While many people consider seeing a physiotherapist to help with their recovery after an injury or surgery, few consider scheduling a physiotherapy appointment for injury prevention.
When it comes to fall prevention, we observe and assess functional movements including your walking pattern, balance and lower extremity strength.
A personalized program including education and home exercises can then be designed based on the information we gather from the assessment to help improve your strength, balance and walking pattern.
To avoid tripping while walking, it is important to develop a safe walking pattern.The swing through leg should be lifted high enough to properly clear the ground.
A shuffle pattern can result in catching the toe and tripping. Also, since a large portion of walking is spent standing on one foot while the other leg is swinging through, we want to assess balance and stability on the stance leg.
If unsteadiness is noted while standing on one foot, a walking aid such as a cane or walker can be beneficial to add stability and support.
A physiotherapist can adjust a walking aid and provide instructions and a demonstration. A physiotherapist can also teach safe and effective exercises to help improve walking pattern and endurance for those who feel weak or unsteady while walking.
It is very important to stay active and keep moving. Daily physical activity is essential to maintain aerobic endurance, lower extremity strength and balance. It is never too late to start an exercise program.
It is best to think of exercise as a slow gradual progression rather than an all or none activity. It is important that you find an activity that is enjoyable to you to stay motivated and keep active.
This may include walking, hiking, cycling, swimming, tennis or golfing. In addition to aerobic activity, a physiotherapist can design an appropriate home exercise program to help improve endurance, balance, coordination and strength.
Sun City Physiotherapy will be offering a free Fall Prevention talk Wednesday, Oct. 5, 7 p.m., at the downtown location.
We will start by discussing different factors that can lead to a fall and how a physiotherapist can help.
We will then talk about tips to get the most out of your physiotherapy appointment, demonstrate some of the assessment techniques we use to assess strength, balance and walking pattern and finish by going over a few examples of basic and safe exercises that may be included in a home exercise program.
Krista Smith is a registered physiotherapist at the Sun City Physiotherapy downtown Kelowna location.