Fall Prevention & Balance: Episode 19

• Falls are a big concern especially as the weather becomes cold, snowy and icy. When you can up-train your balance system that will help reduce your fall risk.
• We tried to review SunChips Harvest Cheddar. It did not go as planned.
• Trivia question of the week: What holiday is currently under a United Nations investigation?
• Follow us on Instagram: 2pts_n_a_bagofchips and/or Twitter @2PTsNaBagOChips to see photos, video and get additional information related to Fall prevention & Balance injury throughout the week.
• Thanks for listening!!

Today we are going to be going over fall prevention and balance at the request of one of our all times favorites, Maryann. Thank you Misses Shepard. And we are going to review SunChips Harvest Cheddar. Potentially. Schuuuuuu. Aw this is going to be good. So fall prevention and balance kinda comes down to balance as a starter. Balance has 3 main components; there is the visual component, there is the proprioceptive component, which is your bodies awareness of itself, and then there is the is your vestibular system. We also tend to talk a little about muscle strength. If you don’t have the strength to hold yourself up you are going to fall over.

 

It’s maybe not as much pure muscle strength as it is dynamic stability, right. The ability for your muscles to work together in order to keep you up right. I think that is something we run into maybe with post operative patients. Lower extremity post-op patients where there is maybe some muscle imbalances that can affect your balance.

 

Big time. I mean post-op there is a huge proprioceptive loss. You no longer have the same tissues in the same places as you did before. You have to reprogram that entire situation. Especially if you are talking about joint replacements or ligamentous surgeries like Achilles and ACL. There are struggling with that.

 

I’d say that with most all our patients at some point in time we work on balance, be that either core stability, sitting balance, standing balance.

 

There is huge need for balance to be addressed because really one else talks about it. No. Your PCP, your surgeon, your physician will tell you “ work on your balance”. That right, that’s classic. Especially when you get past 60-65. That’s the first thing your primary care Doc tells you “make sure that you work on your balance”. OK how? And what kind of balance. Stand just on one leg. What am I supposed to do? Walk on a tight rope?