Fall Prevention Exercises - Ask Doctor Jo

Sat, 19 Sep 2020 21:59:50 +0000

Fall prevention, or reducing the risk of a fall, is very important to prevent further injuries. Often our balance is the main reason for a fall. You can have trouble with your balance for many different reasons including injuries, inner ear issues like vertigo, and even general weakness. See Doctor Jo’s blog post about this at: http://www.askdoctorjo.com/fal....l-prevention-exercis

This video will show you some exercises to help prevent falls. So you might want to get near something to hold onto for balance. You can also use a cane for balance if you need to.

To start off, you will walk forwards, and then backwards with head movements. Turn your head side to side while walking. You can turn your head slowly, or a little faster to make it harder. Then look up and down while you are walking.

The next exercise is going to be like you are walking on a tight rope. We call this tandem gait. You might call it the drunk test. Put one foot right in front of the other. Try to look straight ahead if you can. If that is too difficult, you can put them close together, but not right in front of the other. If this becomes easy to do, then you can move your head from side to side, or even up and down while you are walking.

Now you will do some standing balance exercises. The first exercise is putting your feet as close together as you can. This is called the Romberg stance. If that is easy, move your head from side to side, and up and down. The next standing balance exercise is tandem stance. This is with one foot directly in front of the other like you are standing on a tight rope. Follow the same progression as above. Make sure to switch your feet.

Then you will do some hip strengthening exercises. Start off with a hip abduction/adduction (side to side). Try not to turn your foot out when kicking out to the side. This will change the muscle you are trying to work. Then still keeping the knee locked out, perform hip flexion/extension (front to back) exercise. Lock out your knee and try to keep it straight the whole time. Pulling your toes up or into dorsiflexion will help keep your knee straight. Bring your foot up as high as you can without leaning back, and then bring it back as far as you can without leaning forward. Start off with 10 on each side, and then work your way up.

Finally, you will do heel raises. Stand with your feet about shoulder width apart, come up on your toes as high as you can. Try not to lean forward, but bring your body straight up and slowly come back down. Push off as much as you can so your heel leaves the ground. Start off with ten and work your way up to 20-25. If that becomes easy, you can do one leg at a time.

Related Videos:

Improve Your Balance with Simple Exercises:
https://youtu.be/Nc62Ju2kUAc?l....ist=PLPS8D21t0eO_aKB

When, Why & How to Use a Walking Cane or Quad Cane:
https://youtu.be/ZWFfstzrCNs?l....ist=PLPS8D21t0eO_aKB

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Doctor Jo is a Doctor of Physical Therapy.
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Fall Prevention Exercises:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= iNYj1HqmuxA

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