Balance: Offered Across KC Metro!

Balance Services Offered:

• Gait training/walking safely within the community and/or home
• Vertigo/BPPV/Canalithe Maneuver
• Sport’s Performance
• Fall prevention and education
• Strengthening and stability  

 How can Balance training benefit me?

      Just as ideal posture escapes us, we lose our balance. This loss may be even more elusive since we can’t visibly see the regression occur. As we become more contained at our desk jobs, more predictable in our routines, or just plain sedentary, it’s important to incorporate balance exercises into our day to maintain a safe level of stability in the future. The healthcare costs associated with falls are so exorbitant that for quite some time during my practice, Medicare required a balance screening and fall assessment on every Medicare patient who walked through our doors.  To remain active throughout our lifespan and enjoy lifelong independence, balance training is a must.

        Athletes also benefit from balance training for the enhancement of sports performance. They can work with a PT to obtain a customized balance program, whether for golf, high velocity sports, or even baseball, which requires superior balance and core strength for optimal execution of a simple throw. Your balance therapy sessions will be customized to your unique needs whether you are experiencing balance deficits during walking or an athlete looking to enhance your sport’s performance.

Posture/Ergonomic services Offered:

• Work station/Computer station consult
• Lifestyle/activity consult to assess/address posture
• Home exercise program designed to address your postural awareness/ deficits        

      Since today’s world comes with technological advancements that leave many of us sitting extensively for work, school, gaming, and internet shopping, etc., these kinds of compensations are rampant. The areas of our bodies that are most susceptible to stiffness due to sitting at devices are the thoracic spine (upper back), the hip joint, and the ankle joint. Gravity further reinforces this phenomenon when we give in to it by rounding our shoulders forward, causing excessive kyphosis (rounding) of our upper back. This forward flexed position or poor postural awareness causes imbalances and stiffness throughout the body, most prominently of the chest muscles and the front aspect of our hips referred to as the “hip flexors.”         

        These muscles tighten and literally shorten with prolonged sitting, causing an array of issues with muscle weakness and altered body mechanics. Most of the joints in our extremities operate much like a pulley system, where various muscles orchestrate a proper movement pattern. When our pulley system is off balance due to poor posture, the joint develops equally poor tracking. Hence, wear and tear, as well as inflammation, will result over time.       

        While we can’t always change our profession or school set up, there are many steps you can take to undo the burden on your postural muscles, regain postural awareness, strength, muscle balance and find relief. Your therapist will design and customized rehab program and ergonomic consult to help you align and maintain proper posture and alignment again.