Older adults are at much higher risk for serious injury, loss of independence, or even death following a fall.
Improving your balance and optimizing your walking (or “gait” in the PT world) are complementary skills, and both are necessary components of reducing your risk for falls. Dr. Derya works individually with her clients to help them gain confidence in their balance and improve their walking efficiency and safety.
Why Should You Work on Balance and Gait Training?
It’s hard to tell if one is at at risk for falls, and often you find out too late.
Falls can occur for many reasons. Many falls happen because people become over-tired, and your reaction to recovering from a fall is impaired. Also, as we age we lose some of our natural righting reflexes. Building up your walking efficiency and endurance, while also working towards improving your reflexes and reaction times (yes, you can improve these!) are very important for protecting yourself from falls.
Another key factor that contributes to falls is poor posture, which pitches your center of gravity forward or backward, setting you up for a fall that is very difficult to stop. Furthermore, poor posture doesn’t let you use your core, hips, or legs well to respond to a trip, stumble or fall.
What Can I do?
Dr. Derya will work with you to not only improve your posture, but also on reconnecting with the strength and balance centers of your body to protect yourself from falls.
Balance and walking rely on an interplay between 3 systems: the inner ear, the eyes, the somatosensory system (how your body perceives where you are in space). By working with Dr. Derya, you bring these three systems into balance (pun intended!) and achieve greater control over your body and your surroundings.
There are so many benefits to improving your balance and your walking skills, and it is something that every older adult should work on to insure their health long into their later years. Not only will you avoid injury, you will gain confidence in negotiating your environment and maintain your independence and mobility for much longer.
What to Expect
A thorough evaluation will determine the primary factors contributing to imbalance. You will participate in some simple movements and tests of general joint mobility and function. Your gait will also be assessed to determine potential areas for improvement. With this data, Dr. Derya will work with you and your goals to determine your treatment plan.
It’s Time to Get Back in Balance.
Dr. Derya is here to support you towards your goals of staying mobile, independent, and free from falls. Your confidence will improve and you will feel more in control of your life again.
