Falls among the older generation are a serious problem. Approximately 36 million falls are reported each year, with 32,000 people losing their lives due to those falls. At least one in every five falls also results in severe injuries like head injuries and broken bones.
While most senior citizens can access mobility support products for home safety, you don’t have to rely on them alone to prevent falls. Chiropractors might be able to provide fall prevention support in these important ways:
Performing Balance Assessments
Type chiropractor and your location into a search engine, such as ‘chiropractor Calgary,’ and you’ll likely find a chiropractor near you who can perform a balance assessment. Balance assessments are used to identify whether you have any problems with balance and body position awareness. The information they learn from a balance assessment can help them provide the most appropriate treatments, exercises, and advice for your unique needs.
Prescribing Muscle Strengthening Exercises
A lack of strength in key muscle groups like your core and legs is associated with a risk of falling. When a balance assessment has identified poor muscle strength, muscle strengthening exercises are something your chosen chiropractor can help with.
They can focus on the muscles that help you maintain balance and stability. After including these exercises in your daily routine, you may enjoy better postural control and a reduced fall risk.
Providing Advice
Sometimes, living a safer, independent lifestyle simply requires advice and guidance for maintaining posture and body mechanics. Chiropractors can advise on safe movement practices and how to reduce the risk of falls in everyday life. This advice can include the best ways to lift, bend, and carry objects and maintain good posture when sitting, standing, and walking.
Helping With Spinal Alignment
Proper spinal alignment is essential for balance and stability. If your spine isn’t correctly aligned, you may be more at risk of falls than someone without the same spinal alignment issues.
Chiropractors may be able to help correct this problem. In fact, feasibility studies have found that chiropractic care through spinal manipulation and manual therapy has the potential to improve balance as well as neck pain and cervicogenic dizziness.
Performing a Gait Analysis
A gait analysis involves a chiropractor observing and evaluating how someone stands and walks. This simple task can provide insight into the source of problems and abnormalities that might put someone at risk of falling. With the information gained from a gait analysis, a chiropractor can provide tips, advice, adjustments, and exercise that might see someone at a reduced risk of falling.
Home Exercise Programs
Ongoing chiropractic sessions can be helpful for many older adults to receive the adjustments and chiropractic care they need to help with fall prevention. However, chiropractors can also provide home exercise programs that don’t require chiropractic intervention. What these exercise programs are can depend on what your chiropractor has observed during your appointments. All programs are tailor-made to suit each person’s unique needs.
There are a number of measures you can take to prevent falls at home. However, you don’t have to rely on mobility equipment alone. Your local chiropractor can be a wealth of knowledge for helping you feel safer, stronger, and more confident to prevent falls.
