Fall Prevention and Balance Training in Fort Lauderdale and Plantation

Fall Prevention and Balance Training

Fall Prevention and Balance Training in Fort Lauderdale and Plantation and Sunrise, FL

Fall Prevention/Balance Training
Each year 1 in 3 people over the age of 60 experience a fall. Falls account for 65% of all injuries among seniors. Even in community assisted facilities, 30% of these seniors experience at least one fall per year. 40% of the falls resulting in hospital stays are attributable to hip fractures. With an estimated cost of $2.4 billion annually to treat injuries to seniors, injuries due to falls represent 41% of this cost to our health care system.

The good news is that many of these falls can be prevented with the right exercises. We hear a lot about how to keep our heart and lungs healthy, but not so much about how to keep our balance system healthy. Your balance system includes all the senses in your body that tell you how you are moving, the brain which puts this information together, and the muscles that control your movements.

This complex system needs plenty of regular 'practice'. As children we develop good balance by practicing balancing activities - walking along walls, jumping, spinning and climbing. As adults we tend not to give our balance system the practice it needs. Health problems can also weaken the balance system. The result is that our balance becomes poorer as we age and are less active.

Balance Testing

Fall prevention screening involves evaluation techniques which are utilized to identify factors such as decreases in flexibility, strength, endurance, and coordination. Unfortunately, with age, people tend to become less active and more sedentary. This begins a slow process of diminished conditioning, which mostly goes unnoticed as typical daily demands fail to identify deficiencies. Most people chalk-up diminished conditioning as a rite of passage and fail to appreciate that conditioning occurs by the stresses and demands that are placed upon the body. Normal stresses and demands promote positive healthy conditioning. Abnormal stresses and demands, including inadequate activities, promote negative conditioning.

Balance Training

Balance training involves precise exercise activities which facilitate an increase in flexibility, strength, endurance, and coordination. Unfortunately, mainstream health care tends to look at balance training as a rehabilitative program for injury treatment, rather than as a preventative strategy. This is understandable due to the fact that prevention screenings are not even considered as a standard of care for seniors. However, in light of the statistical facts, it should be agreed that this view is no longer acceptable considering our wealth of knowledge and technical capabilities.

A State of the Art High Tech Specialized Approach

Prevention and rehabilitation can be so easily accomplished from a vast array of balance training exercises ranging from the low tech (low expense) to the high tech (high expense). Simple activities such as standing on 1 leg or with eyes closed are examples of low tech. Wobble boards, gait training activities, and other surface changing devices or techniques are examples of mid range technologies. We provide a high tech approach through the use of SpineForce, WAVE whole body vibration and WinPosture balance technology to enhance posture, proprioception, balance and coordination. A new study reveals that if senior people are trained in proper balancing techniques the number of fall incidents can be reduced by 50%.

What Can You Do?

Contact our office at 954-452-4600 to schedule an initial consultation with our Doctor to determine if you are a candidate for care. After carefully studying your case history and exam findings, we will sit down and explain our recommended plan of action for you. After answering any questions you may have about the recommended plan, you may begin your care with our team.