Elderly people lose their body strength, mobility, flexibility, and movement due to aging. Geriatric physiotherapy treatment offers preventive and curative measures to protect and enhance the quality of life of senior people. Physiotherapy for old people offers a chance to improve mobility & balance, build strength, boost confidence in their physical condition, boosts joint range, and enhances strength & flexibility which leads to a better and enhanced lifestyle.
PHYSICAL THERAPY FOR THE ELDERLY
As we age, our body goes through several deteriorating changes leading to a decrease in strength in the muscles which affects mobility and flexibility. We experience changes in social and emotional functioning, affecting our quality of life and general well-being. Providing physical therapy to senior people can often be very challenging as it involves patients with a mix of problems like neurological, musculoskeletal, and other problems often found in the same person. Geriatric physiotherapy helps aged people to improve their physical balance and strength, as well as to keep them active. Geriatric care is pertinent as it involves a pattern of preventive and intervening measures to provide the care and support essential to improve and manage functional independence and the quality of life.
Geriatric physiotherapy for older people aims to help seniors maintain functional independence and overall well-being. With some exercises, older people can regain strength and movement and their lives can become easier with increased movement and flexibility. The following exercises can help elderly people improve strength and balance:
- Single limb stance
It’s best to start with a simple balance exercise for seniors. Here’s how you do this one: stand behind a steady, solid chair (not one with wheels), and hold on to the back of it. Lift your right foot and balance on your left foot. Hold that position for as long as you can, then switch feet. The goal should be to stand on one foot without holding onto the chair and hold that pose for up to a minute.
- Walking heel to toe
You might read this and wonder, “How is walking an exercise to improve balance?” This exercise makes your legs stronger, which enables you to walk without falling. Put your right foot in front of your left foot so that the heel of your right foot touches the top of the toes of your left foot. Move your left foot in front of your right, putting your weight on your heel. Then, shift your weight to your toes. Repeat the step with your left foot. Walk this way for 20 steps.
- Standing on one leg
Balance disorders are among the leading contributors to injuries in elderly people. Thus, learning to stay balanced is important to avoid harm. This doesn’t necessarily involve performing difficult movements. To get started, you can hold onto a chair or other support fixture and balance on one leg. The aim here is to maintain the center of gravity of your ankle. After some time, switch to the other side. The basic physical therapy exercise for the elderly helps to provide a baseline idea of how strong your sense of balance currently is.
- Agility ladder exercise
Ladder drills are popular with professional soccer and football athletes for increasing agility, speed, and quickness. The players run down a flat ladder (usually made with rope or tape), and step in and out of the ladder as quickly as they can. Agility ladder exercises for seniors are a modified version of the athletic drills. They can be categorized as advanced balance exercises for seniors.
HOW WE CAN HELP
The specialists at Physio Experts are trained to assist you in performing certain difficult tasks which will include exercises and stretching. We have facilities with world-class equipment that can help address all sorts of problems related to movement and restore the normal functioning of the body. If you’re in the Kanata area and are looking for geriatric physiotherapy for senior people, please do visit Physio Experts as we offer individualized physiotherapy services that help our clients get the best quality treatment. Physio Experts Physiotherapy Centre is a Kanata-based clinic providing one-on-one appointments with registered physiotherapists. Our team strives to deliver the highest quality of care. For more information, check out our reviews.