Balance and Fall Prevention Program
To help restore a patient’s balance, the providers at Core Medical Center use a combination of therapeutic approaches as part of its balance and fall prevention program.
Critical Components for Balance
There are four components critical for good balance: your vision, inner ear (vestibular system), sensory nervous system, and muscles and joints. As you age, your vision declines, as does your hearing, when the organs in your inner ear begin to degenerate. Your sensory abilities also wane, and you may experience a loss of feeling in your feet as well as a loss of spatial awareness. Unless regularly exercised, your core and gluteus medius muscles responsible for balance may start to atrophy. Of the four components, your muscles and joints are the easiest to control.
In our experience, the vast majority of patients with balance issues also have neuropathy — so they actually are dealing with chronic pain, as well. Neuropathy may develop with age or after debilitating treatments like chemotherapy or radiation therapy.
Treatments We Use
At Core Medical Center, we use a combination approach to treatment, which may include:
- Sensorimotor training, a balance training program that uses progressively challenging surfaces so that a patient can safely practice their balancing skills while emphasizing postural control
- Physical therapy, used to strengthen and stretch muscles
- Chiropractic care
- Sanexas RST may be used if a patient also suffers from neuropathy
- Customized AFOs, custom braces that are made specific to a patient’s needs and designed to increase balance and reduce the likelihood of falling
Because a loss of balance itself is not a diagnosis, our providers treat conditions that cause your balance issue.
Find out more about our balance and fall prevention program at Core Medical Center in Blue Springs, Missouri, by calling (816) 427-0201 or request your appointment now.
