Caregiver Explains How To Prevent Falls With Better Balance
Home Care Caregiver Shows How To Stop Falls Because Of Better Balance
Unexpected falls of those 65 and older can be responsible for greater than eighteen thousand deaths and nearly 450,000 hospitalizations each year within the USA, reported by the Centers in Atlanta. The majority of the accidents are induced by a decline within that complex and multidimensional skill recognized as balance.
You may know someone who “just fell” and broke something a leg, an arm, a hip or an ankle. We frequently blame it on old age, failing bones or weak muscles. If you ask the elder who fell, it was usually someone else’s fault. One senior told me that a dog ran between her feet and tripped her causing an ankle, rib and eye injury.
The debate rages on regarding calcium and bone density. Did someone fall and fracture a bone or did a hip just give way and they fell. See more about calcium and bone density in the nutritional section on MyNaturalSuppliments.myShaklee.com.
Balance is a combination of inner ear sensations transmitted through a network of nerves to the brain then impulses sent by more nerves to the muscles of the body. When you sense you could be falling, you readjust your torso, legs or arms to keep balance.
The notion of use it or loose it still applies much like a lot of things in life. It does seem to apply more to brain use and muscle use though.
Inactive seniors as well as nutritional levels can lead to slowing of brain recognition and nerve transmission, thus the inability to recognize when seniors are loosing their balance. By the time seniors realize the need for a readjustment to maintain balance it may be too late.
In an article by John Hanc of the New York Times the benefits of strength and balance training are listed. Dr. Thurman explains that balance and strength training will lessen the rate of falls by up to about 50 per cent.
Because most public health agencies recommend thirty minutes daily of cardiovascular exercise and 2 or 3 sessions of strength training, there isn’t a recommendation for balance training.
There are a number of great balance exercises to use. The best bet is to join a gym and use a personal trainer. Many gyms offer low impact stretching and balancing sessions. Gentle yoga would be wonderful for stretching and balance. Those yogies live to 125 you know.
At home one of those big balls to sit on and raise up feet land lets would be a good idea.
Try walking a straight line with both feet hitting the line. Kind of like when the police give a sobriety test on the street. Next try walking the line with arm out to the sides and cross over the line with each step. Put your left foot on the right side of the line and visa versa. This is the model runway walk. Have someone stand behind for safety and stand on one leg with arm out. Just raise one foot up a little. When this becomes easy, reach down and put your palms under the raised foot and balance for 15 to 30 seconds.
Remember safety first. You don’t want to get hurt exercising so you won’t fall. Have someone with you for support.
For assistance in the Phoenix area contact Care-To-Go at 480-284-8611
