Struggling To Balance On One Leg? Here’s What It Could Say About Your Health

There are ways doctors can help strengthen this skill, but clear communication is key.

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There are many important factors to consider when thinking about healthy ageing, not the least of which is fall risk.

One in four adults over 65 falls each year, according to Centers for Disease Control data from the US, and many of those people require hospitalisation, medical attention or lifestyle changes due to injury.

“One of the biggest issues that we worry about as geriatricians in older adults is falls because they can cause a lot of injuries,” said Dr. Maureen Dale, an associate professor of geriatric medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine.

Falls can cause hip fractures, vertebral fractures or worse, all of which can hugely impact day-to-day life for older adults, she added. “And so preventing falls is really important in our patients as we age, and one of the best ways to prevent falls is to make sure people have good balance.”

This is particularly important for post-menopausal women who may have low bone density, said Dr. James F. Wyss, a spine and sports medicine physiatrist at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.

“Lots of times, the focus on preventing a fracture is addressing bone density and strength training. But the greatest way to prevent a fracture is to prevent a fall,” Wyss said. “Sure, it’s great if you can get your bones stronger through........

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