One of the most common reasons a patient seeks out physical therapy is due to decreased balance or falls. Decreased balance with increased fall risk is often related to multiple medical causes and can oftentimes be difficult to determine. Ideally, an expert physical therapist is the provider of choice to assess and treat balance loss to assist in decreasing fall risk.
The CDC reports over $50 billion is spent on non-fatal and fatal falls yearly. However, decreased balance is hardly limited to the geriatric population. Whether an athlete has suffered a recent concussion, a middle-aged worker recently receiving a joint replacement surgery, or a prolonged hospital stay, I assess and treat a multitude of patients who feel their balance is not as good as they need to perform the activities they want. Furthermore, balance can be negatively affected by dizziness, loss of strength or flexibility, change in sensation, recent medical event, and loss of mobility. These are only a handful of examples that highlight the need for an effective and expert balance rehabilitation program.
A quality balance rehabilitation program should exhibit several core qualities. Balance assessment performed under the direction of a physical therapist with extensive training and documented proficiency in falls and their causes, experience in utilizing evidence-based testing and outcome measurements, and the knowledge to utilize those findings for a customized plan of care to improve your balance and decrease fall risk. Finally, these findings should trigger communication between providers to ensure a team approach to minimize, if not eliminate fall risk. The clinicians at Rehab Solutions are committed to serving patients through transdisciplinary care, facilitating expert-level rehabilitation care. Ask your provider if an expert balance program is right for you.
Ryan Schrock DPT, NCS, CSCS, Certificate of Achievement in Vestibular Rehabilitation, is Wyoming’s only Board Certified Neurologic Clinical Specialist, and one of eight physical therapists nationally who is dual certified as a Neurologic Clinical Specialist (NCS) and a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS). Ryan has practiced for 12 years in Gillette, the last two as co-owner of Rehab Solutions. Rehab Solutions has been long committed to improving patient outcomes through evidence-based care. Ryan specializes in dizziness, concussion, neurologic, and balance rehabilitation. Ryan teaches, speaks, researches, and serves locally and nationally balance and physical therapy.