If you get dizzy or lose your balance from time to time, you're not alone. More than 90 million adults 17 or older share your experiences. "The big thing with dizziness is you have to figure out where it's coming from," says Krista Bohlen, MPT, a physical therapist with Penrose. "Once you know where it's coming from, then you can treat it."
If a lack of balance stems from vertigo - a conflict between the signals sent to the brain by various systems of the body - a physical therapist can use techniques to actually retrain your brain to decrease the dizziness and enhance your coordination. Therapy also helps you strengthen the senses you use to maintain balance to compensate for the inner-ear disorder.
If you find that losing your balance is not because of a health issue, then you can begin an exercise program that will enhance your balancing capabilities. Remember watching a little toddler and how they can balance on one foot and sometimes fall over, the point being, we were are most balanced when we were younger. Balance is something that we have to work on consistently.
I teach balancing exercises regularly to clients and they are very surprised at how unbalanced they have become over the years. Balance can help you when you hit a slick spot on the ice. Balance can help you when you are caught off guard and step off the curb not so gracefully. Balance can help you when you get out of the shower and slide across the wet floor.
I also do presentations on balance. Contact me if you are interested in a program or presentation.
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