What is Fall Prevention Physical Therapy?
Fall Prevention Physical Therapy can provide important fall prevention training for older adults. As we age, our risk of falling increases due to a number of factors including changes in vision, hearing, and medications that can cause dizziness or drowsiness. Building strength, mobility, and balance are essential to help prevent falls and the injuries that can be associated with them. Fall prevention physical therapy can include:
Balance Training
Balance training involves exercises to strengthen the muscles that help to keep you upright, including your legs and your core. Balance training exercises can improve your stability and help prevent falls. In most cases, balance training involves slow, methodical movements, and most exercises are done without the use of equipment.
At-Home Safety
You can make your home a safer place to prevent the chances you might fall. If you have smooth floors, wear non-slip footwear like slippers with rubber bottoms or flat, well-fitting shoes. Keep hallways, stairs, and paths well lit and clear of objects. Hold onto rails or banisters when you are using the stairs, and don’t put rugs at the top or bottom of the stairs. Tape all your rugs to the floor, and put rubber mats in the bathtub. For other great tips to help you stay safe at home, visit HealthinAging.org.
Mobility Training
Mobility refers to the ability to move comfortably and easily without the risk of injury. The often gentle but effective movements involved in mobility training not only reduce the risk of falls but can also contribute to better overall health and wellness. In addition to helping you move more easily and prevent falls, mobility training can build bone density, making it less likely that you’ll be injured seriously if you do fall.
Strength Training
Improving and maintaining your strength is a vital part of your fall prevention physical therapy program. Strength training wards off age-related muscle loss, maintains bone strength, promotes mobility, and helps to prevent falls. Strength training has also been proven to combat depression and cognitive decline. Muscle-strengthening exercises challenge your body to do more work than you might do in your daily life, but not all exercises require equipment or weights. Many fall prevention strength exercises require you to use your own body resistance.
Use of Canes/Walkers
Emergency rooms see 47,000 visits a year from older patients who have experienced a fall resulting from the improper fit and use of a walking aid. A physical therapist can help fit your walking aid to your body and teach you to use it properly. Fall prevention therapy can help you use your walking aid more effectively by working on muscle strength, balance, and mobility.
Fall prevention physical therapy can contribute to your overall health and wellness. Recent studies have suggested that one in five hip fractures in older adults can lead to death within one year of the initial injury due to complications and underlying issues that often contributed to the fall. Studies also show that seniors who are active, strong, and flexible are not only less likely to fall, but more likely to heal properly and completely when they do.
Fall Prevention Therapy in Charlottesville
If you would like to improve your balance, strength, and mobility, Move Better Physical Therapy offers Fall Prevention Physical Therapy in Charlottesville, VA. Don’t wait until after a major fall to consider physical therapy. Fall prevention therapy can help improve your safety and your overall health. Call us today at (434) 817-0980 if you would like to know how you can improve your balance, prevent falls, and change your life!