Balance Exercises
Balance exercises are specific activities that help build lower extremity (or leg) muscle strength as well as improve your vestibular system, the organ associated with balance perception.
Balance exercises are particularly beneficial in the elderly as they have been shown to help prevent falls. Each year, U.S. hospitals have 300,000 admissions for broken hips, and falling is often the cause of those fractures. Balance exercises can help you stay independent by helping avoid disabilities that may result from falling.
Your brain, muscles, and bones all work together to maintain your body’s balance and keep you from falling. Balance exercises incorporate all three of these systems to provide a complete integrative exercise program.
Often strength is initially targeted, with exercises later modified to incorporate the vestibular system. For example by progressing to completing the exercises with one or both eyes closed.
Our physical therapists will help you progress through the appropriate level of balance exercises specific to your current level of function.
The Wellness Project
