If You are Limited by a Balance or Gait Disorder, Physical Therapy can Help You Get Back on Your Feet
Is your balance not quite what it used to be? Do you find yourself reaching out for walls, railings, or other objects to balance yourself? Have you noticed pain in your hips, knees, or other joints that make it difficult for you to walk? These are all indications of a balance or gait disorder.
At Power Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine, we can manage your symptoms and in many cases, we can help relieve your condition altogether. There are many reasons why this kind of condition may occur, and it can cause both physical and mental limitations in your daily life. Underlying musculoskeletal and neurological disorders can cause or aggravate a balance or gait problem. Fortunately, physical therapy in Costa Mesa, CA can help.
To find out more about how our balance and gait disorders services can benefit you, contact our Costa Mesa, CA physical therapy office today.
PT treatments for balance and gait disorders
Physical therapy is the best option for balance and gait disorders. Our Costa Mesa, CA physical therapists can provide you with the best techniques for improving your balance and ability to walk.
When you arrive for your initial consultation, our physical therapist will conduct a comprehensive physical evaluation to examine your balance, gait, stance, medical history, and symptoms, before creating a personalized treatment plan made for your specific needs. This treatment plan may include:
Stretches
Stretching will help improve your flexibility and your range of motion. This will give you more control and quicker reactions with your movements, also reducing your risk of injury. It will also keep your muscles from becoming too tight and stiff.
Strengthening exercises
Your evaluation will help determine what problem areas in your body may need help. Our physical therapist will provide you with strengthening exercises that will build up your muscles, thus making it much easier for you to move around and reduce your risk of injury.
Gait retraining exercises
Sometimes, abnormalities in gait can be corrected through “retraining” where you learn proper techniques.
Vestibular rehabilitation
This physical therapy treatment works to improve your vision, nerves, muscles, and the vestibular system as a whole, in order to maintain a steady balance. If you are suffering from BPPV, our Costa Mesa, CA physical therapists will provide you with specific exercises that will move the calcium debris to the correct parts of your ear.
Our Patients Experience Improved Balance!
What’s causing my balance or gait disorder?
There can be many causes of balance and gait disorders, as they can develop from many different underlying conditions. For balance disorders, many are related to issues in the vestibular system, which is a delicate collection of fluid-filled chambers and sensory nerves, located in the inner ear, and thousands of nerve receptors in the joints throughout your body. The vestibular system is responsible for your sense of position, also known as “proprioception.”
Some common vestibular conditions resulting in balance disorders include:
Injury or ailment
Even if your brain and nervous system are working in harmony with one another, a sudden injury, disease, or other ailment causing muscle weakness can interfere with your balance and make it difficult to keep yourself upright.
Neurological issues
This may include Parkinson’s disease, brain injury, or stroke. Anything that affects your neurological system can also impact your balance.
Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV)
This occurs when calcium debris breaks off in the inner ear, causing issues with balance.
How can I tell the difference between a balance or gait disorder?
Balance and gait disorders belong to a family of functional problems that interfere with your positional awareness, your normal means of walking or running, and your ability to keep yourself upright.
Balance and gait disorders are closely related, but they do have some distinct differences. Balance disorders are both physical and mental, as your brain may think you are moving, even when you are not. Changes to your joint strength, mobility, and ability to sense where your joints are in space (proprioception), all have physical consequences on your balance.
Gait disorders can cause abnormal movements in the way you walk and run, and these can become exaggerated with age. According to Move Forward Physical Therapy, gait disorders account for 17 percent of senior falls.
Looking for help? Contact us today
Click the link below to schedule a call with us if you would like to get some solid advice given to you over the phone. The phone call is complimentary and there is no obligation to book any appointments with us after the call is over. Our goal is to help you make the right decision about what to do next.
If you would like to know how the Physical Therapy team at Power Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine can help you relieve your pain and return to work – we invite you to start with a completely free, no-obligation, risk free appointment at our clinic.
If you want to know what it costs – and what availability we have at our physical therapy office in Costa Mesa, then please just click the button below and complete the short form.
*Note: This Free Discovery Session is something that we offer to people who are very nervous or skeptical about Physical Therapy – unsure of its benefits or if it is right for them. If that sounds like you, then please start with a free discovery session so that we can work with you to find out what is wrong and what can be done – without any financial risk on your part.
Visit our Costa Mesa Clinic location today to get started!