Did You Know Physical Therapy Could Help You Prevent Falls so You Can Better Enjoy Your Outdoor Activities?
When the weather is nice, many of us choose to venture out into the outdoors to take advantage of the beautiful scenery among the walking trails.
While this is undoubtedly a fun way to spend a morning or afternoon, there are some precautions to take so you don't end up hurting yourself. Nothing puts a damper on those beautiful views like tripping and spraining an ankle or bruising a wrist.
At our clinic, we want to make sure you are safe while participating in your outdoor activities, so you can better enjoy them. Contact FYZICAL Riverstone today to learn more!
First and foremost, prepare with the proper equipment.
When planning on hiking, climbing, or strolling through a trail, it is important to ensure you have the right tools at your disposal – especially when preparing to journey out onto rocky or uneven terrain.
Hiking boots with proper traction will help you maneuver those uneven terrains without the risk of slipping or falling. Custom orthotics may also be fitted to your boots. If this is a frequent hobby of yours, special products can be purchased to make hiking or climbing easier for you.
If you are unsure about what may be the best fit for you, consult with one of our experienced physical therapists.
Physical therapy can help with fall prevention.
In addition to ensuring you have the proper equipment, our physical therapy services can decrease your risk of sustaining a fall-related injury.
As stated by Johns Hopkins Medicine, "While it's not possible to completely prevent a fall, exercises that focus on balance and strength training can reduce the risk of falling. "We treat elderly adults for injuries sustained from falls and other patients who feel unsteady while walking or standing and are fearful of falling," says Lora Stutzman, a physical therapist with the Johns Hopkins Rehabilitation Network. "These exercises can help improve balance and build strength to help prevent future falls."
Balance is a large part of fall prevention, as lack of stability is one of the main reasons why falls occur. Your physical therapist will design a balance training plan for you as part of your treatment and may ask you to perform certain balance-based activities, such as standing on one leg or holding your balance while performing a mentally-stimulating task (such as reciting the alphabet or reading a page from a book.) This will help with body control and will quite literally train your body to be better balanced.
In addition to balance training, your physical therapist will also help decrease your fall risk with strength training. Strength training is typically paired with your balance training. Your physical therapist will design a strength training plan for you, which will focus on specific muscle groups in need of improvement.
The goal of this will be to improve your standing and walking balance and your ability to recover from a loss of balance. This will be especially useful for trailblazers such as yourself, as even a falter in balance will be more easily recovered.
For assistance with walking/hiking trails, it is likely that your physical therapist will also suggest endurance training. Endurance training is all about working up to more advanced levels of the same form of treatment.
Your physical therapist will provide you with an aerobic exercise program and slowly add time to those exercises as your endurance improves. For example, your endurance training may begin at 10-minute sessions and then may progress to 30-minute sessions. This will help make maneuvering those long trails much easier on your body, as it will already be trained in endurance.
Get started today!
Don't wait until you sustain an injury to seek the help of a physical therapist at FYZICAL Riverstone – we can help make you stronger, healthier, and more agile before the fact! Johns Hopkins Medicine states that "It's important to talk to your doctor or physical therapist about fall prevention."
If you plan to frequent the trails anytime soon, our experienced and dedicated team of physical therapists can help make sure your body is in peak shape. Contact us today to schedule your first appointment!