Thanks for dropping in! Sobering title here. Today we will look at what can happen when we begin to lose our sense of balance - a problem that can progress as we age and even be life threatening to the elderly. Even young folks can be at risk of losing balance and falling. We’ll take a look at the main reason why we lose our ability to adequately balance ourselves, and what can be done to keep our ability strong, even into advanced age. Please feel free to share this with folks you think it may help.

But before we start…

For the month of July we will be running a NEW PATIENT special for your friends and family… a discount coupon for their first visit. Won’t ever get less expensive to get them in here! See the coupon at the end of the newsletter. Not valid for use with Medicare. (BTW - if has been a year or more since we have seen you, and you have a new condition, you can use this offer for yourself!)

The Virtue of an Uneven Playing Field

How often do you spend any real time walking or running over rugged, uneven terrain? If you are like most modern folks, the answer is RARELY or even NEVER. Modern life is all about level surfaces, and because of this the muscles that are normally devoted to giving us robust balance become weak, deconditioned, and less responsive when they are actually needed. So much so that in many cases that if we do, God forbid, get off balance, they may not be strong or responsive enough to keep us from falling.

The Myth of Core Strengthening

Exercises like planking (above) are said to strengthen the body’s core. However strictly speaking this kind of popular exercise (ab work etc.) doesn’t get to the true core of the body. The true core is made up of the deepest muscles that only contract INVOLUNTARILY in order to keep you on balance. We can’t even consciously contract these muscles with stationary exercises like sit-ups, etc. They are only activated automatically when the brain senses we are losing our balance. The only way they get any work is when we voluntarily or circumstantially place ourselves off balance with regularity, which we rarely ever do!

The Solution

If you are not regularly challenging and strengthening your balance mechanisms with things like hiking in the woods, or a sport like gymnastics, tennis, or judo, and you feel like maybe you aren’t as steady as you should be, all you need to do is some simple exercises that carefully place you off balance so the deepest core muscles will engage and improve. The picture above shows the easiest one—a good starting point.

1. Set a heavy, steady chair beside you as in the illustration above.

2. Holding on to the chair raise one leg (as seen above) for 5 seconds. Then the other. If you feel terribly off balance despite holding the chair, then this is as far as you need to go until this level of exercise becomes easy for you to stay on balance. 10 x each leg for five seconds. Twice a day.

3. If #2 is too easy, once you have raised your leg, let go of the chair but keep your hand very close to it in case you feel you need to grab ahold again. Try to get to the count of five before grabbing ahold again. Alternate legs. 10 x each leg for 5 seconds. Twice a day.

4. If #3 is too easy, do everything in #3 but this time turn your head slowly from side to side.

5. If #4 is too easy, do the exercise described in #3 with eyes closed.

6. If #5 is too easy, do it as described with eyes closed while also turning your head from side to side.

7. If #6 is too easy - CONGRATULATIONS!!! You already have awesome balance mechanisms!

At all levels - 10 x each leg for five seconds. Twice a day.

IMPORTANT*** Never move your hand more than an inch away from the chair when you let go—in case you need to quickly grab ahold to prevent yourself from falling.

The exercise above has a starting level for just about anyone, even elderly folks who are in the most desperate need of what this can do for us. Keep it up and do your best to advance with the difficulty levels.

Plight of the elderly. How often have we seen this:

• Grandma trips and falls at home, breaking her wrist, leg, and hip.

• She ends up in a wheelchair and never gets out.

• She ages very rapidly from that point forward.

• Things go rapidly downhill with her health and life expectancy.

All of that in many cases could have been avoided with the introduction of balance exercises.

YouTube is busting open with lots of free videos on developing balance for folks at all levels. Here is one that is also good for beginners, seniors, and the elderly:

On the Level

We’ve perhaps made things too level…too convenient to get around and our balance mechanisms have suffered for this. Now is the time to exercise our deepest core balance muscles, before something tragic occurs.

July New Patient Offer!!! (727) 787-3991

‘Rock steady’ friends (with balance exercises)! Please forward the coupon to a friend or family member we can help - or use for yourself if it’s been over a year since you’ve seen us and you have something new going on! Until next time,

Blessings to you!