Balance Training and Vestibular Rehabilitation

In a safe and controlled setting, physical therapists use the latest technology, to perform specialized tests that determine your ability to maintain balance, as well as your risk of falling.

Following the evaluation, a program is designed to meet your specific needs with increasingly challenging balance and strengthening activities. These activities will help you learn more about your balance and how to control your movements.

At the end of the program, a reassessment is conducted. Results of the evaluation, program and reassessment are summarized and made available to patients and their physicians.

Rehabilitation Staff

Hoag's Rehabilitation department is comprised of physical therapists specialized in balance training and vestibular rehabilitation, a program using advanced technological equipment to identify and treat specific balance and movement problems.

Why do you lose your balance?

Inactivity promotes decreased strength and flexibility; both are contributing factors to poor balance. Our sense of balance and reaction time decline as we age but a regular exercise program has been shown to reduce the risk of falls.

Medications can also affect your balance or make you feel dizzy. Some older adults taking a number of medications may encounter drug interactions resulting in dizziness or disequilibrium.

Vertigo can be associated with falls. Dizziness can be constant or intermittent; certain movements or positions can cause you to feel dizzy or nauseous.

Neurological problems such as Parkinson's disease; stroke, head or spinal cord injury; and peripheral neuropathy can also affect your balance.

Other health conditions that can increase your risk of falls include: auditory problems (hearing loss, inner ear infections, labyrinthitis), visual impairments, cardiovascular disease, respiratory problems and orthopedic disabilities.

Balance Self Test

• Have you fallen in the past year?
  
• Do you take medication for two or more of the following diseases: heart disease, hypertension, arthritis, anxiety or depression?
  
• Do you experience dizziness or feel unsteady?
  
• Have you had a stroke or other neurological problem affecting your balance?
  
• Do you have numbness in your legs and/or feet?
  
• Do you use a walker or wheelchair, or need assistance to get around?
  
• Are you inactive? (Answer "yes" if you do not participate in a regular form of exercise such as walking for 20-30 minutes at least three times a week.)
  
• Do you feel unsteady when you walk or climb stairs?
  
• Do you have difficulty sitting down or rising from a seated or lying position?

Fact vs. Myth

Myth:
Falls are inevitable; nothing can be done to help prevent them.

Myth:
As we grow older, loss of balance and dizziness are facts of life.

Myth:
Nothing can be done to improve balance and reduce the risk of falls.

Fact:
The loss of flexibility, strength and stability are largely due to inactivity.

Fact:
Imbalance is usually caused by several problems, not solely due to age.

Fact:
Every year, one-third to one-half of the population age 65 and older experience falls.

Fact:
Falls are the leading cause of injury in older adults.

Fact:
Five percent of falls lead to fractures.

Fact:
Proper evaluation can detect specific balance problems and the risk for falls. Improvement in stability and a decrease in dizziness can improve with focused exercise.

Fact:
Half of older adults who fall do so repeatedly.

Most types of balance and/or dizziness disorders can improve with therapy. Ask your physician if this rehabilitation is right for you.