It’s a fact of life. The body starts to deteriorate as we grow older. It can be harder to hear and see, and it can be much harder to balance when moving around.
Problems with maintaining your balance can be dangerous if you’re a senior. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 3 million seniors are treated for fall injuries every year. Falls are also reported to be the cause of more than 95% of hip fractures. Physical therapists can offer seniors many tips intended to improve balance and reduce fall risk.
Three tips focused on improving balance for seniors
A physical therapist can be a great resource for seniors focused on improving their balance. They can assess your joints and muscles, which can reveal issues affecting your balance. These specialists can also build you an individualized therapy plan intended to improve your balance.
In addition, a therapy specialist can offer you helpful general tips for balance improvement. Some of these tips include:
- Not keeping balance issues to yourself — It’s hard to find help for balance problems if you haven’t told anyone else that you have them, and not telling people about a balance issue isn’t all that uncommon for seniors. The CDC estimates that 25% of seniors fall every year but fewer than half of these people let their doctor know about their fall. Telling your doctor or therapist about a fall or balance issue allows them to help you find ways to tackle these issues.
- Getting your vision checked — Vision is an important part of your ability to balance. Unfortunately, your eyes tend to get worse at judging distances and seeing objects and surfaces clearly as you age. In turn, this can make it difficult to maintain your balance. One study reports that seniors with poor distance acuity are 2.3 times more likely to have an injury-causing fall. Getting regular eye checkups can help ensure that you have good vision and help improve your balance.
- Attending physical therapy — Physical therapy plans can help seniors improve their balance. They’ve also been shown to reduce the risk of falling. One medical study revealed that balance training reduced falls leading to a serious injury by 43%.
Seniors can find help improving their balance at SOL Physical Therapy
Are you a senior who is looking for help improving your balance? Our SOL Physical Therapy team has just the help you’re searching for. Our specialists offer free screenings that can pinpoint issues that are affecting your balance. Using this information, we can then build you a personalized balance training program designed to improve your balance.
We even offer services that are intended to reduce your risk of COVID-19 exposure. These services include virtual care sessions. You can also take advantage of any of our services without having to get a doctor’s referral.
Take the next step to start getting our help with your balance issues. Contact our team today for more information or to schedule an initial appointment.
