4 Risk Factors for Alzheimer’s Disease
At Team Health Care Clinic, we work with people who have dementia or who are concerned and want to prevent it. I was quite interested when I found an article from a study showing decreased brain size, and therefore risk for dementia and Alzheimer’s, is related to four controllable lifestyle factors.
The study, from the Radiological Society of North America, involved over 1,600 people during the course of seven years. It measured brain size and its relationship to risk factors. Their conclusion was that decreased brain size and, therefore, dementia is related to these controllable factors.
Alzheimer’s Risk Factors
- Alcohol consumption
- Smoking
- Diabetes
- Obesity
It turns out that alcohol consumption and diabetes were associated with smaller volume of the whole brain. Smoking and obesity were linked with decreased volume of the part of the brain associated with memory retrieval as well as emotional and social behavior.
Dementia, of which Alzheimer’s Disease makes up between 50%-70% of the cases, is a growing concern. As our population ages the incidence of dementia is continuing to grow. Deaths from dementia have doubled in the last 25 years and care costs are in the hundreds of billions. Also, there is no treatment for dementia. Prevention is the key.
The above list is not exhaustive and there are other causes for dementia. However, these are the biggest offenders and they are preventable! Dementia is a slow developing, chronic condition closely tied to lifestyle choices. This means that we have the time and the ability to make changes. The prescription never changes. Eat a low starch and low sugar diet, exercise, don’t smoke and drink only in moderation.
Our clinic does provide nutritional and brain health support for all of this. However, it’s up to you to do the work and help yourself.
Tim Bertsch, DC, DABCI
Reducing Muscle Aches and Pains with Rapid Release Therapy
In the past week, Team Health Care Clinic has been excited to introduce a new adjunctive therapy to our clinic called Rapid Release Therapy. This new therapy utilizes vibration technology to help alleviate muscle tightness, spasms, and minor aches and pains. In a blog on Rapid Release Technology’s website, one chiropractor in Florida who uses Rapid Release has found great success with numerous top-level sprinters in the world. So, how does this vibration therapy work?
How vibration affects muscles
To begin it’s important to understand how vibration works at a micro-level. When a muscle is tight, muscle spindle fibers are “set” at a rate of contraction or spasm. When a vibration stimulus is applied to a tight muscle or knot, there is activation and subsequent relaxation of these muscle spindle fibers, allowing muscles to relax.
Dr. Starr demonstrates Rapid Release Therapy
In addition, vibration helps dampen and quiet pain fibers. There are two major types of nerves that carry information to the brain. Small diameter nerves carry information about pain to the brain at a very slow rate. On the other hand, large diameter nerves carry sensation, joint position sense, proprioception, and of course, vibration information. These are carried at a very fast rate. When more large diameter nerves are stimulated, it dampens and calms the small diameter pain fibers, causing a decrease in pain. The perfect example of this is when someone hits their elbow on something. What’s the first response? Rubbing their elbow. This activates these large diameter nerves so that the pain lessens and it doesn’t hurt as much.
Why is Rapid Release Therapy better than the device I use at home?
What makes Rapid Release Therapy different from other vibration instruments is the frequency at which it works. While most vibration tools work at lower frequencies anywhere from 40-80 Hz, Rapid Release works at a frequency of 160 Hz. This major increase in the speed and frequency of which this tool works provides greater stimulation of these large diameter nerves to lessen pain.
We are excited to provide this therapy and utilize the benefits of vibration in conjunction with other therapies. Interested in trying it out? Stop in today to talk about how this new therapy in our clinic can benefit you.
Erik Starr, DC
What Causes Thyroid Disease?
If you are among those diagnosed with thyroid disease, have you ever asked why the thyroid gland quit working? What answer did you get? Often, there is no answer at all. Many patients have come to Team Health Care Clinic using the recommended thyroid medication with their thyroid levels testing normal, but they still feel terrible. That’s why it is so important to evaluate and deal with the cause of the thyroid malfunction.
Hyperthyroid or Hypothyroid?
Thyroid disease affects about 10% of the population with women experiencing it about 7 times more frequently than men. There are two ways that the thyroid can dysfunction. One can have an overly active thyroid known as hyperthyroid disease. Symptoms from this include increased heart rate and palpations, anxiety, weight loss and fine brittle hair.
The opposite is a thyroid that is under active. This is the most common type of thyroid disease and is called hypothyroid disease. Those symptoms included fatigue, loss of hair, weight gain, constipation and depression. Unfortunately, these symptoms are common to a lot of conditions so one needs to do proper testing to fully evaluate for thyroid disease.
Most thyroid disease, about 90%, is related to autoimmunity. In other words, your own immune system is attacking its own tissue, the thyroid gland in this case. The causes for this attack can include food sensitivity reaction, improper digestion or ‘leaky gut’, reaction to chemicals, reaction to virus or bacteria, stress, lack of Vitamin D as well as other causes. Not taking care of these problems is what keeps people feeling awful even when they have a balanced hormone test.
At Team Health Care Clinic we are interested in the root cause of disease. We are always asking the ‘why’ question. We have the ability to help you by evaluating the causes I listed above and are not satisfied until those are dealt with. The goal is to get you working and feeling better. Remember, no matter what your condition, to always ask the why? questions.
Tim Bertsch, DC, DABCI
Hip Flexors and Low Back Pain: A Surprising Connection
Hip flexor tightness can affect many individuals, young, old, active, and sedentary. Many of the patients in our clinic that suffer from low back pain don’t realize that tightness in the hip flexors can be a contributing factor. In this blog, we explore mechanics of the hip flexor, what you can do to prevent hip flexor tightness and treatment techniques for those who are experiencing pain.
The hip flexors are a group muscles that cross the front of the hip.
Some of the muscles are:
Iliacus: this one attaches from the iliac crest to the femur (leg bone)
Psoas Major: attaches from your lumbar vertebra to your femur
Rectus Femoris: this quad muscle crosses the hip and the knee and controls hip and knee movement.
The muscles need to keep a balance to hold the bones of the body together. If there is tightness in a muscle group it causes imbalanced for on the bones, and pulls the bones out of a neutral alignment. Poor alignment places strain and stress on the affected joints and causes pain. When the hip flexors are tight this causes a pull on the spine resulting in an anterior tilt of the pelvis. This anterior pelvic tilt causes an increase in lordosis or curve in the low back. Because the psoas attaches to the lumbar vertebra, hip flexor tightness is often a contributor to chronic low back pain. If not addressed, eventually the increased lordosis and anterior pelvic tilt can also weaken the abdominal muscles. Our abdominal muscles are needed to support the pelvis and the lumbar spine. Think of them as a natural corset for the trunk providing stability.
Preventing Injury
We all know what stretching is, and most of us have probably done some stretching movements at some point in our lives. We hear about stretching to prevent injury, to warm up, and to gain flexibility but is it really that necessary? Stretching and flexibility is especially important when it comes to hip flexors and back pain.
Sitting can cause an increase in hip flexor tightness as well as running or biking without performing stretches needed to maintain muscle length.
Treating Hip Flexor Tightness
There are many pieces to the puzzle that tight hip flexors can affect with the balancing act our body does with muscles and bones. Tightness in the muscles can be treated with myofascial release, soft tissue mobilization, stretching, and kinesiotaping. Targeted exercises are given for the areas that are weak to help return muscle balance. Therapists in our clinic assess the posture, muscle lengths and weaknesses. We determine what muscles groups need to be addressed as well as what is causing the imbalance. Treating the cause of the imbalance causing the symptom is what will make life long changes.
Andrea Newport, PT
rTMS for Depression, Anxiety, ADHD, Insomnia and Dementia
At Team Health Care Clinic, we are pleased to introduce an innovative, drug free, noninvasive treatment best known for depression: Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS). rTMS is an FDA cleared device for treatment of depression but has also been shown to be beneficial for ADHD, anxiety, insomnia, some forms of dementia, and other brain related disorders.
rTMS treatments are not painful and patients can read or watch TV during their treatments. Patients can resume their normal activities following their treatment as the worst side effect may be a mild headache. These are even rare.
This is in sharp contrast to electroconvulsive therapy and medication management where symptoms are potentially significant such as weight gain, sexual dysfunction, cognitive impairment and many others.
How does it work?
rTMS is a medical grade magnet that is used to balance the speed of abnormal operating nerves in the brain. The magnet sends a signal that can be varied to stimulate or slow down the nerves in specific regions. For example:
rTMS FOR DEPRESSION
Scientists expect brains to fire at is 15-20 pulses per second (pps) in the left frontal lobe. Patients with mild depression will fire at 10-12pps and below 10pps in more severe cases. In these cases, we will stimulate the brain with rTMS to fire at a normal frequency.
rTMS FOR ANXIETY
Normally, the left side of the brain fires at a higher frequency than the right side. When this pattern reverses and the right brain works at a higher frequency, the individual often exhibits symptoms of anxiety. In this case, the brain would be balanced by stimulating the speed of the left side of the brain or slowing the speed of the right side.
rTMS FOR OTHER CONDITIONS
rTMS can be used to improve abnormal frequencies in the brain, either stimulating or quieting it, to treat a wide variety of conditions.
In order to get the most precisely directed and successful treatment, you should consider the following:
- Request only EEG guided rTMS
Patients should request their provider measure the frequency of firing of the entire brain with a 19-lead electroencephalogram, or EEG. An EEG measures the function of the brain like and EKG measures the function of the heart. Without this information, a provider is making recommendations based on a patient’s history alone. With the information discovered from the EEG, a provider can give precise rTMS treatment to the specific unbalanced region of the brain. No guesswork!
- Not all rTMS units are equal
Some rTMS units can only treat at 10pps frequency and are consequently limited in the conditions it can successfully treat. Find providers that are using a state of the art unit that can vary its frequency of stimulation from 1 to 20pps. This allows the provider to treat a wide variety of conditions beside depression.
- Evaluate Brain Chemistry
Find providers that evaluate brain chemistry including blood glucose, neurotransmitter deficiency, brain-gut connections, gluten sensitivity and many other factors.
If you suffer with depression, anxiety, insomnia, ADHD and other brain related disorders, I would encourage you to explore rTMS as a highly successful, low risk solution for qualified candidates. In our clinic, we determine your candidacy by starting with an examination, including an EEG.
Tiffany Watson, CNP
Brain Inflammation and Sugar: A Surprising Connection
Inflammation has been a buzzword in recent years as researchers have continued to find links between inflammation and symptoms like headaches, fatigue, memory loss, brain fog and many more. In previous blogs, we have talked about the three needs of a neuron, or brain cell. These include glucose, oxygen, and stimulation. Your brain cannot branch out and make new connections unless it receives proper stimulation to specific areas, and to do this, you must provide the proper chemical environment for those cells to do so. This means having an adequate oxygen supply, and just as importantly, a proper glucose (blood sugar) response. So, what happens when blood sugar levels are too low or too high? How can this lead to inflammation? And what can I do to prevent this from happening?
Blood Sugar Imbalances
One of the most important things you can do for your brain is to maintain stable blood sugars. When blood sugar is chronically low, it’s called hypoglycemia. On the flip side, if blood sugar is too high, it’s called hyperglycemia or insulin resistance.
Common Symptoms of Hypoglycemia
- Feeling agitated or nervous
- Eating to relieve fatigue
- Becoming light headed if meals are missed
- Increased energy after meals
- Cravings for sweets between meals
Common Symptoms of Hyperglycemia/Insulin Resistance
- Difficulty losing weight
- Constant hunger
- General fatigue
- Fatigue after eating meals
- Cravings for sweets that are not relieved after eating them
How This Leads to Inflammation
When blood sugars are too high, or if one is constantly fluctuating between low blood sugar and high blood sugar, this leads to activation of microglia, the brains immune cells. This directly leads to an inflammatory cascade in the brain, or neuroinflammation. When brain inflammation arises, there are immediate and long-term effects. It immediately slows down transmission speed of signals in the brain, leading to the feeling of brain fog and a drop in brain endurance. In the long-term, chronic brain inflammation will lead to sustained microglial activation and eventually neuronal death. This is why researchers are now referring to Alzheimer’s Disease as Type III Diabetes. Neuroinflammation has many more far reaching effects that we will discuss down the road.
What Can I Do?
Since chronic microglial cell activation has no automatic “off switch” to stop brain inflammation, there are things that can be done to dampen it. These include flavonoids such as apigenin, resveratrol, catechins, rutin, and curcumin. The providers at Team Health Care Clinic often recommend supplements that contain these natural compounds to help support the brain’s fight against inflammation.
Additionally, the same can be said for supporting proper blood sugar levels. Nutrients including chromium, inositol, and L-carnitine have shown to help with stabilizing blood sugar. We often recommend these supplements to a patient who has poor blood sugar levels. Of course, it is imperative to educate our patients on how to maintain proper blood sugar levels through lifestyle modification. This includes eating a breakfast high in quality proteins and fat, having snacks high in protein during the day to prevent hypoglycemic states, avoiding foods high in sugar, especially before bed, and avoiding or limiting caffeine.
Whether you are hypoglycemic, insulin resistant, or a combination of the two, we have the nutrients, knowledge, and education to help you stabilize your blood sugar and dampen or prevent brain inflammation. The health of your brain is as important as any other organ of your body, if not more, so learn to take care of it. Need help in this journey? Contact us today.
Erik Starr, DC
Spinal Decompression for Back Pain, Herniated and Degenerative Lumbar Discs
Non-surgical spinal decompression was introduced to Minnesota by Team Health Care Clinic years ago. Since then, we have continued to successfully perform this treatment protocol for people with back pain with Vertebral Axial Decompression (VAX-D). In our clinic alone, there have been hundreds of patients that were spared surgery by completing VAX-D services.
Since that time we have seen many clinics come and go claiming they have spinal decompression services. It was the “wild west” with even simple traction units being touted as spinal decompression. But what is spinal decompression and how is better or different than simple traction?
Spinal Decompression Reduces Pressure on Lumbar Discs
When it comes to spinal decompression, it’s all about the pressure reduction achieved. Much like gauging the air pressure in a car tire, scientists have been able to measure the pressure on a disc in various positions. What they found is as follows:
Notice that traction does not create a negative pressure on the disc. In other words, traction in the form of inversion tables, intersegmental traction units and many other devices claiming to be spinal decompression, are creating pressure reductions similar to lying down. No negative pressure means no suction effect and that means little chance of decompressing degenerative and herniated discs.
VAX-D is Superior to Others
Non-surgical spinal decompression uses a machine that is proven to create a negative pressure on lumbar discs. There are few, if any, other thank VAX-D. Beware — many will claim they have research that proves negative pressure is achieved. However, when pressed to see the research, a few different schemes are discovered to overstate the research.
One technique is to use VAX-D research as their own. They will show the research only when pressed for it and explain that the copycat device is similar to VAX-D so they claim it as their own.
A second approach is to do research on cadavers. Other than the fact that any positive effect from decompression is too late for these subjects, there are obvious flaws in drawing any conclusions from this research.
Our bodies have receptors that create a stretch reflex when a force is applied to it. For example, if someone is pulling your leg to stretch your hamstring, at some point your muscle will resist the force to avoid injury. In cadavers, this reflex is absent so the researches can apply any distractive force and find erroneous positive results. Don’t be fooled by this scheme.
Be an educated consumer and ask questions before agreeing to proceed with your doctor’s recommendation for non-surgical decompression. Determine how they define “decompression” and ask for research to support their claims.
Finally, investigate its track record and its success rate. Look past splashy marketing and grand claims. Five years ago, the Twin Cities metro was saturated with full page ads for decompression services. Almost 100% of those marketing campaigns were not able to stand the test of time and are now noticeably absent.
Consider VAX-D for non-surgical spinal decompression. It is well researched, has a greater than 15-year track record, and is 80% successful in patients that had failed all conservative treatments. It also has research that confirms it creates negative pressure on the discs of live subjects.
Is it Right for Me?
VAX-D has been a proven “positive negative” for hundreds of our patients. If you have been diagnosed with a lumbar disc degeneration or herniation, consult your provider to determine if VAX-D is right for you.
Joe Bertsch, DC
Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP): Not just for joint pain
Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) has been popular for treating joint pain, but there are other conditions that we treat with PRP at Team Health Care Clinic. After we saw how effective PRP could be for our patients with knee pain, tennis elbow, arthritis and other joint pain, our medical team decided to explore some of the lesser known uses for PRP. Research has shown that PRP can be used for conditions such as dry eyes, chronic sinus congestion, and acne. In today’s blog, we take a look at how PRP can help people suffering with these conditions.
What is PRP?
Platelet rich plasma (PRP) is a regenerative medicine derived from your own blood. It is obtained by drawing your blood and spinning it in a special device to separate the plasma from the red blood cells. By separating it in this way we can get concentrated levels of your own platelets, growth factors and other ingredients which stimulate a healing process. We then take all those concentrated ingredients and use them to supercharge your healing ability.
What are some of the lesser-known conditions that can be treated with PRP?
PRP is an all-natural treatment option for people who suffer from dry eye syndrome, chronic sinusitis, and acne.
Dry eye syndrome: The PRP is mixed with normal saline to create a pH similar to that of natural tears. It is put in eye drop bottles and can be instilled into the eyes 3-4 times per day. The most common side effect is some minor burning to the eyes right after the eye drops have been instilled. It also feels cold when applied because it needs to be kept refrigerated. Some patients have shared that it feels soothing and moisturizing when applied. My patients who have been using PRP eye drops have noticed a reduction in their dry eye symptoms, less eye irritation, and have been without symptoms for longer periods of time.
Chronic sinus congestion: A PRP nasal spray can be made by mixing the PRP with normal saline and put in a nasal spray bottle that can be sent home with you. It can be used 2-4 times per day. If you suffer from chronic sinus congestion and frequent sinus infections then this could be the treatment for you. Patients who have used the PRP nasal spray have shared their surprise at the reduction in congestion just shortly after starting the treatment.
Acne: PRP used for acne is not mixed with anything. It is just the plasma itself, sent home in syringes for you to apply topically to the affected sites. It is applied at night before you go to bed, then washed off in the morning. Topical PRP for acne should remain on your skin for at least 8 hours. There are not any risks to this treatment. People who have used this treatment for their acne have reported a reduction in open and closed acne lesions and a reduction in redness within the first few weeks of treatment.
How it is stored
The PRP only maintains its effectiveness if kept refrigerated or frozen. It lasts for 1 week in the refrigerator and 3 months in the freezer. Each week you will use a new container of PRP for your treatment. When you choose to use PRP to treat your dry eye syndrome, chronic sinus congestion, or acne, you will be sent home with a 12 week supply.
PRP is a perfect fit for the Team Health Care Clinic wellness model and philosophy. It is 100% natural using each patient’s own healing properties. To find out if PRP is right for you, contact us to set up your consultation with one of our medical providers.
Tiffany Watson, CNP
Is My Brain Degenerating?
People often ask me, “How do I know if my brain is degenerating?” At Team Health Care Clinic, we take the health of the brain as seriously, if not more, than any other aspect of the body and of one’s health. In many areas of our body, pain will help indicate when something is wrong. Pain is not the primary means of how the brain exhibits dysfunction and thus it shows up in other ways. Common signs of brain degeneration include depression or fatigue as a result of brain-related activity, such as reading or driving. Even when these signs aren’t apparent, degeneration may still be occurring.
Having a better understanding of what each part of the brain does leads to a better understanding of what degeneration of that area may look like.
Where does brain degeneration occur?
Let’s review the two most common regions that we see degeneration in the brain occurring in our practice.
Frontal Lobe
The frontal lobe sits behind the forehead and is the largest lobe of the brain. This area of the brain is what separates humans from other animals, as it gives us personality. It allows us to suppress impulses such as violent tendencies and socially unacceptable behavior, and provides emotional drive, planning, and motivation. It is also the area that is developmentally delayed in those with ADD/ADHD. When this area becomes impaired due to degenerative changes, depression, laziness, inability to control impulses, poor judgment and social behavior, and mental sluggishness may arise.
Cerebellum
The cerebellum is the “little brain” that sits off of the back end of the brain under the base of the skull. When it comes to the function of the cerebellum it’s easiest to think of a DUI test that a police officer may perform, as alcohol suppresses the cerebellum. The test entails looking at balance, coordination, and spatial awareness. The cerebellum receives information from eyes, muscles, and the inner ears to calibrate proper movements, and allowing us to know where we are in space. Do you struggle with frequent episodes of dizziness or vertigo? Have poor balance? Easily carsick? Or have subtle shakes at the end of hand or finger movements? These may be early signs that your cerebellum is degenerating.
Identifying early signs of brain degeneration
It is crucial that your medical provider can look for and identify these early signs of an aging brain. In our medical system, most physicians aren’t trained on how to identify and manage early stages of brain degeneration until it has progressed beyond the point of return. For example, Parkinson’s disease often isn’t identified until someone has a resting tremor. In contrast, chronic constipation, loss of smell, or slowness of movement may be an early sign of the disease. By the time symptoms such as a tremor are present, the disease has progressed enough that little can be done functionally to address the severity of the condition and focus changes to prevention of further progression. This is why being aware of the early warning signs of brain degeneration is critical.
Here at Team Health Care Clinic, we utilize in depth neurological exams, Interactive Metronome, BTrackS Balance Plate assessments, lab tests, and at times Neurofeedback as part of our neurological work ups to assess the brain health of our patients. If you or anyone you know may be suffering from the changes mentioned in this blog, don’t wait! Call our office today for a free consultation.
Erik Starr, DC
Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP): A Natural Treatment Option for Joint and Other Pain
What can be more natural than using your own body’s natural healing properties to stimulate healing? Instead of taking drugs or another artificial means of treatment, Platelet Rich Plasma makes use of your body’s natural ability to heal itself. By concentrating healing properties and applying them directly to injured tissue, we can initiate or speed up healing in a previously unresponsive tissue or joint.
At our mutli-specialty wellness clinic, we have seen an explosion of interest in Platelet Rich Plasma procedures and we’re excited to offer another treatment option that supports our mission of natural healing. Our patients have experienced fantastic results since we began offering Platelet Rich Plasma in mid 2017.
PRP treatment requires a 2-step procedure: Harvesting and Administration
The PRP is harvested initially by drawing blood from the patient’s own body and spinning it down in a high-speed centrifuge. This divides the blood into red blood cells at the bottom and plasma at the top of the tube. In the middle is a thin layer of platelet rich plasma that contains super concentrated healing constituents such as growth factors, cytokines, and platelets. These goodies are then carefully extracted and drawn into a tube, ready to be injected in inflamed, injured and degenerative ligaments, muscles or joints.
The second step is administering the PRP concentrate with an injection (in most cases). Our clinic uses an ultrasound to guide and confirm the medical provider is in the exact, desired location. Seeing the needle in the right location removes the chance of a patient having a variant in their anatomy that causes the provider to miss their mark. You won’t find an ultrasound guided injection in some other clinics, and I believe that this has a tremendous impact on the outcome of treatment.
The entire procedure is not particularly painful. Since the injection is actually less uncomfortable than the blood draw, patients don’t worry that the procedure is more than they are willing to tolerate. We have never had a patient refuse a second injection due to pain.
How many treatments are needed?
The PRP protocol in our clinic is 2 injections per region with approximately 3 weeks between each one. Some clinics have a 3 injection protocol but we have found most cases respond in 2 injections with an occasional patient that needs three. This may be due to the ultrasound guidance.
What is recovery like?
Generally, patients will return to work or normal activities after the injection, though loading the joint unnecessarily is discouraged. For example, if a knee is injected, deep knee bends such as squats and lunges are restricted for a few weeks following the procedure. Walking and using the stairs is allowed.
We advise patients do some physical therapy to have expert guidance in rehab exercises that will stabilize the joint or tissue without interfering with the healing process of PRP. The PRP and physical therapy combination is a one-two punch that has proven and exciting results.
Who is a candidate?
PRP is an effective and an all-natural option for patients of all ages. It has become our first option for patients suffering with achilles tendonitis, ligament tears, knee osteoarthritis, muscle strains, tennis elbow, plantar fasciitis, rotator cuff tears, Morton’s neuroma and more.
Future blogs will compare PRP with other procedures that have been used to treat similar conditions. Our clinic routinely provides cortisone, viscosupplementation (Euflexxa, for example), trigger point and PRP injections. Our observation is PRP out performs all the other procedures. This is why athletes such as Tiger Woods, Ray Lewis, Kobe Bryant and countless others have chosen this option even though they could afford other, more expensive treatments.
If you’re interested in a treatment option that is successful, natural and affordable, I encourage you to consult with your medical providers to determine if PRP is an option for you. Not sure who can help? Contact us to schedule a consultation in our clinic.
Joe Bertsch, DC
Improving Balance with Physical Therapy
At Team Health Care Clinic in Champlin, MN our team sees clients daily that have trouble with balance. Physical therapists offer many different techniques to treat balance with attention to your specific needs. Trouble with balance makes it difficult for people to hold themselves upright and steady when they are trying to walk, stand and even sit. Although the risk of having poor balance increases with age, balance issues are common in every age group.
What causes loss of balance?
There are 4 areas that help our bodies control balance:
- Vision
- Inner ear (vestibular)
- Proprioception and muscle control
- Brain – coordinates all of these systems to help us maintain our balance.
Medical conditions and lifestyle factors may contribute to a loss of balance, including:
- Poor joint mobility
- Muscle weakness
- Inner ear problems
- Medications
- Sedentary lifestyle
- Medical conditions such as a Stroke or Parkinsons’ disease
Poor Balance: What does it feel like?
A person with a balance issue may feel swaying, dizziness, vertigo, tripping, stumbling, and many times touching walls and furniture as they walk. Balance can be fine in a static position doing just 1 thing at a time. But when you try dynamic movements with multiple tasks, such as walking and looking at the shelves in the grocery store, or using the bathroom in the dark at night, the difficulty with balance can be more pronounced. These are all indications that a person’s balance is affected and needs to be addressed.
How Can My Physical Therapist Help?
Our physical therapists and chiropractors at Team Health Care are trained to assess the multiple systems affecting balance. We test the inner ear, muscle strength, joint range of motion, visual tracking, sensation, and body position awareness. In physical therapy we will also perform a balance test. In some cases it may be recommended that you use an assistive device such as a cane or a walker. We know this can be a difficult transition, and the assistive device doing more than just preventing you from falling. In therapy we look at it from the perspective of facilitating a “normal” movement pattern for your body to help improve your balance. This is only one part of the many movements and techniques we use to improve your balance. We will develop a specific treatment for you including movements and exercises you can do at home.
You don’t have to sustain a fall to have your balance assessed. I you are experiencing any difficulty with equilibrium, walking, standing or don’t feel confident in your balance it is important to seek your provider to have your systems that control balance assessed.
Andrea Newport, PT