Have you ever lost your balance turning your head when someone calls your name? How about if you turn too quickly when you are walking? What about when you bend over to pick something up from the ground?
If you answered yes to any or all of the questions above, you will benefit from physical therapy to address your balance and decrease your risk of falling.
Unfortunately, there are multiple factors of the aging process that can cause your balance to be poor, and increase your risk of falling.
Factors that affect your balance include:
- Weakness in the legs
- Decreased sensation in the feet or lower legs
- Problems with your vision
- Interaction of taking multiple medications
- Complaints of dizziness
- Episodes of vertigo
- Problems with blood pressure
Many of you may experience several of these factor. If so, you must take action now!
Reasons to get your balance problems addressed:
- 1/3 of those 65 years of age and older will fall this year
- Falls are the most common cause of nonfatal injuries and trauma hospital admissions
- 95% of hip fractures are caused by falls
- People 75 years and older who fall are 4-5 times more likely than those 65-74 years of age to be admitted to a long-term care facility
- Death rates from falls among seniors has dramatically increased over the past 10 years, with men more likely than women to die from a fall
If you have ever fallen, or know someone who has, you understand the negative impact a fall can have on your ability to live life to your fullest potential. Once someone has fallen, he or she may become fearful of falling, and as a result decrease the desire to walk and be active. You can see how this would result in a downward cycle, actually increasing your risk for falling again.
You do not have to become a statistic. If you have fallen before, have to grab onto things around you when you walk, or tend to lose your balance easily, you must call your physical therapist today.
