Steady Your Steps: Overcome Balance and Gait Disorders
Do you find yourself constantly reaching for the wall or furniture to steady yourself as you walk through your home? Do you feel unsteady on your feet, or has pain in your hips and knees forced you to change the way you walk?
If you are struggling to keep your footing, you may be suffering from a balance or gait disorder. These conditions can be physically and mentally disrupting, often leading to a deep fear of falling. In Canada, the average cost per fall requiring hospitalization is approaching $30,000—but the emotional cost and loss of independence can take an even heavier toll.
Fortunately, underlying musculoskeletal and neurological issues can be addressed. At Encore Physiotherapy and Wellness, our targeted physiotherapy programs can significantly reduce your symptoms or correct your condition altogether, helping you move with confidence once again.
Balance vs. Gait Disorders: What is the Difference?
While balance and gait disorders are closely related and often occur together, they have distinct differences in how they affect your body.
Balance Disorders Balance is both a physical and mental process. It relies on your brain properly interpreting signals from your eyes, your inner ear, and the sensory nerves in your joints. When this system malfunctions, your brain may think you are moving even when you are standing still. Changes to your joint strength or your ability to sense where your body is in space (proprioception) severely impact your physical balance.
Gait Disorders Your “gait” is your specific pattern of walking or running. Gait disorders cause abnormal, inefficient, or painful movements in your stride. Often, an old injury or joint stiffness forces you to unconsciously change how you walk (like limping or shuffling), which can become exaggerated with age.
How Do These Disorders Develop?
Because keeping yourself upright requires your entire body to work in harmony, there are many potential root causes for balance and gait issues:
Vestibular Conditions: Your vestibular system is a delicate collection of fluid-filled chambers in the inner ear. Conditions like Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) occur when tiny calcium crystals break loose in this system, causing severe spinning sensations and loss of balance.
Neurological Issues: Anything that affects your central nervous system—such as Parkinson’s disease, a previous stroke, or a brain injury—can scramble the communication between your brain and your legs.
Musculoskeletal Injuries or Ailments: Even if your brain and nervous system are working perfectly, a sudden injury, severe arthritis, or general muscle weakness can make it incredibly difficult to support your own body weight and stay upright.
How Physiotherapy Can Steady Your Stride
Physiotherapy offers a highly effective, supportive solution for enhancing your walking abilities and preventing dangerous falls.
Our dedicated physiotherapists will conduct a comprehensive physical evaluation to examine your stance, stride, medical history, and specific symptoms. From there, we create a personalized treatment plan tailored to your needs, which may include:
Targeted Strengthening Exercises: Weak core and leg muscles are a leading cause of instability. We will provide safe, paced exercises to build up your strength, making it much easier to support your body and catch yourself if you stumble.
Flexibility and Stretching: Stiff joints slow down your reaction time. Stretching improves your range of motion, giving you more control and quicker reflexes to reduce your risk of injury.
Vestibular Rehabilitation: If your balance issue stems from the inner ear, we use specific head and eye exercises to retrain your vestibular system. For BPPV, we use specialized maneuvers to guide displaced calcium crystals back to their proper place.
Gait Retraining: We will analyze exactly where your walking pattern is breaking down and use specific drills to “retrain” your brain and muscles to walk smoothly, efficiently, and safely.
Walk with Confidence Again
You don’t have to live with the fear of falling. If a balance or gait disorder is holding you back from enjoying your daily life, our team is here to help.
Reach out to Encore Physiotherapy and Wellness today to schedule an assessment with one of our dedicated therapists. You can visit us at our 809 Victoria St N, Kitchener clinic, or email us at clinic@encorephysiotherapy.ca to get started. We’ll help you feel steady on your feet in no time!