Article written by: Melanie Titzer, PT Aide
Benefits of Balance
If you’ve ever been to our clinic, you’ve likely either practiced balancing yourself or seen someone else practicing balancing. Balance may seem like it would be an easy, elementary task, but you might be surprised! It is very beneficial for everyone young and old. It helps improve body awareness which helps when playing sports and to prevent falls. Balance is used to strengthen muscles and rehabilitate many injuries all the way from the toes into the back.
How Balance Works
We use many systems to help us balance throughout our day to day life. The most obvious is our visual system. Our eyes help us determine where the horizon of the land falls, and from this it is easy to tell we are upright and walking straight. You might have noticed how much your eyes help you when you venture to the bathroom at night before your eyes have adjusted to the dark. The vestibular system is the inner ear fluid that tells our brain, separate from what our eyes see, our positioning in space. When our head turns or if we are at an angle, fluid in our ears moves and activates nerves that tell our brain where we are and how we are oriented. If something goes wrong with this system we can experience vertigo or imbalance. Proprioception helps us to determine our position and movement using receptors in our muscles, tendons, skin, and joints. When we move, our brain knows what moved and where it is in relation to the rest of our body. When we take out our visual system by closing our eyes it forces our body to test our vestibular system and proprioception. Since most of us rely on our eyes for balance, this can actually be a difficult task but it is important to practice.
Good news! Practicing balance doesn’t require any fancy equipment, you can even do it while waiting in line at the grocery store! To start, try to stand toe-to-heal and when that is easy close your eyes. The next step is to stand on one foot, then again close your eyes when you feel stable. Make sure you test both legs, you might be surprised that one is much stronger than the other. Next try balancing without shoes on. If you practice often you will likely see quick improvement, luckily there are many ways we can amp up the difficulty to create a balanced self!
If you are having difficulty with balance this can lead to increased risk for injuries and falls, contact us to help you get back on balance and feel confident on your legs!