no independence anymore, and this feeling can easily turn into depression. Also, not moving around causes your muscle strength to decrease, and weak muscles can make it even harder to balance when you do get up. By choosing to do balance training for seniors, you could avoid these physical and emotional issues. In fact, such a training program is a great way to improve your quality of life. 

Find balance training for seniors at Advent Physical Therapy

Advent Physical Therapy is proud to offer balance training for seniors at our 14 clinics in west Michigan. Our team can get you started with a free screening, and this will allow us to determine what balance issues you have and how they’re affecting you. Using this information, we’ll then build you a personalized treatment program that may include: 

• Balance training
• Manual therapy
• Instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization (IASTM)
• Vestibular rehabilitation

Don’t wait to start getting our help with your balance issues. Contact our team today for more information or to schedule an initial appointment.