As a physical therapist, you understand how essential balance work is to your patient’s health. Our balance impacts much of our daily life and movement. However, it can be difficult to implement balance work into your patients’ exercises, especially if they don’t see the benefits. Here are a few ways to naturally incorporate balance work into your PT sessions.
Focus on Functional Movements
Functional exercises include those that mimic regular, everyday movements. These exercises are essential for building strength and improving balance. Lunges, squats, and deadlifts are all excellent activities to help improve a patient’s dynamic balance.
Disrupt Their Center of Gravity
Gently pushing or pulling a client off balance while they’re performing an exercise can greatly help them improve their balance. Before moving to freestanding exercises, all clients should perform exercises of this variety while holding onto a wall or fixed bar. Once they’ve gained confidence, you can have them try the same exercise without the support.
Note: Do not perform this exercise with patients who have a high fall risk. Any patients who fall frequently or are prone to dizziness should not participate in these exercises.
Offer Hippotherapy
Hippotherapy, or horse therapy, is a great way for your patient to have fun while doing balance work. Hippotherapy has a long and interesting history with success in patients with all kinds of diagnoses, from Down syndrome to Parkinson’s.
Offering hippotherapy in your clinic can be a great way to make balance work fun for your patients, and it’s more accessible than ever with the advance in PT technology.
There are many ways to incorporate balance work into your PT sessions. If these methods don’t take with your patients, try something new. With your ingenuity and the wealth of information available to physical therapists, you’re sure to find the perfect solution for even your most difficult patients.