Falls are a normal part of life. I don’t think any of us expect to go through life without a couple of bumps along the road. However, as we age these “bumps” can seem more like mountains and barriers to us living our highest quality of life. Here at WPT, we are not only committed to improving the issues that brought you through the door, but to ensure these “bumps” don’t happen again.
The most common causes of falling typically involve something called a “functional fall”. A functional fall typically includes an obstacle in your way that would otherwise not seem so scary. This can include loose rugs, wet floors, our even our adorable cuddly pets. These innocent obstacles can be cause for a major injury. Our goal is to give you the tools to ensure a little slip doesn’t turn into a trip to the hospital or broken bone.
How is your balance? Do you think you can stand on 1 leg for a minute? 30 seconds? 10 seconds? Even 5 seconds? Balance is one of those things that we don’t test as often as we did when we were young. We used to slide across the ice and unstable surfaces. Where now we make an effort to walk around those. We may not ever purposefully get those ice-skates back on but we want you to gain the confidence in your legs and yourself!
Studies show that some things linked to falls involve muscle weakness, foot pain, poor footwear, deficits in balance and gait, decreased range of motion, and issues with blood pressure put you at risk for falling. Therefore the best way to prevent falls is to continue to stay physically active!
Our goal in improving muscle strength is to improve a stable base for extremities. This will help us move more efficiently, provide a stable base to move more effectively, and improve anticipatory and reactive strategies.
