What is balance?

Balance is our ability to maintain a posture while sitting, standing or undertaking various activities. It is an important skill to have and to maintain as it reduces our risk of falling and the subsequent risk of injury.

Like all skills, it is important for us to train it to meet the demands of our day to day lives. This may just mean being physically active and exposing ourselves to different challenges that way. Sometimes, we may need to train balance specifically. This may occur during rehabilitation of injury, chronic disease management, or, as we age, and our bodies go through different stages of change.

What helps us keep our balance?

Our bodies are a marvel of integrated systems that support its function. To keep our balance, we rely on sight (visual), feeling (proprioception) and our inner ear (vestibular). The brain receives information from each of these systems to interpret and act upon as required.

• Sight helps our balance because we can use the environment to orientate ourselves. Think of all the vertical lines we have to see. Depth perception lets us know if we are moving too quickly in one direction. Sight also allows us to see any tripping hazards or changes in our environment that may contribute to our risk of falling.
• Feeling the sensation in our feet provides us with information on the type of surface we are walking on, how firm it is and any changes to the direction or degree of slope. We can also sense the position of joints which can help the body alter its posture to maintain an upright position.
• The inner ear, or vestibular system, detects changes in head position. If we turn our head or start to lose our balance it provides the body with this information to determine what to do next.

The strength of our muscles also contributes to our balance. Stronger muscles allow us to resist the external forces on our body, usually from gravity (but also from being bumped, trips and slips), and use protective strategies if we do lose our balance or stumble.

How can Physiotherapy help?

At Yates Physiotherapy we develop an individualised solution catered to your needs. This can include any of the following:

• 1:1 rehabilitation – consultation with a trained physiotherapist to identify your needs and a targeted, collaborative approach.
• GLA:D and Balance – a gym-based strength and balance class, where you will receive your own individualised program based off of your needs.