Ever wondered why maintaining balance becomes harder as we age? Let's unravel this mystery together! I'm Kris Harris, a certified personal trainer and Pilates instructor, and I'm here to guide you through the intricate world of balance and fall prevention, particularly for adults over 40. We'll discuss everything from causes and symptoms to treatment options and preventative exercises. You'll learn how the coordination of various body parts contributes to balance and how exercise routines like Pilates can play a crucial role in enhancing stability and reducing the fear of falling.
Pilates is more than just a trendy workout, it's a holistic approach to health that can improve your physical stability and mental clarity. In the second part of our discussion, we'll explore how this system of exercises, focusing on core strengthening, can bolster not just our physical stability but also our mental clarity and emotional resilience. You'll understand how Pilates aids in deep core muscle strengthening, improves body awareness and coordination, and fosters a mindful approach to movement. We'll also delve into how medical conditions, medications, and aging can impact balance and offer proactive tips for preventing falls. So hop in and join us on this journey to a more balanced and fulfilling life!
Ever wondered why maintaining balance becomes harder as we age? Let's unravel this mystery together! I'm Kris Harris, a certified personal trainer and Pilates instructor, and I'm here to guide you through the intricate world of balance and fall prevention, particularly for adults over 40. We'll discuss everything from causes and symptoms to treatment options and preventative exercises. You'll learn how the coordination of various body parts contributes to balance and how exercise routines like Pilates can play a crucial role in enhancing stability and reducing the fear of falling.
Pilates is more than just a trendy workout, it's a holistic approach to health that can improve your physical stability and mental clarity. In the second part of our discussion, we'll explore how this system of exercises, focusing on core strengthening, can bolster not just our physical stability but also our mental clarity and emotional resilience. You'll understand how Pilates aids in deep core muscle strengthening, improves body awareness and coordination, and fosters a mindful approach to movement. We'll also delve into how medical conditions, medications, and aging can impact balance and offer proactive tips for preventing falls. So hop in and join us on this journey to a more balanced and fulfilling life!
Hello and welcome to this week's edition of the Kore Kast. I'm your host, Kris Harris, and I'm a certified personal trainer and Pilates instructor with over 17 years of experience working with clients to help them improve their strength and flexibility, improve their balance, rehabilitate from injury and meet their fitness goals. In this week's episode, we're going to be talking about balance, specifically, and fall prevention. We're going to explore the physiology of balance and look at different ways that balance can be affected. We'll discuss conditions that can cause balance issues and their associated symptoms. We're also going to explore some treatment options and we're going to review some balance exercises and talk about the importance of Pilates as a great modality to help improve balance.
Kris Harris:According to a study published in the Journal of Geriatric Physical Therapy, approximately 35% of adults age 40 and over experience balance problems. Among adults age 65 years and older, the prevalence of balance issues increases to around 60%, and that's reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Falls are a leading cause of injuries, hospitalizations and deaths among older adults. The CDC reports that falls result in over 3 million emergency room visits and around 32,000 deaths annually in the United States. Every 11 seconds an older adult receives emergency room treatment for an injury sustained in a fall, with a fall-related fatality occurring every 19 seconds among the elderly, according to Harvard Health, balance is the ability to distribute your weight in a way that lets you stand or move without falling or recover if you trip. Physiopediacom defines balance as an individual's ability to maintain their line of gravity within their base of support. It can also be described as the ability to maintain equilibrium, where equilibrium can be defined as any condition in which all acting forces are canceled by each other, resulting in a stable, balanced system. So what does base of support mean? Again, according to Physiopediacom, the base of support is the area beneath an object or person. That includes every point of contact that object or person makes with the supporting surface. So these points of contact may either be body parts like feet or hands, or may include things like crutches or the chair a person is sitting in. So we're going to talk more about the physiology of balance.
Kris Harris:Balance is achieved through a coordination of several parts of the body, which include the central nervous system, the inner ear, eyes, muscles, bones and joints. When things are functioning properly, we tend to take things for granted, especially when we're young. Balance problems can often begin as a person gets older, it can feel like your equilibrium is off and can worsen to the point of falling. Fear of falling can be a very limiting factor on everyday life. Balance can be affected by medical conditions, including things like strokes, multiple sclerosis, parkinson's disease and other disorders of the central nervous system. Maneer's disease and other conditions that originate in the inner ear can cause dizziness and vertigo. Nerve damage in the legs and feet, known as peripheral neuropathy, will affect the ability to sense the ground that you stand or walk on. Things like cataracts, macular degeneration and glaucoma can lead to distorted vision, and weakness in major muscles, particularly the thighs, abdomen or back, can also contribute to that balance in stability. Other things that can affect balance include medications, including pain medication, heart and blood pressure medications, sleeping pills, anihistamines, drugs for anxiety and antidepressants. Also, alcohol. Alcohol affects coordination and judgment and slows reaction time. Physical changes due to aging are the most common reason for lack of balance.
Kris Harris:So let's talk about how we actually do balance. There's a complex set of sensory motor control systems that work together to achieve and maintain balance. Sensory input from vision, proprioception and the vestibular system, which is motion, equilibrium and spatial orientation, integrate together and, in normal conditions, healthy subjects rely 70% on somatosensory information and 20% on vestibular, 10% on vision. And that's on a stable surface. On an unstable surface it changes to 60% vestibular information, 30% on the vision and 10% somatosensory. So we're going to break down these components and take a deeper look. Here's how it works.
Kris Harris:Sensory input is first. The brain receives information from three peripheral sources the eyes, muscles and vestibular organs and joints. They send nerve impulses that signal the brain through special nerve endings called sensory receptors. Then input from the eyes. Rods and cones are sensory receptors in the eyes. Rods help vision in low light situations such as nighttime. Cones are responsible for color vision and finer details. So when light strikes, with rods and cones, they send impulses to the brain that provide visual cues identifying how a person is oriented relative to other objects.
Kris Harris:The inner ear the vestibular system in the inner ear includes a semi-circular canals which react when the head is turned, and organs that react to gravity and movement. The muscles and joints as far as skin muscles, joints, they all receive this proprioceptive information from sensory receptors that are sensitive to stretch or pressure in surrounding tissues. An example of this is when a person feels increased pressure in the soles of the feet when a standing person leans forward. With any movement of the arms, legs or other body parts, sensory receptors respond by sending impulses to the brain, along with other information. These stretch and pressure cues can help our body determine where our body is in space. The neck and ankles are really important areas where sensory impulses originate. Proprioceptive cues from the head indicate the direction in which the head is turned, and cues from the ankles indicate the movement or sway relative to the standing surface, whether it be the floor or ground, and the quality of that surface, for example, if it's slippery, uneven or smooth.
Kris Harris:The central nervous system organizes all this information to tell your body how to maintain balance, but when something interferes with the system's connection, your central nervous system can't process information correctly, which makes you feel unsteady. So what are some of the symptoms of balance issues? Well, according to clevenclinicorg, vertigo. It most often occurs when there's inner ear issues. Brain conditions such as tumors or a stroke can also cause vertigo, and it makes you feel like the environment is spinning. Feeling lightheaded or faint is another symptom. Feeling unsteady on your feet, like you're going to fall, or blurred vision.
Kris Harris:Several conditions can cause balance issues and they can develop at any age. Many people develop them when they're older. Inner ear disorders, head injuries and neurological conditions may affect a person's balance. So inner ear disorders, things that happen with the inflammation of the inner ear system called labyrinthitis is responsible for hearing imbalance that can cause that disturbance. Vestibular neuritis is an inflammation of the nerves in your inner ear. Positional vertigo those are changes in your head position such as tipping your head backwards or sitting up in bed that can cause vertigo In your disease. People with this condition often experience sudden vertigo. Acoustic neuroma is a non-cancerous tumor that's in the inner ear.
Kris Harris:Persistent perceptual dizziness occurs when things or activities around you bring on bouts of dizziness and feeling unsteady. For example, if you're in a large crowd of people, sometimes that movement can cause dizziness. Those symptoms usually come and go. Other medical conditions can cause that balance issues and dizziness. Medical conditions such as Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's can affect that sense of balance. Cardiovascular disease, such as heart issues, may make you feel dizzy, faint, light-headed and affect your balance. Postero-hypotension is low blood pressure. That happens when you stand up from sitting or lying down.
Kris Harris:As we talked about earlier, peripheral neuropathy is a condition that affects nerves outside of your brain or spinal cord and these nerves carry signals that your brain uses to keep track of your hands and feet. You may have issues with balance if something affects that connection between your brain and certain nerves. Often peripheral neuropathy can be something that's caused by diabetes, headaches or migraines. In fact, vestibular migraines can be brought about by certain foods, beverages and lack of sleep or stress, and then tension, headaches, motion sickness can cause dizziness and also affect balance as well. So there's a lot of ways to treat different balance problems. According to Mayo Clinic, finding that cause of balance will help you determine the therapy that your healthcare provider will prescribe. Those balance issues may be due to musculoskeletal problems, in which case a physical therapist can design exercises to strengthen the large muscles that are used for standing, walking and changing position. Occupational therapists can work to improve activities of daily living, maintain or improve independence. Lifestyle changes may be recommended, including nutritional counseling, diet changes, increased hydration and exercise. Medications may be used that help control vertigo, with nausea and vomiting caused by disorders of the inner ear, or may be used to control symptoms associated with the vestibular migraine. That may be prescribed. Surgical intervention may be necessary if there's benign tumors on the inner ear, and injections in the inner ear to deliver antibiotics or steroids may be recommended if a diagnosis of Maneer's disease is found.
Kris Harris:So what can you do to improve and maintain your balance? There's a few exercises that you can try One leg stand or single leg stand. The way that you would do this is standing tall, with your feet hip-width distance apart. Your arms are going to be relaxed by your sides. You're going to lift one foot slightly off the ground, either by bending your knee or keeping it straight out in front of you. Try to hold that position for about 20 to 30 seconds and then switch to the other leg. And, if you need it, you can use a chair or a wall for support.
Kris Harris:Another one is called the heel-to-toe walk or inline walk. You want to find a clear space and position your feet in a straight line, placing one foot directly in front of the other so that the heel of the front foot touches the toes of the back foot, keeping your gaze forward. Walk in a straight line for about 10 to 15 steps. If you need assistance, you can have a wall or countertop nearby to lightly hold on for stability. Yoga tree pose that's a great one. Begin by standing straight, with your feet hip-width distance apart, your arms at your sides, shift your weight onto one leg and slowly lift the other foot, placing the sole against the inner thigh of the standing leg. Finding your balance. Bring your hands together in a prayer position in front of your chest and hold the position for about 20 to 30 seconds before you switch to the other leg. Tandem stance or inline stance is standing with your feet together, heel-to-toe, keeping your arms relaxed by your side. Slowly lift one foot and place it in front of the other so that the heel of the front foot touches the toes of the back foot, and again maintain this position for about 20 to 30 seconds and then switch legs and, if needed, have a chair or wall nearby to hold on lightly for support. Remember it's always important to prioritize safety during any exercise. If you have any concerns or medical conditions, it's best to consult with a health care professional before starting a new exercise routine. So Pilates can bring about great benefits for balance.
Kris Harris:We're going to talk about Pilates a little bit more in detail now. It's an excellent exercise method that can help improve balance in several ways. You can really think about Pilates as a core strengthening focus. So it strengthens those deeper core muscles, including the muscles of the abdomen, back and pelvis. That strong core will provide a stable foundation for the body, which contributes to better balance and stability in various movements and positions. Pilates also increases a body awareness. It emphasizes that mind-body connection and promotes that body awareness Through precise movements and controlled exercises. Pilates will help you become more aware of your body's alignment, posture and movement patterns, and this heightened body awareness will translate into improved balance as you learn to control and coordinate your movements more efficiently. Pilates also helps increase stability and control.
Kris Harris:A lot of exercises in Pilates involve performing movements in an unstable way or on an unstable surface, such as a Pilates reformer or stability ball, and those unstable surfaces challenge your balance and require increased stability and control. So they also help to strengthen those stabilizing muscles in your feet, ankles, hands, wrists as well. So it's really important to work on that, and by practicing Pilates regularly you can train your body to become more stable and adapt to different balance demands. Improved posture is a big one. Pilates emphasizes proper alignment and encourages good posture. So by strengthening the muscles that support good posture, such as your core, back and shoulders, pilates can help you maintain that upright and balanced posture which helps to contribute to better all balance and stability. And the last one is coordination and flexibility. Pilates exercises will often involve flowing movements that require coordination and flexibility, so by improving your coordination, you can enhance your ability to move smoothly and maintain balance during various activities. Additionally, pilates helps improve flexibility, which allows for a wider range of motion and better control over your body's movements. Remember it's essential to practice Pilates under the guidance of a qualified instructor, especially if you're new to the method, and they can ensure that you're performing exercises correctly and provide modifications for things that you need.
Kris Harris:Regular practice and consistency are key to reaping the balance-improving benefits of Pilates. So the fear of falling is often a common thing that many individuals experience, particularly as they age, and this fear can significantly impact a person's sense of balance and overall well-being. When fear of falling becomes prevalent, individuals may avoid activities that require balance or movement, which can lead to decreased physical activity and muscle weakness, which can exacerbate that fear of falling and creating a vicious cycle. Maintaining balance is crucial in mitigating the fear of falling. Engaging in activities that promote balance, such as Pilates, can help individuals regain confidence and stability. Pilates exercises focus on core strength, flexibility and body awareness, as we discussed before. These are all essential for maintaining balance and improving that core strength and allowing individuals to enhance their stability and reduce that risk of falls, which helps to increase their confidence level. Moreover, pilates incorporates exercises that challenge that coordination and proprioception, which is that body's ability to sense where it is in space and its position in movement. By practicing these movements, individuals can enhance that awareness and improve their ability to adjust and maintain balance. Furthermore, pilates fosters that mindful approach to movement, allowing individuals to be present in the moment and focus on their body's response to different exercises. And this mindfulness can help individuals overcome that fear of falling by promoting a sense of control and confidence in their movements.
Kris Harris:Joseph Pilates believed that a balanced body and mind were essential for overall health and happiness, and the ideal that I find in a quote that he had said is Contrology, or Pilates, is complete coordination the body, mind and spirit. Through Contrology, you'll first purposely acquire complete control of your own body and then, through proper repetition of its exercises, you'll gradually and progressively acquire the natural rhythm and coordination associated with all your subconscious activities. Balance is such a crucial aspect of overall well-being, encompassing physical, mental and spiritual elements. It really refers to that equilibrium between different aspects of our lives, allowing us to navigate challenges and maintain that sense of stability. Factors such as stress, sedentary lifestyles and lack of self-care can disrupt our balance. Pilates is advocated by Joseph Pilates, offers that holistic approach to improving balance. This exercise method will focus on strengthening the core, enhancing flexibility and promoting that body awareness. And by practicing Pilates, individuals can develop physical stability, mental clarity and emotional resilience, ultimately leading to a more balanced and fulfilling life.
Kris Harris:Thanks so much for joining me for today's episode of the Kore Kast. Make sure to subscribe or follow the Kore Kast on all major platforms so that you don't miss a single episode. Also, you can visit our website, www. k ore-fit. com, and that's Kore with a K, for great resources on exercise, health and wellness, pilates and more. Be sure to check out our new Kore Fitness Workout channel and get a free week. Check out our YouTube channel at korefitnessaz or follow us on Instagram at Kore underscore, fitness underscore az. If you're enjoying the podcast, please consider clicking on the link in the description to show your support. We really appreciate it. See you next week.