When you’ve never suffered from a dizziness or an imbalance disorder, it’s easy to take standing up or walking around for granted. However, if your ability to balance has been affected by an injury or chronic condition, you know how difficult it can be to accomplish simple tasks like moving around.

Several conditions can affect your ability to balance, including:

• Vertigo
• Stroke
• Brain injuries
• Arthritis
• Spinal injuries
• Diabetes

If you’ve been affected by one of these conditions or others that cause you to easily lose balance, you should seek treatment. Imbalance is not only inconvenient to your daily life, but it also is a threat to your safety. The inability to balance can lead to falls that can harm you.

Treatments for imbalance vary depending on the cause and severity of your imbalance disorder. Many treatments include the use of physical therapy.

Why should you see a physical therapist for balance issues?

Physical therapy is a preferable treatment for imbalance in many cases. It reduces the need for drugs and medications that cause negative side effects. Physical therapy can also reduce the need for surgical intervention.

In addition to reducing the need for drugs and invasive treatments, physical therapy provides other benefits for people with balance disorders, including:

• Improving balance — Physical therapists can identify the key issues that are causing your difficulties in balancing. They can develop a customized treatment to help you balance better while standing and walking.  
• Improving posture — Your posture plays a big role in your ability to balance. Physical therapists can examine your posture and stride to determine which areas can use improvement. They can help you correct poor posture and improve your stride to reduce your risk of falling.  
• Improving strength and flexibility — Some balance issues are caused by weak and stiff muscles in the back or legs. Improving the strength and flexibility of the muscles provides better support for the body, which helps restore your balance.  
• Providing guidance and advice for moving around — Physical therapists can help identify potential obstacles in your daily environment that make it hard to safely move around. This may include objects like rugs and low furniture. Physical therapists can teach you how to navigate around these obstacles or encourage you to remove these obstacles from your home.

Visit Continuum Wellness for improving your balance

Does an injury or chronic condition affect your ability to stand or move without feeling like you’re going to fall? You may benefit from physical therapy. Our physical therapists at Continuum Wellness can help people with different kinds of balance disorders improve the quality of their lives. Contact our team today for more information about improving your balance or to schedule an initial appointment.